Men's Basketball Edges George Washington, 55-53, in Final Minutes

Wednesday, January 16

Washington, DC

7:00 PM

Temple University

(12-4, 2-1 A-10)

George Washington

(7-9, 1-2 A-10)

Temple

George Washington

Photo by: Mitchell Leff

Men's Basketball Edges George Washington, 55-53, in Final Minutes

1.16.13 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

| Box Score (PDF) | Players Media Conference | Dunphy Media Conference

WASHINGTON - In a tale of two halves, Temple overcame a 10-point halftime deficit to eke out a 55-53 win at George Washington Wednesday night. The Owls, improved to 12-4 and 2-1 in the Atlantic 10, held the Colonials (7-9, 1-2) scoreless over the final 7:53 while tallying the final 10 points of the contest.

The Owls, who struggled mightily on offense on the first half, did not take their first lead in the contest until the final two minutes when two Khalif Wyatt free throws gave TU a 54-53 advantage. Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson, who came off the bench for the first time this season, made the front end of a one-and-one with 31 seconds remaining to account for the final score.

George Washington missed two shots to tie it on its final possession.   First Bryan Bynes was off the mark on a foul-line jumper and then Dwayne Smith's follow rimmed out with Anthony Lee corralling the rebound as the buzzer sounded.

Wyatt led all scorers with 18 points, but it took him 18 shots (5 made) to reach that total. Jake O'Brien, who made his second start of the season, was the only other Owl in double figures with 10 points. O'Brien, who made four of his six attempts, scored the first five points of the game-ending run.

Temple turned in its worst first half of the season, shooting a dismal 31.8 percent (7-22) overall and one-of-nine from three for 18 points. It was the lowest point total at the break this season.   George Washington did not shoot much better (40.%), but still owned a 28-18 lead at the break. It also marked the second largest deficit for the Owls at intermission this season.

Fired up coming out of the locker room, Temple went on an 11-3 run over the first three minutes of the second half to close the margin to two (31-29). Lee and Will Cummings each scored four in the stretch with Wyatt making two steals during the three minutes.

Twice the Owls would cut the deficit to a single point over the ensuing five minutes before the Colonials went on an 11-3 run with Bynes and Smith each draining treys in the three-plus minute span to make it 51-42.

A Wyatt three made it 51-45, but Isaiah Armstrong , who led GW with 13 points and nine rebounds, answered with a lay-up to push it to 53-42 with 7:53 remaining.   That would be the final points scored by the home team.

The Owls shot 48 percent (13-27) over the final 20 minutes to end the game at 20-49 (40.8%) from the field. TU was also eight-of-10 from the charity stripe after intermission and 11-of-14 overall.

Hollis-Jefferson, who played 32 minutes despite a bruised knee, scored seven points and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.   Lee added seven points and six rebounds.

Temple returns home to face defending Atlantic 10 Conference champion St. Bonaventure on Saturday (1:00 pm/CBS Sports Network/1210 AM WPHT).   The 10th Annual Owl Club Auction will also be held that day. The silent auction will take place on the main concourse at The Liacouras Center beginning at 11:30 a.m. The live auction will begin following the conclusion of the game in the Fox-Gittis room, located off the lobby of The Liacouras Center.