Quinton Rose dunk sparks Temple basketball win over Davidson in overtime

ATLANTIC CITY -- Quinton Rose used his anticipation to read the pass and give Temple one of its biggest baskets, not to mention one of its biggest wins of the season. Rose’s steal around three-quarters court and uncontested dunk with 3.2 seconds left in overtime provided the winning margin as Temple defeated Davidson, 77-75 during Saturday’s Air Force Reserve Boardwalk Classic at Boardwalk Hall.

Temple (9-2), which allowed the first seven points in overtime, never led in the extra period until Rose’s clincher. Davidson (8-2) was attempting to get the ball to sizzling Luke Frampton, who had hit seven of his eight three-pointers. Rose intercepted the pass from KiShawn Pritchett and easily sped down court for the dunk.

“I knew (Frampton) was going to try to slip into a three and I was in the right spot and he threw the ball to me,” Rose said.

After that, Davidson would not get a shot off and Temple’s comeback was complete.

“To win this game down by seven in overtime with (under) two and a half minutes left, (showed) some great character by a bunch of good guys and they did a great job down the stretch,” said Owls coach Fran Dunphy, who improved to 20-7 in overtime games at Temple.

This was such a critical game for both teams, since they are considered viable candidates for an NCAA Tournament bid.

“We both can be NCAA Tournament teams, and that was a great matchup,” Davidson coach Bob McKillop said.

Guard Shizz Alston led Temple with 24 points and a career-high 11 assists and Rose finished with 18 points, leaving him three shy of 1,000 for his career. Frampton, a 6-foot-5 redshirt freshman, paced Davidson with 24 points.

After Davidson scored the first seven points of the extra period, Temple’s Dre Perry momentarily stopped the momentum with a three-pointer that cut the Wildcats lead to 73-69 with 2:12 left.

Davidson’s Carter Collins hit two free throws, making it 75-69 with 1:32 left, but Rose’s corner three cut it to 75-72 and Alston tied it with another three with 32 seconds left in overtime.

Then Rose hit his game-winner after forcing the Davidson turnover.

Temple had a chance to win it in regulation but Alston’s step-back three went in and out at the buzzer.

“It went in and came out and I thought it was going in,” Alston said.

Davidson played without 6-5 Kevin Grady, who is averaging 19.4 points. He missed his first game with an undisclosed injury and McKillop says he is day to day.

The Owls' Nate Pierre-Louis was the main defender on 6-5 junior Jon Axel Gudmundsson, who entered the game averaging a team-high 19.6 points, but was held to 10 while playing all 45 minutes.

Temple 6-7 sophomore forward J.P. Moorman scored a career-high 14 points.

The Owls, who entered the game 325th nationally in three-point shooting (.283) accuracy, hit 38.7 percent of their threes. They got progressively better, hitting three of 13 shots in the first half, six of 14 in the second half, and then three of four in overtime.