Temple University Athletics
Streaking Owls Fly Past Penn 78-53
1.14.09 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 14, 2009
PHILADELPHIA - The weather outside may have been frigid, but there was nothing chilly about the Temple offense, as the Owls (9-6, 1-0) shot a sizzling 54% from the field and drilled a season-high 13 three-pointers en route to a 78-53 victory over Big Five rival Penn from the historic Palestra on Wednesday evening.
With the win, the Owls extended their season-high win streak to four games. The 25-point margin of victory is the third largest in series history and largest in an Owls' win since 1988 (84-50).
All-America candidate and reigning Big Five Player of the Week Dionte Christmas had one of his best shooting nights of the season. He scored 25 points and shot a perfect 5-5 from beyond the arc to lead the potent Owls' offense. Christmas also led the Owls with nine rebounds. Sophomore Craig Williams continued his sudden rise to stardom, scoring a career-high 17 points, matching Christmas with five three-pointers.
"Our offense has improved alot since the start of the season. With Craig hitting shots and Juan passing the ball, it opens everything up for myself, Ryan and Lavoy," said Christmas.
The victory over the Quakers carries extra significance for Temple head coach Fran Dunphy, who coached at Penn for 17 seasons. The victory was Dunphy's second consecutive over the Quakers and his first as a visitor at the Palestra.
"This was better than the first time I came back. That was almost too much. I felt bad for the kids, " said Dunphy about his second trip to the Palestra to face the Quakers. "This was much more low key. It's always great to come back here. I had 17 great seasons with Penn. But time marches on."
Unlike some of the slow paced, knock-down-drag-out Big Five battles of the past, the tempo in the first half was played at the speed of a NASCAR race. There were no fouls called on either team until 8:43 left in the first half and the athletically superior Owls used that quick pace to turn the game into an early shootout. The Owls scored a staggering 22 points before the first media time-out.
Up 13-5 just four minutes into the game, the Owls quickly set the tone with a barrage of three-pointers. Ryan Brooks hit back-to-back treys, while Christmas and Williams each added their second three-pointers all in a two minute span, giving the Owls a commanding 25-7 lead with 13:20 left in the first half.
Not wanting to go down without a fight in a Big Five contest, the Quakers (3-8) would rally behind the play of their bench. Harrison Gaines came off the bench to spark the offense with eight consecutive points as part of a 10-0 Quaker run. The Owls' lead was cut to 25-17 with 9:01 left in the first half.
While the play of Gaines briefly gave the Quakers a glimmer of hope, the Cherry and White took it away just as quickly from behind the arc, taking control of the game for good. Christmas responded with his third three of the half to halt the Quaker run, extending the lead to 28-17. Minutes later, freshman phenom Juan Fernandez drove to the baseline and tossed a perfect alley-oop to a wide-open Sergio Olmos, who slammed the ball home to extend the Owls lead to 31-17 with 6:21 remaining.
The final dagger came when Christmas scored the two final points of his dominating first half on a breakaway lay-up with 1:15 left in the first half - extending the lead to 40-24 and effectively putting the game out of reach. The Owls took a 42-24 lead heading into the locker rooms.
It was more of the same in the second half. Behind four more three-pointers from Christmas and Williams, the Owls extended the lead to 63-34 with 11:35 remaining in the game. The Owls lead by 30 points on three different occasions in the second half.
Junior Ryan Brooks and Olmos each added eight points for the Cherry and White, while Fernandez dished out five assists.
Zack Rosen lead the Quakers with 12 points.
The Owls will conclude their three-game road swing on Saturday, Jan. 17, when they travel to UMass for their second A-10 contest of the season. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m . The game can be seen on ESPN2.
