Temple comes up short against Florida Atlantic, gets eliminated from American tournament
The Owls had a chance to force overtime, thanks to Derrian Ford scoring 11 of his 16 points in the second half, but failed to execute in the waning minutes.
With 21 seconds left against Florida Atlantic on Wednesday night, guard Aiden Tobiason stole the ball, giving Temple, which trailed by two, a chance for overtime or the win in the first round of the American Conference tournament.
He passed it to guard Derrian Ford, who drove to the rim, but before he could go up for a shot, FAU’s Josiah Parker swiped the ball away and it rolled out of bounds — FAU ball.
Temple couldn’t challenge the call because it didn’t have any more timeouts, and FAU sealed a 63-59 win at Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Ala.
“It’s a play we’ve run in games,” Temple coach Adam Fisher said. “[Ford has] gotten fouled on it. He scored on it this year. So we got into probably a little bit too late but to be able to still get the shot we wanted. Credit to them, they got the stop when they needed it.”
The Owls were once on track to be the No. 2 seed in the tournament after an 81-73 win against East Carolina on Feb. 7, but they closed their season losing eight of nine games.
Statistical leaders
Temple (16-16) finished the game shooting 38.3% from the field, while FAU hit 50% of its shots. Ford led the way with 16 points. Tobiason finished with 12 and guard Jordan Mason added 10.
FAU (18-14) dominated the boards, winning the rebounding battle, 37-28. Guard Niccolo Moretti had a game-high 19 points on 7-for-9 shooting and guard Kanaan Carlyle had 12.
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What we saw
One of Temple’s biggest weaknesses during the regular season was its frontcourt. Forwards Jamai Felt and Babatunde Durodola were the main stalwarts, but their play was inconsistent. However, they played a huge role in the first half.
Felt got the scoring going with a layup then got through contact for another to give Temple a 6-4 lead. Durdodola tacked on two more 40 seconds later for a four-point cushion. Felt had two steals and snatched two rebounds in the half.
Parker snagged a 10-8 lead with five points of his own, starting a string of lead changes in the first half. Then FAU went on a drought, missing five straight shots over three minutes.
Temple forced 17 turnovers and scored 17 points off them. Tobiason became the team’s steady hand with eight points in the half on 3-for-3 shooting, while Ford, Mason, and guard Gavin Griffiths made a combined 4 of 17 shots.
FAU went on an 11-6 run in the final 6½ minutes to take a 29-27 lead into the half.
Tobiason and Felt looked sharp as they scored six of Temple’s first eight points to knot the score at 35 to open the second half. The defensive pressure continued, with Temple even switching to a zone.
The issue was, it didn’t faze FAU, which hit its first seven shots to take a 43-35 lead. Mason still wasn’t able to find his groove and Tobiason did not score until the final two minutes of the game. That put the offensive pressure on Ford to dig Temple out of the hole.
It nearly happened when FAU hit just one shot in a six-minute span, allowing Temple to get within a point with about eight minutes remaining. Then Moretti drilled a three-pointer, which opened a 12-2 FAU run.
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“They executed their game plan, whatever they wanted to do, far as defensive schemes,” Ford said. “We just didn’t convert it like we usually do at the rim.”
Temple remained in it, thanks to Ford’s 11 second-half points and its press that forced FAU turnovers, but it wasn’t enough to claim the lead. Ford had the chance to tie it up, but FAU’s takeaway sealed the game.
“Tried to get downhill, make something happen,” Ford said. “Lost the ball. That was it.”