Temple Falls to ECU in The American Tournament First Round

Thursday, March 9

Hartford, Conn.

3:30 p.m.

Temple University

16-16

East Carolina (American First Round)

15-17

ECU

Photo by: Ben Solomon/American Athletic Conference

Temple Falls to ECU in The American Tournament First Round

3.9.17 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Box Score (PDF)

HARTFORD, Conn. - With a double-double of 26 points and 16 rebounds, ninth-seeded East Carolina's Kentrell Barkley led his team to an 80-69 win over eighth-seeded Temple to end the Owls' season in the first round of the American Athletic Conference Championships. Temple, who finishes 16-16 for the year, got a team-high 20 points from Obi Enechionyia.

Temple never held a lead in the contest, but much of the game was closer than the final score would indicate. The Owls were within one point midway through the second half, and within six just past the four-minute mark.

Four players reached double figures in scoring for Temple, with Quinton Rose scoring 13 points, Shizz Alston, Jr. posting 11 and Daniel Dingle adding 10.

East Carolina made four of five shots from long range in jumping out to a 16-7 lead as the Owls relied on free-throw shooting, making just one of their first 10 shots from the field. Temple used an 8-1 run to make it a one-point game with 8:08 left in the first half, but fell further behind again by halftime.

The Pirates matched their largest lead of nine points twice in the final minute and a half before taking a 36-29 advantage into the break.

Enechionyia was the only Owl to shoot well in the opening period, finishing with 12 points after hitting 5-of-8. The Pirates got 14 points and nine boards from Barkley in the first half alone as he led all players in both stats at halftime.

ECU's Caleb White hit a three-pointer to start the second half and give the Pirates a 10-point, 39-29 lead, but it would be the only double-digit advantage of the contest.

Temple had a 4-for-4 spurt with treys from Enechionyia and Dingle to make it a two-point game at 16:32 after a 10-3 run. After the Pirates went back up by six, the Owls rallied again as Dingle heated up, and made it a one-point game on three occasions in a two-minute span.

The last one-minute deficit of 53-52 came with 11:20 remaining before the Pirates hit their next two shots from beyond the arc.

The Owls' shots stopped falling down the stretch, as they went 2-for-9 over a six-minute span. The Pirates also struggled from the field but continued to widen the gap at the stripe, and were back up by nine points with 5:43 remaining, 65-56.

Enechionyia's fourth three-pointer got Temple within six with 3:48 to go, but the Owls could get no closer. East Carolina missed a couple chances at the free throw line, but made enough to pull away as Temple went cold from the field in the final minutes.