Temple University Athletics
UMass Rallies Late To Beat Temple, 79-75
1.17.09 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 17, 2009
AMHERST, MA - UMass went on a 9-0 run in the closing minutes to break open a back and forth game and defeat Temple, 79-75, on Saturday night at the Mullins Center. Senior Dionte Christmas led all scorers with 26 points and junior Ryan Brooks added 17. Temple, which had its four-game win streak end, falls to 9-7, 1-1 while UMass improves to 7-9, 2-1.
A national audience (espn2) saw the Atlantic 10 Conference's two premier scorers in Christmas and UMass senior guard Ricky Harris go head-to-head. Christmas, who is trying to become the first player in league history to win the straight scoring titles, built on his A-10 best average (21.6 ppg.), but it was Harris who delivered the finishing touches to the Minutemen's closing run.
After senior forward Tony Gaffney (14 points, 3 blocks) came up with a loose ball in the lane and finished with a reverse lay-up to put UMass ahead, 71-70, with 2:34 remaining, Harris, who had a team-high 24 points, scored seven straight to make it 78-70 with 33 seconds on the clock.
"That is when we needed to get a stop," said Temple coach Fran Dunphy. Gaffney made some big shots, he definitely affected the game."
Lavoy Allen (11 points) drained a contested three from the right corner, and then the Owls stole the ball off the inbounds, but a Semaj Inge trey missed the mark, ending any comeback attempt.
The Owls started strong, taking a 15-5 lead by the first media timeout. Christmas (8 pts) and sophomore forward Craig Williams (5 pts) combined for 13 in the opening run.
The margin hovered around that mark until the Cherry and White, which hit nine of its first 13 shots, cooled off from the perimeter. UMass went on a 12-3 run over a four-minute stretch to close to within two, 27-25, on a three-pointer by Anthony Gurley (16 pts). Christmas stopped than run with a jumper, but the Minutemen answered with a Harris three-pointer and a basket by senior Chris Lowe to take the lead, 30-29, with four minutes remaining.
Lowe, who ran the UMass attack to perfection, posted a double-double, scoring 13 points and dishing 11 assists. He also grabbed six boards and only turned the ball over twice.
Temple closed the half on an 8-3 run with Brooks scoring five of his 12 first half points.
UMass quickly tied the game at the start of the second half, and the crowd of 7,182 fans was treated to a back-and-forth battle which brought back memories of the intense contests during the John Calipari-John Chaney years.
The half featured 11 lead changes and three ties. It also saw Gurley convert a four-point play, and on the next possession he was fouled again while making a trey. The UMass sophomore failed on that free throw attempt which kept the Minutemen lead at 63-58 with 8:18 to play,
Christmas, who passed Nate Blackwell and former teammate Mark Tyndale to move into seventh place on the TU all-time scoring lsit with 1,726 points, tallied six straight points to give the Owls a 64-63 advantage.
Micheal Eric made a jumper to increase the Cherry and White lead. A Gaffney lay-up and another Gurley three put UMass back ahead, 69-66. Allen then made a lay-up off a nice feed from Williams and Brooks drained two free throws to setup the closing UMass run.,
Temple, which has played 13 of its first 16 games away from the Liacouras Center, returns to its home arena for a two-game homestand starting Thursday night against Saint Louis (8:00 PM/CBS College Sports/1210 AM WPHT).
"It will be nice to have two home games in a row," Dunphy said. "We will not know how to act probably. I wish our first 16 were at home, but that is just the way the schedule falls."
The Owls conclude their mini-homestand with a Saturday night game against Charlotte (6:00 PM/ESPNU/1210 AM WPHT). At halftime of that game John Chaney and Dr. Ray Moyer will be introduced to the crowd as the latest members of the Temple Athletics Hall of Fame.
The duo will be formally inducted at a ceremony held at Mitten Hall, which begins at 3:00 p.m. with a cocktail reception including heavy hors d'oeuvres. To reserve tickets to the event at $75 per person ($90 includes a ticket to the game), contact Barbara Hawkins at 215-204-2587 or bhawkins@temple.edu. One may also reserve tickets, or make a donation to support the event by going to www.myowlspace.com
