Temple University Athletics
Men's Basketball Pulls Away From Lafayette, 71-55
11.21.08 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 21, 2008
EASTON, Pa - All-America candidate Dionte Christmas scored 29 points and grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds as Temple pulled away from Lafayette for a 71-55 victory Friday night.
Senior Semaj Inge added 11 points, starting once again for the injured Sergio Olmos, and junior Ryan Brooks netted 10 points to round out the Owls' in double figures. The Owls dominated the glass and used a tremendous defensive effort to hold off the upstart Leopards. The Cherry and White finished a 47-37 rebounding advantage and forced 18 Lafayette turnovers.
On a chilly November night in Easton, it took nearly the entire half for Christmas and the Owls to heat up. With neither team able to find much of a rhythm to start the game (both teams shot under 40% for the half), the Cherry and White jumped out to a 9-3 lead in the opening minutes until the Leopards stormed back. Lafayette's Darion Benbow drilled a jumper with 11:10 remaining in the half to cap a 11-2 run and give the Leopards a 14-11 lead.
With the Owls unable to find their stroke from behind the arc, they got a boost off the bench from freshman Scootie Randall. He added seven points off the bench at a critical stretch late in the first, and his put back with 3:12 remaining gave the Owls their first lead in over 10 minutes at 32-30.
And just as the first half was winding down, Christmas began to heat up for the Owls. The two-time Atlantic 10 scoring champion netted eight consecutive points as part of a 12-2 Temple run in the final two minutes of the first half to give the Owls a 40-32 lead at the half.
The Owls would carry that momentum into the second half, as the Owls' athleticism simply began to wear the Leopards down. The Cherry and White opened up the half on 10-2 run thanks in part to a stifling defense that held the Leopards to 33% shooting and 23 points for the half.
The Cherry and White essentially sealed the game when Christmas' fourth three-pointer of the game with 9:21 left to play extended the lead to 22 and out of reach for the Leopards sealing the game for the Owls.
For the Leopards (2-1), Jeff Keri scored a career-high 16 points and grabbed 8 rebounds.
The Owls return to action on Saturday, November 29th when they travel north to take on Buffalo. Action is slated to begin at 4:00 p.m. and can be heard on The BigTalker, 1210 AM WPHT.
