Men's Basketball Edged 74-68 by #16/16 Utah in Puerto Rico Tip-Off Finale

Sunday, November 22

San Juan, Puerto Rico

4:30 p.m.

Temple University

1-3

Utah

4-1

Temple

Utah

Photo by: Eric Espada

Men's Basketball Edged 74-68 by #16/16 Utah in Puerto Rico Tip-Off Finale

11.22.15 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Playing its third Top 25 team in its first four games, Temple men's basketball came up just short in a 74-68 loss to #16/16 Utah in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off third-place game on Sunday evening. The Owls (1-3) trailed by 14 in the second half before coming back to lead the Utes (4-1) by a point in the final minutes.

Temple trailed by double digits as late as 9:21, 59-48 before using its long range shooting ability to come all the way back. The Owls made six second-half three-pointers, the last of which gave them a 64-63 lead at the three-minute mark. After three more lead changes and a tie with 58 seconds left, Utah's Jakob Poeltl made 4-of-4 at the line as the Utes closed the game on a 6-0 run.

Poeltl was an obstacle for the Owls all game long, and finished with a double-double of 32 points and 11 rebounds. He hit 10-of-12 from the field and 12-of-14 from the stripe.

Senior Quenton DeCosey led Temple for a second game in a row, scoring 14 points and tying for the team-high with five rebounds. Sophomore Obi Enechionyia also scored in double figures with 13, while freshman Levan Shawn Alston, Jr. finished with nine. Alston hit 3-of-4 from long range, hitting two of those to provide a second-half spark for Temple.

Foul trouble plagued the Owls all game long. In the first half they got to the line for just two shots while Utah went 15-of-17. The second half saw Utah attempt another 17 free throws, with the Owls getting just seven. Poeltl scored 17 first-half points for the Utes, including 7-of-7 from the stripe.

After trailing 10-4 early, the Owls rattled off a 13-4 run that included a trio of three-pointers to take a three-point, 17-14 lead just past the midway point of the first half. They still led at the 8:07 mark, 21-19, but the Utes out-scored Temple 20-9 the rest of the way for a 39-30 halftime lead. Nine of Utah's points in that stretch were scored at the free-throw line.

DeCosey scored 12 first-half points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field, but no other Owl scored more than four in the opening period.

Utah opened the second half with a 5-0 run and kept its lead in double digits for the first five minutes. The Owls used a 7-0 run to come within five, 50-45 at 13:52, but were unable to get that close again until after the seven-minute mark.

Junior Daniel Dingle was a key factor in the Owls' comeback, scoring all five of his points in a three-minute stretch while also recording all of his game and career-high five assists in the second half. His second bucket gave the game its final tie at 68-68 with 58 seconds remaining before the Owls went scoreless the rest of the way.

Temple will be back in action in its home opener against Delaware, set for 5 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 29 (ESPN3/1210 AM WPHT).