Temple Falls to First-Place Florida Atlantic, 79-73

Sunday, January 18

Philadelphia, Pa.

Noon

Temple University

11-7,3-2American

Florida Atlantic

13-6,5-1American

Fla. Atlantic

Temple

Temple Falls to First-Place Florida Atlantic, 79-73

1.18.26 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA – Despite holding a lead for 65 percent of the game, the Temple University men's basketball team was outscored by 10 points in the second half, suffering a 79-73 loss to Florida Atlantic on Sunday afternoon at the Liacouras Center.

The Temple Owls (11-7, 3-2 American) look to bounce back in Houston against Rice on Wednesday evening. The Florida Atlantic Owls (13-6, 5-1 American) remain in first place in the league with their fourth consecutive victory.

Aiden Tobiason (23 points), Derrian Ford (22) and Gavin Griffiths (14) all finished in double figures for Temple.

HOW IT HAPPENED

It was a slow, grinding start at the Liacouras Center, as both teams combined to shoot 3-of-4 to start. An emphatic alley-oop slam by Aiden Tobiason made it a three-point game five and a half minutes into play.
The contest stayed neck and neck through the remainder of the opening stretch, with neither side extending its lead past five. Tobiason continued his hot start, tallying eight points through the first 10 minutes of play.
Temple next began to extend its lead primarily by attacking the rim. Up to this point, the Owls had already made 11 free throws before Gavin Griffiths drained a shot from distance to cap off a 10-0 run with 8:30 remaining in the half.
Florida Atlantic found a response, generating an 8-0 run and cutting the Temple lead back down to two. This margin stood through the remainder of the half, with Temple holding a four-point advantage.
The second half started similarly to the start of the first, with each side looking to gain an advantage. Florida Atlantic seemed to have the edge early in the period, gaining a two-point advantage through four minutes.
Following this, Derrian Ford led Temple back into the game with a stretch that included a key 3-pointer and a physical three-point play, as Temple regained the lead and pushed it to three with 11 minutes remaining in the contest.
The middle stages of the half featured a see-saw battle, as the teams combined for five lead changes after 13 minutes of play. Florida Atlantic edged ahead by two with four minutes remaining.
FAU began to pull away with time running low, taking a seven-point lead with 2:38 remaining. Searching for a response, the Owls looked to the interior, with Ford converting two free throws and a tough shot down low to pull the game back within three with 1:37 on the clock.
However, it was the Owls from the Sunshine State who eventually found the edge, converting an and-1 to push their lead to eight and escape with a 79-73 win.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

Ford and Tobiason each finished with 20-plus points, the first time two Owls have done so since the same duo combined for 41 against Hofstra (11/19).
Tobiason's 23 points matched a career high, which he set in the season opener against Delaware State.
Temple thrived from the charity stripe, sinking 25-of-32 free throw attempts. The Owls are now 28-5 since 2006-07 when making at least 25 free throws in a contest.
It marked the first time this season that Temple suffered a loss when leading at halftime, entering the day with a 9-0 record when holding a lead after 20 minutes.
It also marked just the second loss in eight games that the Owls have suffered when winning the rebounding battle. Temple led 41-39 in rebounding.

UP NEXT

The Owls will next head on a two-game trip to the Lone Star State, starting with a Wednesday night matchup against Rice. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. ET, with the game streaming on ESPN+ and available to listen on OwlSports.com/listen.