Temple University Athletics
Temple University
1-3
Clemson
4-0
Men's Basketball Falls to Clemson, 72-58, in the Quarterfinals of the Charleston Classic
11.21.13 | Men's Basketball
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CHARLESTON, SC -Â Â With a run that started in the final minutes of the first half and continued in the second, Clemson (4-0) erased a double-digit deficit and went on to defeat Temple men's basketball, 72-58, in the quarterfinals of the 2013 Charleston Classic. The Owls (1-3) will face Georgia (1-2) in their second game of the tournament at 7:00 p.m. Friday on ESPN3.
The Owls got a career-high 22 points from junior Will Cummings, but Temple was held without a field goal in the final five minutes as the Tigers closed on a 16-3 run.
After five ties and three lead changes by the midway point of the first half, Quenton DeCosey exploded for 12 points in a 14-2 run that put the Owls ahead by 12, 32-20 with 3:38 left.
DeCosey was the third Temple player to score buckets in quick succession, after Dalton Pepper put up the Owls' first five points of the game, and Cummings scored eight points in a three-minute span leading up to the midway point of the half.
The 14-2 run was capped by a pair of free throws for DeCosey at 3:38, but the Owls would get just one more bucket the rest of the way.
Clemson's K.J. McDaniels and Rod Hall combined for nine of the Tigers' points in an 11-2 closing run, pulling their team within three, 34-31, at the break. Temple hit just one of its final six attempts from the field in the first half, a layup by Anthony Lee at 1:22.
The Tigers run continued to start the second half, and over an eight-minute span from the first period to the second, Clemson out-scored Temple 23-6 to take a five-point lead less than five minutes into the second half.
Cummings hit back-to-back three-pointers to help the Owls regain the lead near the 13 minute mark. The game was neck-and-neck for a stretch, with Cummings' layup at 9:11 breaking his previous career high and also tying the game for the eighth and final time at 51-51.
After Clemson went back up by five, 56-51, Lee and Pepper hit back-to-back buckets to put the Owls back within a point, but Pepper's long two-pointer with 5:12 remaining would be Temple's final field goal of the contest.
The Tigers' 16-3 closing run began with two old-fashioned three-point plays, and they were solid at the free throw line as they continued to pull away.
DeCosey finished with 15 points for Temple, and Lee pulled down a team-high nine rebounds.
