Temple University Athletics
Men's Basketball Makes Home Debut Wednesday Against Miami (OH)
12.1.08 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 1, 2008
PHILADELPHIA - The Temple men's basketball team makes its 2008-09 Liacouras Center debut Wednesday night in the second game of a men's/women's doubleheader. The Owls, 3-2 on the season, host one of the top teams in the Mid-American Conference, Miami of Ohio, at 7:30 p.m. with the TU women's team taking on Dartmouth in the opening game at 5:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on The BigTalker, 1210 AM WPHT and can be viewed on OwlAccess.
All-America candidate Dionte Christmas continues to lead the Owls and the Atlantic 10 Conference with a 24.0 scoring average. The 6-5 senior guard also is pulling down 8.2 rebounds per game, second to sophomore Lavoy Allen (9.0 rpg.), while making a team-high 19 three-pointers. Allen, who suffered a fractured left thumb in the team's win at Lafayette (Nov. 21), missed the team's loss at Buffalo Saturday and his playing status will be a game-time decision.
Senior center Sergio Olmos returned to the lineup against Buffalo after missing the first four games due to an ankle sprain. The 7-0 Spaniard scored 12 points on six-of-10 shooting while playing 27 minutes in the contest. Junior guard Ryan Brooks (13.6 ppg.) also scores in double figures for head coach Fran Dunphy's Owls while junior guard Luis Guzman and senior guard Semaj Inge top the team in assists with 27 and 21, respectively.
Miami, under the direction of 13th-year head coach Charlie Coles, entered the season picked second behind Kent State in the MAC East Division. The RedHawks are led by senior forward Michael Bramos (14.2 ppg.), a preseason all-league selection. Senior guard Kenny Hayes leads the team in scoring with a 16.6 average.
The Owls own a 3-1 edge in the series that dates back to the 1967-68 season, but the RedHawks won the last meeting, 66-58, in Oxford, OH on Nov. 30, 2000.
