Temple continues dominance of La Salle with 76-70 win

There's a saying that goes, "Some things just don't change."

And that rings true when it comes to Temple and La Salle.

The Owls defeated the Explorers, 76-70, Wednesday night in an Atlantic Ten Conference clash at the Liacouras Center. As a result, Temple (12-5, 2-2 A-10) has won six straight and 14 of the last 17 meetings against La Salle (13-6, 2-2).

There had been speculation that Wednesday would be different. That's because the Explorers are off to their best start since the 1990-91 season. The Owls, on the other hand, have been on a win-lose roller coaster.

Temple's starting lineup - Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson, Ramone Moore, Khalif Wyatt, Anthony Lee, and Juan Fernandez - helped the Owls get off that ride.

Hollis-Jefferson, a 6-foot-6 junior forward, finished with a career-high 19 points. Moore, a fifth-year senior guard, added 17 points, while junior guard Wyatt had 12 points. Lee, a redshirt freshman center, had nine points and a career-high five blocked shots.

And Fernandez, a senior point guard, had 12 points on 3-for-7 shooting to snap out of a slump. He had scored a combined four points in the previous two games on 2-for-19 shooting. And he was shooting 27 percent over the five games before Wednesday night.

With those five players leading the way, Temple spread the floor and shot 51.9 percent for the game and 58.3 percent after intermission.

Sophomore point guard Tyreek Duren led La Salle with 18 points. Junior guard Ramon Galloway (17) and senior guard Earl Pettis (12) were the Explorers' other double-digit scorers.

"Listen, you have to be disappointed with not being able to get stops when you needed them," La Salle coach John Giannini said. "You have to be disappointed with giving up nearly 80 points. You have to be disappointed with the game on the line.

"But they are a very good team. They are very hard to stop. They are very talented offensively."

Temple led for the final 24 minutes, 30 seconds.

La Salle closed the gap to one point four times. The last time came on Devin White's dunk to make it 68-67 with 3:25 remaining. But the Explorers made only one of their three remaining shots, and Fernandez's foul shots with 2:05 left pushed the Owls' lead back to three. Hollis-Jefferson's jumper gave Temple a 74-69 cushion with 23 seconds remaining.

"Not only was that a great shot, but two foul shots previous to that were great, too," Temple coach Fran Dunphy said of Hollis-Jefferson's free throws that gave the Owls a three-point cushion with 4:39 left.

"He's a great guy, a terrific player, and, again, I would hate to think where we would be without him at this point," Dunphy said.