Temple University Athletics
Temple University
15-5,(4-2, A-10)
Saint Joseph's
13-9,(3-4, A-10)
Temple Handles Saint Joseph's in Front of Soldout Liacouras Center, 78-60
1.28.12 | Men's Basketball
Box Score (PDF) | Gallery | Dunphy Video | Players Video
PHILADELPHIA - For the second straight game Temple opened up a double-figure first half lead and never looked back. This time it came against A10/Big 5 rival Saint Joseph's as the Owls won their 10th straight against the Hawks, 78-60, in front 10,302 fans, the second largest crowd in the building's history. With its fourth straight win Temple improves to 15-5 overall and 4-2 in A10 play. St. Joe's falls to 13-9, 3-4.
Senior guards Ramone Moore and Juan Fernandez led the way for the Owls, which shot a season-best 60 percent (30-50) from the field and 53.3 percent (8-15) from three-point range. The duo combined for 32 of the Owls' 38 first half points, hitting 13 of 17 shots, including six-of seven from long range. That accuracy enabled Temple to breeze to a 38-24 lead at intermission.
Fernandez, who had 17 points on the day, started things off for Temple, scoring the Owls first seven points for a 7-4 TU lead. Baskets by Ronald Roberts (17 pts, 10 rebs) and Daryus Quarles gave SJU a brief 8-7 lead, but Temple would answer with a 17-2 run spearheaded by Moore (10 pts) and Fernandez (5 pts) to make it 24-10 with 7:55 remaining in the half.
Temple did not let the visitors up for air, instead extending the advantage to 16 points twice before the end of the period.
Khalif Wyatt, held scoreless over the first 20 minutes, tallied eight points before the first media timeout of the second half as Temple started the period on a 14-4 run to take a 52-28 lead with just under 17 minutes to play.
The lead would hover in the 20s for nearly the entire second half as Temple shot 63.6 percent from the field in the stanza.
Moore, the A10's leading scorer, finished with a game-high 21 points on eight-of-13 shooting. Graduate center Micheal Eric had his first double figure scoring effort since his return, scoring 11 points (5-7 FGs) while Wyatt added 10 points and a career-best eight assists. He also made a game-high four steals.
Temple next hosts Fordham on Wednesday, February 1 (7:00 p.m./OwlAccess/1210 AM WPHT).
