Temple bounces back, gets much-needed win

ST. LOUIS - Usually, a  down-to-the-wire  win over St. Louis that's not decided until the final minutes would feel almost like a loss to Temple. But not this one.

This feels like one very enjoyable and sustaining victory.

When a team desperately needs a win against a much-improved opponent, that's definitely cause for celebration. And that's what the Owls did Wednesday night after an exciting, 72-67 Atlantic Ten victory over the Billikens at the Chaifetz Center.

With the win, Temple improved to 11-4 and 1-1 in the A-10. It was the Owls' sixth consecutive win over St. Louis (13-4, 1-2).

More important, it enabled Temple to avoid opening conference play with consecutive losses for the first time since the 2006-07 season. Back then, in coach Fran Dunphy's first season, the Owls lost their first three conference games. Temple's first A-10 victory that season came against St. Louis.

 "It's an unbelievable win for our guys," said Dunphy, whose squad handed the Billikens their first home loss of the season. "I'm really proud of our guys.

"We didn't play as well as we needed to on Saturday [in a home lose to Dayton]. I think it was little bit of a [beating] Duke hangover. I thought we really stepped it up tonight."

Unlike the loss to Dayton, the Owls gave a solid effort, paid attention to details, and made timely shots.

And it also helped that Temple had Khalif Wyatt and Ramone Moore.

Moore, a senior guard, scored seven of the Owls' last 12 points in the final 3 minutes, 15 seconds. The South Philadelphia native had a key assist to Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson. Moore finished with 18 points and seven rebounds.

Wyatt, a junior guard, scored 13 of his game-high 22 points in the second half. He was perfect 3 for 3 on three-pointers and finished with three steals and two blocks.

Hollis-Jefferson, a junior forward, added 12 points, 2 assists, and 2 steals. 

The Billikens closed the gap to 69-66 with 28 seconds left on point guard Kwamain Mitchell's three-pointer. But Moore responded with a pair of foul shots two seconds later to push Temple's lead back to five points.

After St. Louis' Rob Loe made a foul shot, Moore hit another one with eight seconds left to give the Owls their six-point victory.

Mitchell finished with a team-high 16 points for St. Louis. Sophomore forward Dwayne Evans (14), senior forward Brian Conklin (12), and sophomore guard Jett Jordair (12) were the Billikens' double-digit scorers.  Conklin scored 10 of his points after intermission.

From the start, the game was packed with excitement. The teams played through three lead changes and seven ties in the first 20 minutes.