Alston's Seven Three-Pointers Lift Men's Basketball to 85-74 Win at ECU

Wednesday, January 16

Greenville, N.C.

7:00 p.m.

Temple University

14-3, 4-1

ECU

8-9, 1-4

Temple

ECU

Photo by: Cassie Florido

Alston's Seven Three-Pointers Lift Men's Basketball to 85-74 Win at ECU

1.16.19 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score Fran Dunphy Press Conference

GREENVILLE, N.C. - Senior guard Shizz Alston, Jr. drained seven of his 10 three-point attempts and finished with 23 points to lead Temple men's basketball to an 85-74 win at ECU (8-9, 1-4). The Owls (14-3, 4-1) let a huge first-half lead get away, but recovered later in the second half to pull away and win their fourth straight game.

Game Summary
> Against the third-best three-point defense in the nation in ECU coming into the game, Alston made his first three shots from long range and never looked back. As a team, Temple went 11-of-22 (50 percent) from behind the arc.
> The Owls gave up the game's first basket before scoring 21 straight points, and led by 20 points less than seven minutes into the contest.
> Temple still led by 14 at the half, but ECU opened the second half with an 18-5 run to come within a point.
> The score was never tied and the Owls never trailed after hitting their first shot of the game, and they recovered from the ECU second-half run with an 8-0 spurt to pull away for good.
> Temple gave up a season-high 51 second-half points, but also scored a season-high 48 second-half points.

Individual Highlights
> The team-high 23 points for Alston, who became the ninth Owl to make 200 career three-pointers, marked his eighth 20-point game this season. He also recorded four assists and three steals.
> Quinton Rose scored 19 points and Nate Pierre-Louis added 16, with the pair also combining for seven assists and four steals.
> Ernest Aflakpui posted his second double-double of the season (fifth of his career), adding a game-high and career-tying 12 rebounds to 12 points (4-of-5 shooting from the field and 4-of-4 free throws).

First Half
> ECU made the first bucket of the game before Temple exploded with a 21-0 run, holding the Pirates scoreless for over six minutes.
> Alston made his first three attempts from long range in the run, later making a fourth, and finished the half with 12 points.
> Temple took its largest lead of 20 points on a J.P. Moorman II three-pointer at 13:13 that made it 24-4.
> The Pirates made it interesting with a 10-0 run over a three-minute stretch before Alston broke the Owls' drought with his fourth trey.
> Just past the five-minute mark, ECU briefly cut Temple's lead to single digits, but the Owls scored eight of the last 10 points in the period to go back up by 14 at halftime, 37-23.

Second Half
> The Owls came out cold from the break while ECU caught fire, using an 18-5 run to make it a one-point game, 42-41 after five and a half minutes.
> Temple finally got going with an 8-0 run to stretch its advantage back to nine points, and matched that lead three more times.
> The Pirates came within six on three occasions after the Owls' run, but never within fewer than that.
> Aflakpui and Rose combined for six straight free throws that put Temple up by 12, 70-58 at 5:54, and the Owls led by double digits the rest of the way.
> Temple's largest lead down the stretch was 16 points. The Pirates twice cut the deficit to 10 points in the final minute, but Alani Moore II went 3-of-4 at the line to keep them at bay.

Up Next
> The Owls return home for three straight games, beginning with a non-conference contest against Big 5 rival Penn at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 19 (CBS Sports Network / 1210 AM WPHT).