Furious Rally Falls Short for Men's Basketball vs. Rhode Island

Saturday, December 21

Springfield, Mass.

6:30 P.M.

Temple University

7-5,0-0AAC

Rhode Island

11-1,0-0Atlantic 10

Temple

Rhode Island

Furious Rally Falls Short for Men's Basketball vs. Rhode Island

12.21.24 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - The Temple men's basketball team erased a double-digit, second-half deficit for a second straight game but ultimately fell short in an 85-79 loss to Rhode Island at the Basketball Hall of Fame Classic on Saturday. Senior Steve Settle III connected on six three-pointers and finished with 18 points to lead the Owls.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The first half featured a pair of ties and nine lead changes, with Temple taking a one-point lead into the break.
Settle III knocked down four of his triples in the first 20 minutes of action, while senior Shane Dezonie provided a spark off the bench with five points and three steals.
A 21-4 run over the first five minutes of the second half swung the momentum in favor of URI, putting the score at 56-40 with 14:54 on the clock.
Dezonie responded by seemingly willing the Owls back into the game. He scored 11 of Temple's 13 points in a 13-3 spurt that cut the deficit to six.
Temple continued to fight with freshman Dillon Battie's fast-break finish off a feed from sophomore Zion Stanford making the margin five at 65-60 midway through the half.
The two teams traded blows throughout the final 10 minutes, with neither team backing down.
A tip-in layup from junior Elijah Gray and a jumper by Jamal Mashburn Jr. finally put the Owls in front at 72-71 with 5:36 to go.
Dezonie came through again four minutes later, as his short jumper from the baseline tied the game at 79-79.
The score remained tied with less than 30 seconds to go when a four-point play from URI's Sebastian Thomas put the Rams in front for good.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

Dezonie scored 17 points in 23 minutes off the bench, shooting 7-for-9 from the floor and connecting on a pair of threes.
Gray and Battie were impressive as a reserve forward duo, combining for 16 points (7-for-8 FG) and seven rebounds.
Javonte Brown had a game-high 21 points to go along with 10 rebounds for URI, who also received 20 points from Thomas and 17 from David Green.
Temple's reserves outscored URI's bench, 43-12 led by Dezonie, Gray and Battie.

UP NEXT

The Owls will have an eight-day break before returning to action on Sunday, December 29 against Buffalo at Liacouras Center.
ESPNU will televise the final non-conference of the season for Temple, beginning at 3:00 p.m.