Men's Basketball Wins Seventh Straight on Hooter's Birthday, 66-53 Over East Carolina

Saturday, February 14

Liacouras Center

2:00 p.m.

Temple University

19-7, 10-3

East Carolina

11-14, 4-8

East Carolina

Temple

Photo by: Joseph V. Labolito/Temple University

Men's Basketball Wins Seventh Straight on Hooter's Birthday, 66-53 Over East Carolina

2.14.15 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - For the 10th time in as many seasons, Temple men's basketball gave Hooter the Owl a birthday win, taking down visiting East Carolina 66-53 on Saturday afternoon. Temple (19-7, 10-3) began celebrating Hooter's Birthday in 2005-06 and the Owls have since gone 10-0 on the mascot's special day.

It was the Owls' seventh-straight win, putting them just one away from a 20-win season. Temple never trailed in the contest, and led by double digits for the entire second half.

Senior guard Will Cummings was Temple's leading scorer for a second game in a row with 17 points, while junior forward Jaylen Bond had a monster game on the glass with a game-high 16 rebounds.

The Owls' 49 team rebounds were just one shy of their season high, and they finished with a 19-2 advantage in second-chance points with 18 offensive rebounds to ECU's five. Redshirt sophomore Daniel Dingle grabbed a career-high nine rebounds while Cummings added seven.

Senior guard Jesse Morgan hit three treys on his way to 14 points, and sophomore guard Josh Brown also finished in double figures with 10 points.

Thanks to a 30-10 rebound advantage in the first half, Temple was able to take an early lead and hold on it throughout the opening period. The Owls' first double-digit lead came eight and a half minutes in, 16-6, and they would go on to lead by 16 at the half.

ECU (11-14, 4-8) came within six just past the eight-minute mark, but from there it was all Temple the rest of the way. The Owls out-scored the Pirates 15-5 to finish the half, including a 10-1 closing run. Morgan's second trey of the game with a minute left was the final bucket of the half, giving Temple a 34-18 lead at the break.

Bond had 10 rebounds in the first half alone , while Morgan and Mark Williams led the Owls with eight points apiece. Only two ECU starters scored in the first half and Temple held those two to just a combined nine points.

Temple built its lead to as many as 18 in the second half, and never let ECU come within fewer than 11. Cummings scored seven of his 13 second-half points at the free throw line, making all of his attempts from the stripe.

Morgan made a layup to give the Owls an 18-point lead with 4:20 remaining, and both teams went cold in the final minutes. The Pirates scored the game's last five points in the final minute, including a trey with 14 seconds remaining.

Temple will take its seven-game win streak on the road for a pair of tough contests next week, starting with a 7:00 p.m. game at #25/25 SMU on Thursday, Feb. 19 (ESPN/2/1210 AM WPHT).

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