Cummings' 22 Points Lead Men's Basketball Past Towson, 76-64

Wednesday, December 10

Liacouras Center

8:00 p.m.

Temple University

6-3

Towson

7-3

Towson

Temple

Will Cummings

Photo by: Mike McAtee

Cummings' 22 Points Lead Men's Basketball Past Towson, 76-64

12.10.14 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - With a big second half fueled by senior Will Cummings, Temple men's basketball powered past visiting Towson (7-3) on Wednesday evening, 76-64. Cummings scored 15 of his game and season-high 22 points at the free throw line for the Owls (6-3), tying for third all-time for most free throws made in a game at the Liacouras Center.

Temple recorded a 50-point half for the first time this season with 51 second-half points on 50 percent shooting from the field. That came after a much different first half in which the Owls scored just 25 points and shot just under 30 percent.

Three players finished in double figures for Temple in addition to Cummings, with junior Jaylen Bond coming just one rebound short of a double-double, adding nine boards to 10 points. Junior Quenton DeCosey hit 9-of-11 from the stripe on his way to 16 points, and redshirt sophomore Daniel Dingle hit 3-of-6 from long range en route to 11 points.

The game started slow for both teams, and the Owls were without a field goal until a Dingle three-pointer over six minutes in. That shot tied the game at 5-5, and three more ties followed before Temple took a lead for good with a 6-0 run.

Bond recorded a couple of putbacks in the final four minutes to help Temple keep the lead. Cummings and DeCosey each hit a trey in the final minute and 20 seconds to give the Owls an eight-point, 25-17 lead, but a last-second three-pointer for Towson cut Temple's lead to 25-20 at halftime.

The Owls opened the second half looking like the much stronger team, getting inside and quickly using a 13-6 run to take their largest lead of 12, 38-26. After Towson pulled within seven a few minutes later, another quick 8-0 run for the Owls put the margin at 15, 48-33 with 11:34 to go.

Much like in their recent win vs. La Salle, the Owls' free throw shooting carried them through much of the second half. It proved crucial down the stretch, as the Tigers later exploded from behind the arc. Towson's Four McGlynn and Alex Gavrilovic each hit two treys in a three-minute stretch, leading to a 12-2 run for the Tigers.

That run cut Temple's lead down to as few as six, and the Tigers came within six on two more occasions, but would come no closer. After going 6-of-10 at the line in the first half, the Owls went 20-of-24 in the second. Eleven of those second-half free throws came from Cummings, who scored 15 of his 22 points in the latter period.

Sophomore Josh Brown gave the Owls a 10-point lead on a layup with 1:33 remaining, and free-throw shooting kept the lead in double digits the rest of the way. Brown finished with eight points, and freshman Obi Enechionyia had a strong game off the bench as well with seven points, five boards and a season-high four blocks.

Temple's next game will be its final Philadelphia Big 5 contest of the season, as the Owls travel across town to #7/7 Villanova for a 2:00 p.m. game (FoxSports One/1210 AM WPHT) on Sunday, Dec. 14. With a win, Temple would clinch a share of the Big 5 title along with the Wildcats.

Box Score l Photo Gallery