Rhode Island Tops Temple 90–75 in ESPN Events Invitational Finale

Wednesday, November 26

Kissimmee, Fla.

7:30 p.m.

Temple University

4-3,0-0American

Rhode Island

6-2,0-0Atlantic 10

Rhode Island

Temple

Rhode Island Tops Temple 90–75 in ESPN Events Invitational Finale

11.26.25 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

KISSIMMEE, Fla. – The Temple men's basketball team (4-3, 0-0 AMER) fell to the Rhode Island Rams (6-2, 0-0 A-10) at the State Farm Field House in Kissimmee, Fla., 90-75.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Babatunde Durodola and Aiden Tobiason got the Owls going early, combining for Temple's first seven points. Derrian Ford then converted through contact to cut the deficit to one, making it a 10–9 game after the first five minutes of play.
Looking to provide a spark, AJ Smith threw down a two-handed jam that gave Temple a much-needed jolt in a back-and-forth contest where both teams were fighting to seize momentum.
Smith would ride this momentum to a season-best 14 points by halftime, as the see-saw battle continued with eight lead changes before the Owls entered the break trailing by two.
The second half opened with a quick block from Gavin Griffiths, but the game quickly settled back into its rhythm, with neither side giving an inch. Both teams traded three-pointers in a brief exchange that gave the Rams a three-point lead at the 16-minute mark.
Rhode Island would then capture momentum with a 9-0 run, pushing its lead to as high as 13. Jonah Hinton provided a spark for the Rams over this run, with 11 points through the first eight minutes of the period.
The Rams held onto this advantage for the remainder of the night, upping their lead to as high as 21. Temple would close out its trip to Florida with a 90-75 loss to Rhode Island.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

AJ Smith scored 18 points, with 14 coming in the first half. This marks a season-high, besting his last mark of 10 against La Salle (Nov. 11).
Jamai Felt finished the night with eight points, marking a season-high. Felt also recorded a high of nine rebounds.
Babatunde Durodola tallied nine points, marking a season best.
Masiah Gilyard finished with 11 points, his third game this season reaching double figures.

UP NEXT

Temple will next return to Pennsylvania for its second Big 5 matchup of the season, visiting Villanova on Monday, Dec. 1, at Finneran Pavilion. Tip-off is set for 6:30 with the game airing on FS1. With a win, the Owls will advance to face Penn in the Big 5 Championship at 7:30 p.m. at the Xfinity Mobile Arena on Dec. 6, while a loss would set up a third-place matchup against Saint Joseph's at 4:30 p.m.