The No. 7 Temple Owls (17-14) held off a pesky challenge from the No. 10 Tulane Green Wave (14-17) in 82-77 win.
The Owls began the game slowly as the Green Wave was able to jump out to a 13-4 lead at the first media timeout of the game. That advantage didn’t last long as Owls were able to fight their way back into the game to take a 39-35 lead at halftime.
“We talked about getting off to a good start, but unfortunately we wasn’t able to,” senior guard Josh Brown said. “We didn’t put our heads down like we did the last game. We just kind of came together and fought back.”
The start of the second half was a much different affair for Temple as they quickly extended their lead to 52-39 by the first media timeout of the second half. Tulane wouldn’t go away thought and they clawed their way back into the game and even had a chance to tie the game with less than 10 seconds remaining.
“I was proud of the way our guys fought back,” Tulane head coach Mike Dunleavy said. “It’s kind of been a trait that we have had all year long – that we have been able to come from behind and win ball games.”
Temple was led by senior forward Obi Enechionyia with 19 points while junior guard Shizz Alston, Jr. finished with 17. Tulane was paced by senior guard Cameron Reynolds’ 22 and junior guard Melvin Frazier’s 15.
Temple moves on to play the No. 2 Wichita St Shockers on Friday. Tulane’s season comes to an end.
Note: Temple guard J.P. Moorman II went down with a leg injury late in the game. Temple head coach Fran Dunphy said they were still trying to assess the severity of the injury.
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