Temple University Athletics
Tyndale Leads Balanced Temple Attack In 96-82 Win At St. Bonnies
2.20.08 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 20, 2008
OLEAN, NY - Senior co-captain Mark Tyndale led five double figure scorers with 22 points as Temple posted a 96-82 win over St. Bonaventure at the Reilly Center Wednesday night. With the win, the Owls (14-11, 7-4) move into a second place tie in the Atlantic 10 Conference standings. SBU falls to 7-18, 1-10.
Fellow senior co-captain Chris Clark set a new career high for the fourth time this season, chipping in 20 points while junior Dionte Christmas matched his season scoring average (20.2 ppg,) with his 14 20-point game of the season. It marked just the second time in 27 years - and second straight season - that three TU players scored 20 points in the same game. Last season Christmas, Tyndale and Dustin Salisbery accomplished the feat in a win over Lafayette.
Sophomore Ryan Brooks added 15 points, his second straight double-figure game, while freshman Lavoy Allen, back in the starting lineup, chipped in 12 points, It was the third game this season that five Owls scored double figures this season.
"Anytime you can look at your box score and have five guys in double figures and three guys with 20 or more - that is a nice number for your team," said Temple coach Fran Dunphy. "It is great balance for us and any coach is envious of that type of performance by his team."
No Owl took more than 13 shots in the contest as the team shared the ball to the tune of a season-high 24 assists. The 96 points was also a season high and it was the most allowed by the Bonnies this season. Temple also shot a season high 58.3 percent of its field goal attempts.
Tyndale, who nearly posted a triple-double, dished a team and career high nine assists while tying Christmas for team honors with eight rebounds. Christmas also recorded a career-high seven assists. Clark dealt four assists against no turnovers in his 31 minutes off the bench while Brooks matched his career high with 34 minutes.
It was also the second straight game that two Temple players came off the bench to score 10 or more points. Despite all their offense, the Owls could not shake the young Bonnie squad until the final minutes of the contest.
Clark sparked the first major Temple run, draining two of his four three-pointers in a 13-0 run that gave the Owls a 41-23 advantage with five minutes to play in the first half. The lead moved to 19, before the Bonnies went on a 14-2 run to cut the deficit to 45-38 at intermission.
SBU closed to within four points twice early in the second half, the second time on a lay-up by Michael Lee, who scored a game-high 23 points. The Owls scored the next seven points with a Christmas trey making it 60-49 at the 12:55 mark. The Owls extended the margin to 14, 68-54, on six straight points with just under 10 minutes remaining and looked to have the game on cruise control.
That lead would blossom to 18 points, but SBU made a late run to bring it back to nine, 86-77, with 3:04 to play. Temple, which has made 64 of 69 free throws over the last four games, made all eight of its attempts - six by Clark - over the final 1;32 to close out the game. Tyndale, who extended his career-high streak to 28 straight on an eight-of-eight night, made the other two.
Temple, which is tied with Saint Joseph's and Richmond for second place in the A-10, hosts Fordham in a men's/women's doubleheader Saturdays. The women's team, which also plays Fordham, tips off at 1:00 p.m. with the men's game starting 30 minutes afterwards. The 1957-58 Owls team that won a school-record 25 games and advanced to the Final Four will be honored at halftime of the men's game. It is also Back to the Beach Day at the game. The first 3,000 fans ages 14 and under receive a Temple Owls Beach Bag, sponsored by Verizon Wireless
