Temple University Athletics
Temple University
Northern Illinois
#18/19 Temple Completes December Sweep With 70-60 Win At Northern Illinois
12.30.09 | Men's Basketball
Owls improve to 11-2, face #1/1 Kansas Saturday
Boxscore
DeKALB, IL - Juan Fernandez and Ryan Brooks combined for 45 points to lead #18/19 Temple to its seventh win, a 70-60 decision over Northern Illinois Wednesday night at the Convocation Center. With the win the Owls (11-2) completed a perfect month of December (7-0) for the first time since the 1987-88 team won all seven of its December contests.
Fernandez, who has scored more than 20 points in three of the last four games, hit three early treys to jump start the Owls offense. Ramone Moore, who had a career-high 17 points on Monday in a win over Bowling Green, added a three to give Temple its largest lead, 27-9, with 8:30 remaining in the half.
The Owls led 29-12 when the host Huskies finally showed some life. Xavier Silas, who matched Fernandez' game-high 26 points, scored 10 straight NIU points, including three triples, in a 12-2 run to end the frame. That left Temple leading at the break, 31-24.
The Huskies came out of the locker room energized, cutting the Owls lead to a bucket, 33-31, on a 7-2 run that was capped by a Silas jumper.
The teams traded baskets before Fernandez drained his fourth trey. Brooks, who tallied 19 points, then made a steal and drove down the court and was fouled on a layup. He made the subsequent free throw to push the margin to eight.
After a Sean Kowal jumper, Fernandez scored four points and a Luis Guzman (8 points) layup off a nice feed from Scootie Randall gave the Owls a 47-35 lead. NIU, which never led in the contest, would not cut the margin below nine the remainder of the game.
"I thought that's where I thought our toughness showed," Temple coach Fran Dunphy said. "Fernandez made a three and we made a couple of really good plays to push the lead back out."
Temple (11-2) now focuses its attention on its next game, a date against the top-ranked team in the nation, Kansas, in a nationally-televised (espn2), sold-out game at the Liacouras Center Saturday (1210 AM WPHT).
"We stressed all through the week to stay focused," said Brooks. "With three games this week, each one was treated as the most important game of the year. (Now) we're very excited for the opportunity we have and the position we've put ourselves in."
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