Temple grabs fourth straight win

It was a great team win for many reasons as Temple (14-10, 6-6) defeated visiting East Carolina University (9-14, 3-9) 90-73 on Wednesday night. Firstly, with their fourth-straight win this season, the Owls also clinched their 1,900th all-time program victory. They commemorated the win with a team picture in front of a banner reading “1900 wins”.

In their 17-point victory, it was balanced scoring across the team as six Owls finished in double figures. Sophomore Quinton Rose had a game-high 23 points as Josh Brown tied his career high of 17 points to go along with his eight rebounds. Junior Shizz Alston Jr. chipped in with 14 points and seven assists. Freshman J.P Moorman II had a career high in points and rebounds, finishing with his first career double-double of 11 points and 12 rebounds. Finally, freshman Nate Pierre-Louis and junior Ernest Aflakpui added 10 points apiece.

ECU also had a pretty balanced attack as four players finished in double figures. Juniors Kentrell Barkley led the Pirates with 20 points as Isaac Fleming chipped in with 17. Shawn Williams and B.J Tyson added 13 and 12 points, respectively.

Temple’s defensive pressure created several turnovers that in transition led to some dunks, alley-oops, and finishes that just gave them momentum to keep the game out of reach for the Pirates. The Owls had 15 points off turnovers, which surely helped make a difference in the win. A big difference, the second half. Rose was a big part of the Owls second-half scoring netting 14 of the team’s first 21 points to start off the period.

Another memorable feat, the Owls tied their single-game record for the most free-throws in a game knocking down 77% of their foul shots to finish 20-of-26 from the line. The Owls took their first double-digit lead early in the game and were up by 13 points just six minutes into the contest. Although the Pirates did tie it up once in each half, they were never able to take the lead.

The final highlight of the game came in the final minute as Steve Leonard grabbed his first board and scored his first point of the season. To make it even better, it was the redshirt senior’s birthday.

Temple hopes to extend their winning streak to five as they head down south to the Sunshine State to face the University of South Florida on Saturday, February 10. Tip-off is scheduled for noon. The game will be live streamed on ESPNU and 1210 AM WPHT.

The Pirates have a week off before they play Tulane on Valentine’s Day at 8:00 P.M.