Men's Basketball's Late Comeback Attempt Thwarted at Saint Joseph's, 58-56

Wednesday, December 3

Hagan Arena

6:30 p.m.

Temple University

4-3, 1-1Big 5

Saint Joseph's

4-3, 1-0Big 5

Temple

Saint Joseph's

Photo by: Joseph V. Labolito/Temple University

Men's Basketball's Late Comeback Attempt Thwarted at Saint Joseph's, 58-56

12.3.14 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA (Hagan Arena) - After a frenetic comeback in the final minutes, Temple men's basketball's attempt to tie in the final seconds fell short in a 58-56 Philadelphia Big 5 loss at Saint Joseph's (4-3) on Wednesday night. Hagan Arena was filled with a capacity crowd of 4,200 for the game, making the atmosphere a tough one all evening for the Owls (4-3).

Temple held the Hawks without a field goal for over eight minutes and 30 seconds to close the game, using a 14-4 run to come within a point in the final minute after trailing by as many as 12 in the contest. Saint Joseph's hit just one of two at the line with 11 seconds left, but both of the Owls' final shot attempts missed the mark. Temple held SJU to 25 percent shooting (6-of-24) in the second half, while hitting 46.4 percent (13-of-28).

Junior Quenton DeCosey led all players with a season-high 22 points for Temple, and senior Will Cummings also scored in double figures with 13. Both players tied for game-high honors with four assists. Sophomore Josh Brown came off the bench to grab a career-high nine rebounds to lead the Owls.

After an early 5-2 lead, the rest of the first half saw very little go the Owls' way. Nine first-half turnovers proved extremely costly, especially with the Hawks committing just two.

Saint Joseph's used a 7-0 run to take a 9-5 lead after three and a half minutes of action, and the Hawks continued to lead the rest of the way. Temple had a number of shots rim out, and the Owls also lost opportunities at the free throw line. For a four-minute stretch late in the half, neither team hit a field goal until DeCosey ended the drought with a three-pointer at 2:20 to narrow a 10-point gap to seven.

In the final minutes of the half, a pair of free throws, also from DeCosey, were the only points by Temple. The Hawks' Isaiah Miles hit a dagger of a three-pointer at the halftime buzzer to give SJU its largest lead of the game at the break, 34-22.

DeCosey led all players at halftime with 11 points, after being the only Owl to score in the final seven minutes of the period.

The teams traded buckets for the first seven minutes of the second half, and it was close to the 12-minute mark before the Owls were first to finally string together more than one bucket. With a 6-0 run, Temple cut a 12-point deficit to six, 45-39 on a Cummings layup.

With five minutes to go, the Hawks had widened the lead back to 11, but then the Owls began to do some damage. Brown hit a jumper to start what became an 8-0 run, putting Temple within three at 55-52 with two minutes left. One minute later and down five, DeCosey hit a pair at the line and freshman Obi Enechionyia stole the ball on the Hawks' next possession. Brown recorded a putback to cut the margin to one, 57-56.

Saint Joseph's Isaiah Miles hit just 1-of-2 at the line after Temple was forced to foul with 12 seconds left, but at the other end the Owls came up empty as shots by both Cummings and DeCosey missed the mark.

Miles finished with 20 points to lead the Hawks, while also leading the team with nine boards.

Box Score