Temple University Athletics
Temple Falls Short In 68-67 Loss To Saint Joseph's
1.26.08 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 26, 2008
PHILADELPHIA - Temple and Saint Joseph's have met a remarkable total of 144 times on the hardwood in a storied series that began in 1902. Fans of both teams would be hard-pressed to find a more entertaining and well-played game in the series than the one that captivated a raucous and near-capacity crowd of 10,045 on Saturday night at the Liacouras Center. SJU senior Pat Calathes connected on a three-pointer with 3.9 seconds on the clock to lift the Hawks to a dramatic, 68-67 victory over Temple in Atlantic 10 action.
Following Calathes' shot, junior Semaj Inge raced up the court and dished to senior Mark Tyndale at the three-point line. With the buzzer sounding, Tyndale's lay-up was blocked by SJU's Ahmad Nivins to cap an exciting final nine minutes in with neither team led by more than two points.
"From one angle it looked like a goal-tend, but from the other it looked like a good block," Tyndale said. "I give Nivins credit for a great block."
"It was a hard-fought city game that comes down to somebody making a shot," TU head coach Fran Dunphy said.
Having beaten the Hawks just once in his career, Tyndale did almost everything in his power to will his team to victory. Beginning with a highlight-film block of a Garrett Williamson dunk attempt with 3:30 remaining, Tyndale controlled the final minutes of play.
He scored Temple's next eight points to put the Owls ahead 67-65 with 42 seconds to play and came up with a crucial steal with 20 seconds on the clock. His only slip-up proved costly, as he missed the front-end of a one-and-one with 17 seconds remaining that could have put TU ahead by as many as four points. The senior finished the game with 18 points in a game-high 40 minutes of action.
"I let my team down by missing that free throw," Tyndale said.
"Without him we wouldn't have been in position to worry about him making the one-and-one," Dunphy said.
Junior Dionte Christmas had a team-high 21 points, including 10 early in the second half that allowed the Cherry and White to take a 49-42 lead with 11:40 left. Saint Joseph's came charging back and took its first lead since the 14:32 mark of the first half on a Rob Ferguson lay-up that made it 52-51 with 8:12 remaining.
From that point on, the contest resembled two heavyweight fighters going blow for blow, which was fitting since the Owls honored recent graduate Randall "Tex" Cobb, a former heavyweight contender and actor, at halftime. There were four ties and nine lead changes down the stretch as the two rivals went toe-to-toe.
"The better team did not win tonight," Saint Joseph's head coach Phil Martelli said. "We were fortunate to win a game because we did not play better than the other team tonight."
With both teams missing their starting point guards due to injury, each squad received valuable contributions from their understudies. Inge played his best game of the season in placed of sophomore Luis Guzman (hip), scoring 14 points on 6-for-9 shooting. He committed just one turnover.
"Prior to the game, I told him we needed him badly tonight," Dunphy said. "He did a terrific job."
SJU's Tasheed Carr, the Atlantic 10 assist-leader, missed his fourth straight game with an ankle injury. But Williamson, in addition to having to guard Christmas for 38 minutes, scored 10 points and dished eight assists for the Hawks.
The crowd of 10,045 was the largest in the Liacouars Center since the two teams met on January 31, 2004, when the Hawks were ranked third in the country. Even Martelli was impressed with the enthusiastic crowd.
"It was a tremendous atmosphere," Martelli said. "To see people in the upper deck was great. It's a tribute to Dunph's team and the administration here in promoting this team. That was a great atmosphere and my hat's off to the fans that made it truly a road game."
Saint Joseph's (12-5, 4-1 A-10) has now won 12 of the last 13 meetings between the school, with the only Temple victory coming on February 14, 2006, a 57-44 TU victory.
Calathes led all scorers with 24 points, while Ferguson added 19 points on 5-for-5 shooting from three-point range, for Saint Joseph's.
Temple (9-9, 2-2 A-10) heads to Fordham on Thursday at 8 PM. The game will be nationally-broadcast on CSTV.
