Temple rallies to beat Central Michigan

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - Sixty seems to be the magic number for Temple's basketball team.

The Owls have yet to allow 60 in a game all season and have not lost a game in which they have scored 60.

That was the case again last night as the Owls defeated Central Michigan, 65-53, in the Chippewas' home opener, in which the new McGuirk Arena was christened.

"I think it is a very important win for us," coach Fran Dunphy said. "It is an important time for us. We didn't play particularly well in Orlando [in the Old Spice Classic last week], and we played three really good basketball programs, and we knew we were going to have our hands full, so to come here with a great crowd, it is a really good win for us."

The Owls (4-2) looked as if they wouldn't hit their magic number in the first half as they trailed, 32-24, behind 37 percent shooting (10-for-27).

Despite a significant advantage in size and strength over the Chippewas (2-4), Temple had only an 18-17 rebounding edge at the break.

In the second half, the Owls fell behind, 41-31, with 16 1/2 minutes to go before they turned up the pressure.

Temple immediately went on an 8-0 run to get within two points, and took its first lead of the game with 9:30 to go on a layup by Lavoy Allen that made the score 50-49.

"I thought the last 15 minutes went really well and once we fell behind 10, everyone started to pick it up," Dunphy said.

Allen's layup sparked a 17-4 run that locked up the victory. He had 11 points in the half and 13 for the game. His defensive efforts were important, as well, including five blocks, a career high. And he had 10 rebounds.

The Temple defense held CMU to 9-for-26 shooting in the second half and took a 22-7 rebounding edge in the final 20 minutes.

"We started to get more rebounds in the second half and [Central Michigan] was a lot smaller team than us, so there were plenty of opportunities for offensive rebounds," Allen said. "We knew we needed to be a little more physical in the second half and we were."

Said Dunphy of Allen's play: "He can do that if he is of the mind-set."

Also for Temple, Juan Fernadez had 18 points, including four three-pointers. Ramone Moore had 16 points.

Central Michigan was led by Jalin Thomas, who had a career-high 26 points.

"Certainly, Thomas was terrific in the first half and he made a couple of tough shots in the second half," Dunphy said. "He is a very good basketball player and we didn't do a good job on him for a large chunk of the game and we concentrated our efforts a little more on Jalin, but he did a terrific job for them."

CMU freshman Trey Zeigler, who came into the game averaging 18.8 points, was held to five points on 2-for-11 shooting.

"He is really a good player and we were trying not to let him touch the ball," Dunphy said. "We tried to emphasize the point that we wanted to deny him as much as we could. He is a terrific basketball player that will get better and better." *