Temple University Athletics
Temple Suffers Hard-Fought 74-64 Loss To #7/9 Duke
1.9.08 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 9, 2008
PHILADELPHIA - Temple rallied from a 19-point second half deficit to draw within eight with 8:01 to play but could not get any closer in a hard-fought 74-64 loss to #7/9 Duke at the Wachovia Center on Wednesday night. Junior Dionte Christmas scored 18 of his 23 points in the second half and combined with senior Mark Tyndale (20 points) to pour in all but eight of Temple's second half points.
Trailing by 16 at the half and by as many as 19 with 15:00 remaining, it looked as if the Blue Devils would walk away with their eighth straight win against Temple. Christmas, however, would not let that happen without a fight.
The junior sharpshooter scored 15 straight points, and nine in an 11-0 TU run to make it 53-45 Duke with 8:01 to play. After a sluggish first stanza, Christmas found his rhythm after halftime and willed his team back into the game.
"He did not have a good first half," said Temple coach Fran Dunphy. "He tried to force a few things. He was out of sorts a bit in that first half, but he really rallied and put us on his back in the second half and he gave us a chance to cut it to eight points."
Tyndale, who was playing with four fouls for most of the second half, kept it within striking distance down the stretch. He scored 12 of his 18 points with less than four minutes to play, allowing Temple remain in the contest.
The crowd of 18,030, which was primarily pro-Duke early on, got behind the Owls during the second half. Temple fed off its enthusiasm but failed to convert on several opportunities at the rim and could not get any closer than eight points.
"You can't be down 16 at the half and expect to make your run and be right where you want to be," said Dunphy. "It was nice that we hustled and we hung in there and cut it to eight. We have to pay more attention to detail and when we get it to he basket, we gotta finish it."
Duke came into the game as the nation's sixth-best scoring team at 86.3 ppg. and with Temple's struggles on the defensive end this season, it appeared like it would be a monumental challenge to keep the Blue Devils in check. Temple (6-7) gave a valiant effort and held the visitors to their second lowest-output this season in points (74) and field goal percentage (38.2%).
"I was pleased with the defense for the most part," said Dunphy. "Two just fantastic threes by Taylor King at the start of the half, but for the most part our defense was ok."
While the offense ran a little smoother in the second half for the Owls, the first half was a struggle to even get good shots. Duke's over-playing man-to-man defense forced the hosts into several off-balanced shots and Temple scored a season-low 23 first-half points.
The deep Blue Devils (12-1) placed four players in double-figures, led by Taylor King's 15. Greg Paulus and Demarcus Nelson added 13 points each, while Jon Scheyer netted 10. Local-product Gerald Henderson (Episcopal Academy) was held to five.
Sophomore Ryan Brooks added seven points and a career-high nine rebounds for the Cherry and White, but the Owls continued to search for a consistent scoring option after Christmas and Tyndale. The one-two punch combined for 43 of Temple's 64 points in the contest.
Freshman Lavoy Allen battled foul trouble and had a game-high four blocks, but scored just four points on 2-for-6 shooting.
Duke, who was playing on the road for the first time in 13 contests despite five neutral games, has won eight straight in the series and 10 of the last 11 meetings.
The Owls travel to Charlotte on Saturday at 7:00 PM for the Atlantic 10 opener. The game will be broadcast on WPHT 1210 AM and will be video streamed by Yahoo! Sports.
