Men's Basketball Drops Tightly Contested Road Game at UMass, 70-67

Thursday, November 17

Amherst, Mass.

7:00 p.m.

Temple University

1-2

UMass

2-1

Temple

Massachusetts

Photo by: Timothy D. Sofranko

Men's Basketball Drops Tightly Contested Road Game at UMass, 70-67

11.17.16 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

AMHERST, Mass. - In a game that saw nine ties and 17 lead changes, Temple came up just short in the end, falling 70-67 at UMass (2-1) in its first road game of the season. The Owls (1-2) had a chance to tie the game in the final seconds, but their attempt missed the mark.

Junior Obi Enechionyia tied his career high in scoring a game-high 26 points for Temple, marking his third 20-point effort in as many games to start the season. He scored 18 of his points in the second half, and hit 5-of-7 shots from long range in the contest.

UMass freshman DeJon Jarreau led his team with 16 points, scoring a three-pointer with 34 seconds left before also hitting a layup with seven seconds remaining.

Temple got six assists from both Daniel Dingle and Shizz Alston, Jr., setting or tying career highs for both. Alston added nine points and a career-high four steals, while Ernest Aflakpui led Temple with eight rebounds.

For a second game in a row, the Owls struggled from the field at the start of the game, but it didn't hurt them on the scoreboard as UMass never led by more than three. The teams were tied at just 5-5 after four minutes of action before both squads began to heat up, particularly from long range.

Enechionyia made back-to-back three-pointers, the second of which started a 12-0 run that gave Temple a 22-13 lead at the eight-minute mark. Freshman Damion Moore hit a jumper to close out the run, and would go on to make two more shots to start his collegiate career three-for-three from the field.

Nine points was as much separation as Temple would get in the game. The Owls led by seven with less than five minutes left in the period, but UMass used a 10-2 run to take a one-point lead with a minute and 34 seconds to go. Just before the break, Alston, Jr. got a steal and fed freshman Quinton Rose for a dunk to give Temple a 34-33 halftime lead.

Neither team led by more than three points for the final 17 minutes of what proved to be an extremely tightly contested game. The second half saw a total of six ties and 11 lead changes, but the Owls managed just two field goals in the final eight minutes. The second of those, a jumper by freshman Alani Moore II, put Temple ahead 67-65 with 50 seconds on the clock.

After Jarreau's three-pointer on the next possession for UMass, a Dingle trey attempt was rebounded by Luwane Pipkins who dished to Jarreau for the game-winning layup.

Temple will to rebound back on its home court as the Owls face Manhattan at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 20 in the NIT Season Tip-Off (ESPN3 / 1210 AM WPHT).

Box Score (PDF)