Men’s Basketball Holds off La Salle for McKie’s First Big 5 Win

Saturday, November 16

Philadelphia, PA

2:00 P.M.

Temple University

3-0,0-0AAC

La Salle

1-2,0-0Atlantic 10

Temple

La Salle

Photo by: Mike Sperando

Men’s Basketball Holds off La Salle for McKie’s First Big 5 Win

11.16.19 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA – Temple never trailed at La Salle and built a 21-point second half lead, but the Owls had to hold off a late Explorer charge in posting a 70-65 win Saturday. The victory was the first Big 5 coaching win for Aaron McKie, who was a three-time all-Big 5 honoree as a player, and Temple improved to 3-0 under its first-year coach. La Salle fell to 1-2, 0-2 in Big 5 play.

Game Summary

Temple again used its defense to lead the way. The Owls made 12 steals and scored 21 points off turnovers.
Junior guard Nate Pierre-Louis posted his third straight double-double (21 pts, 12 rebs) of the season and fourth consecutive dating back to last season. The last Owl to do so was Lavoy Allen in 2011.
Senior Quinton Rose was the only other Temple player in double figures, tallying 18 points and making a team-high three steals.
Redshirt freshman Arashma Parks had his best outing of the season. He had season highs for points (7), rebounds (5) and minutes (12). All five of his rebounds were offensive with four of his points coming on put backs.
Senior Alani Moore II scored all eight of his points over the final 3:13, with his first basket snapping a 14-2 La Salle run to give Temple a 58-48 advantage. He was six-of-six from the line over the final minute and a half to help the Owls close out the game.
Senior J.P. Moorman II did the yeoman's work for the Cherry and White, grabbing seven rebounds (3 off.) and dishing a game-high six assists.
David Beatty and Sherif Kenney led La Salle with 13 each.
The Explorers made 15 three-pointers (37 attempts) in the contest, including seven in the final seven minutes to cut the Temple lead to single digits
The game was never within one possession during the stretch.

First Half

Pierre-Louis set the tone with a steal and slam to open the scoring and then drained a three-pointer to give Temple a 5-0 lead.
Leading 13-11 midway through the period, the Owls scored 11 unanswered points to move in front by 13, 24-11. Rose had seven in the six-minute stretch, capping it with a dunk.
Temple kept La Salle at bay the remainder of the frame, taking its largest lead of the half, 32-17, on a three by redshirt junior Monty Scott. The Owls would lead at the break, 36-22.

Second Half

A Rose three-pointer at the 14:11 mark topped off an 11-5 run to start the final period, providing the Owls with a 47-27 advantage.
La Salle cut the deficit to 14 on a 7-1 run, but Temple answered with seen straight points again capped by a Rose trey, his third of the game (3-5).
The Explorers then whittled away at the Owls lead, utilizing the three-points shot. La Salle made seven-of-11 from behind the arc during the final seven minutes, but Temple was able to keep the margin around 10 until the final 10 seconds.
Temple did not make a field goal after Moore's layup at the 3:13 mark, but connected on eight of 10 free throws down the stretch.

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