Men's Basketball Holds on for 74-65 Win Over DePaul at Hoophall Miami Invitational

Saturday, December 10

Miami, Fla.

11:30 a.m.

Temple University

7-3

DePaul

5-3

DePaul

Photo by: Timothy D. Sofranko

Men's Basketball Holds on for 74-65 Win Over DePaul at Hoophall Miami Invitational

12.10.16 | Men's Basketball

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MIAMI - The big lead built by Temple men's basketball proved necessary in the end, as the Owls (7-3) were able to hold off a comeback attempt by DePaul (5-3) for a 74-65 win on Saturday at the Hoophall Miami Invitational.

Temple was up by as many as 25 points in the second half, and still led by 23 with 7:17 remaining before a 20-2 run got DePaul within five points in the final minute. The Owls were a little shaky at the stripe with the Blue Demons in pursuit, but made 4-of-6 free throws the rest of the way to seal the win.

Four Owls scored in double figures, led by Obi Enechionyia and Shizz Alston, Jr. with 15 points apiece and Quinton Rose with 12 points. Enechionyia and Alston also led Temple with seven rebounds each.

Josh Brown scored 11 points and dished a game-high five assists in his first start of the year, but made his biggest impact defensively. Brown was named Hoophall Miami Invitational MVP, recorded a career-high seven steals, the most for a Temple player since Will Cummings at SMU on Feb. 19, 2015.

After holding DePaul without a field goal for over six minutes to start the game, the Owls built a 13-1 lead. Temple hit four of its first six attempts from long range, and led by double digits from 12:21 through the remainder of the period.

Both Enechionyia and Alston hit 2-of-3 from behind the arc in the first half, and Mike Robbins came off the bench to make all three of his attempts from the field including a three-pointer. Overall, the Owls shot 44 percent from the field and 50 percent from long range for the period, while holding DePaul to 25 percent shooting and giving up zero three-pointers in the Blue Demons' seven attempts.

Temple's largest lead of the first half was 17 points, which was also the margin at halftime as the Owls went into the break up 40-23. Alston, Brown and Robbins all had seven first-half points in a balanced scoring effort, while Enechionyia led all players with eight points.

With a 7-0 run early in the second half, Temple led by 22 points less than three minutes in. The Owls held at least a 17-point lead for the next 13 minutes, until DePaul's Billy Garrett, Jr. made four free throws in a row to cut the margin to 15 points, 68-53 with 4:15 left. Those free throws proved to be the start of a 14-0 run for the Blue Demons, who held Temple scoreless for over four minutes to make it a five-point game with 48 seconds to go.

An Alston jumper with 8:19 remaining was the final field goal for Temple in the game, but the Owls made enough free throws down the stretch to keep DePaul from coming within fewer than five points. The last of those free throws was made by Robbins, who finished with career-highs of eight points and three rebounds.

Up next for Temple is a road game at the nation's top-ranked team, Villanova, who remained unbeaten with a win over No. 23 Notre Dame on Saturday. The contest is set for 7 p.m. at The Pavilion on Tuesday, Dec. 13 (FS1 / 1210 AM WPHT).

Box Score (PDF) | Video Highlights