Temple University Athletics
Owls Cruise Past Fordham 72-45
2.18.09 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 18, 2009
PHILADELPHIA -With just six regular-season games remaining to state its case for an NCAA Tournament bid, the Temple men's basketball team wasted no time with Fordham, as the Owls (16-9, 8-3) cruised past the Rams 72-45 on Wednesday night from the Liacouras Center.
Sophomore Lavoy Allen added his ninth double-double of the season, leading the Owls with 19 points -15 of which came in the second half - and 11 rebounds. Sophomore Craig Williams added 11 points on 3-of-4 shooting from behind the arc, while tying a career-high with eight rebounds. All-America candidate Dionte Christmas scored 14 points, while junior Ryan Brooks chipped in with 10 points.
With the victory, the Owls move to 8-3 in Atlantic 10 play, moving into sole-posession of third place behind Dayton (9-2) and Xavier (9-2).
The Owls finished the game shooting 50% from the floor while holding the Rams (3-20, 1-10) to just 29% shooting. Thanks to Allen and Williams, the Cherry and White owned the glass on the night, out-rebounding Fordham 41-31.
While many may have thought the Owls would dominate Fordham - losers of 12 of their last 13 games - from the get-go, the pesky Rams hung around with the Cherry and White for much of the first half.
After the Owls jumped out to an early 12-3 lead, the Rams got back into the game thanks to three three-pointers, four Owls turnovers and a poor shooting stretch for the Cherry and White. Zach Wing's lay-up with 8:04 tied the game 18-18.
"You have to respect each team, you have to respect each player, and you have to respect each game. When you don't do that, this is what can happend," said head coach Fran Dunphy.
With the score 20-19, the Cherry and White were finally able to create some separation from the Rams thanks to a 13-4 run over the final four minutes of the half.
Following consecutive buckets by Brooks and senior Sergio Olmos, Allen slammed the ball home off an offensive board to extend the lead to 26-19. With under one minute remaining and the score at 30-20, Williams the connected on his second three of the first half from the left-wing to build the lead to 33-20.The Cherry and White headed to the locker room with a 33-22 lead.
In the second half, the Owls found themselves leading throughout, but it would take an 18-4 run that stretched over an eight-minute portion of the second stanza to finally put the Rams away. The run was aided by the Owls' defense, which forced the Rams to miss 14-of-17 shots from the field during the stretch.
On the offensive end, it was the play of Allen that helped the Owls put the game out of reach. With the Cherry and White up 45-31 and under 12 minutes to play in the game, Allen caught fire. He scored eight of the Owls' next nine points, extending the lead to 54-33.
Most comforting to Owls' fans may be that Allen - who struggled from the line in last week's win at Saint Joseph's - finished 7-for-7 from the line during that stretch.
The final nail in the coffin came when Christmas drilled a wide-open three-pointer - his first of the game - to extend the lead to 57-33 with 7:45 remaining.
Speedy freshman Jio Fontan led the Rams with 14 points.
With the win, the Owls have now won seven consecutive games from the Liacouras Center and are 7-1 at home for the season.
The Owls return to the Liacouras Center this Sunday when they continue their late-season push against Saint Bonaventure. Action is slated to begin 2:00 p.m. The first 3,000 fans ages 14 and over entering the Liacouras Center for the Owls' game against St. Bonaventure (2:00 p.m.) will receive Dionte Christmas bobblehead doll, sponsored by the Philadelphia Federal Credit Union. The promotion is part of the season long All-America campaign, "Five Months of Christmas", highlighting the two-time defending Atlantic 10 Conference scoring champion.
