Men's Basketball Holds off Penn for 200th Win at the Liacouras Center

Saturday, December 3

Liacouras Center

4:00 p.m.

Temple University

6-2, 3-0Big 5

Penn

2-4, 0-2Big 5

Penn

Temple

Photo by: Tommy Meehan

Men's Basketball Holds off Penn for 200th Win at the Liacouras Center

12.3.16 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Video Highlights Fran Dunphy Press Conference Players Press Conference Box Score (PDF)

PHILADELPHIA - Temple men's basketball held off Penn, 70-62, for its fifth straight win and its 200th all-time win at the Liacouras Center on Saturday afternoon. It was another game typical of Philadelphia Big 5 contests, as the Quakers (2-4, 0-2 Big 5) cut a one-time 17-point lead by the Owls (6-2, 3-0 Big 5) to two points near the end of the game.

With 1:16 left on the clock, the Quakers cut Temple's lead to 64-62 after a 6-0 run. Over a thrilling final minute, the Owls held Penn scoreless while scoring the final six points to seal the win.

Ernest Aflakpui posted his second career double-double with 11 points and a career-tying 11 rebounds, while Shizz Alston, Jr. scored a game-high 14 points. Alani Moore II and Obi Enechionyia each finished with 12 points. Moore added a season- and game-high seven assists, and Enechionyia added five blocks.

The final two crucial assists for Moore were both in the last minute of the game. First he got the ball to Quinton Rose as the shot clock wound down and the Owls led by just two with 42 seconds left. The Quakers, who had hit 15 of 16 free throws to that point, then missed the front end of a 1 and 1. Alston converted a pair for Temple at the other end, and Moore had the assist on a fastbreak Enechionyia dunk for the final score.

Thanks to a trio of three-pointers by Moore, the Owls jumped out to a 21-4 lead on the Quakers after just over nine minutes of action. Temple forced five turnovers in that stretch while committing zero of their own, and scored 11 of its first-half points off Penn miscues.

Mark Williams hit a jumper to cap the opening run at 10:46, but the Owls would go on to score just a single free throw in the next four minutes. Penn used a 10-1 run to cut the margin to six points, 23-17 with 7:03 left in the half. Senior Josh Brown, playing in his first home game of his senior season after returning from injury this week, stopped the run with a layup at 6:43.

The bucket by Brown started a 6-0 run that put the Owls back up by 12, 29-17 with 4:20 left. Both teams went cold over a three-minute stretch with no scoring, but the Quakers then scored five straight before Daniel Dingle hit a layup in the final seconds to give Temple a 31-22 lead at halftime.

Temple hit five of its first nine attempts from the field including a pair of three-pointers to start the second half, getting its lead back to 15 points, 43-28 after four minutes. It would prove to be the Owls' largest lead the rest of the way, as the Quakers soon cut the margin to single digits.

Penn used an 18-7 run to make it a four-point game, 50-46 with nine minutes left. Aflakpui was key for the Owls in keeping the lead down the stretch, but Penn was able to match the four-point deficit twice more in the next two minutes.

After Enechionyia hit a long jumper at 5:28, Alston took advantage of a missed Penn layup and got the ball back to Enechionyia for a layup and an eight-point, 58-50 Temple lead at 5:04. The Owls matched that eight-point lead on a Rose layup at 2:55. From there, the Quakers scored six straight to make it a two-point game, but the Owls dominated in the final minute for the win.

Temple is back at home in four days, hosting George Washington on Wednesday, Dec. 7 at 7:30 p.m. (CBSSN / 1210 AM WPHT).

Box Score (PDF) | Video Highlights | Coach Dunphy Press Conference | Players Press Conference