St. Joe's outlasts Temple in OT

For St. Joseph's freshman Lamarr Kimble, this was just like high school, with the stakes high, the intensity higher. His competitive spirit was made for this situation.

The two consecutive state championships for Neumann-Goretti in his final two seasons no doubt provided the guidelines for the signature moment of the guard's young college career.

Kimble hit a big three-pointer toward the end of regulation and a bigger one that gave the Hawks the lead for good Sunday in a 66-65 overtime victory over Temple at the Liacouras Center.

St. Joseph's improved to 7-2 overall and 1-1 in the Big Five. Temple fell to 4-5, 1-1.

Kimble's three-pointer with 59 seconds left in regulation gave the Hawks a 61-57 lead, and in overtime he provided the true dagger, another three that provided a 66-64 advantage with 2 minutes, 13 seconds left.

"My teammates and coaches were urging me to stay aggressive and keep taking shots," Kimble said.

The 6-foot, 197-pound Kimble obliged, not only scoring a career-high 11 points but shooting 3 for 4 from beyond the arc.

A year after St. Joseph's won, 58-56, at home against the Owls, the two teams were involved in another nail-biter. The outcome wasn't decided until Obi Enechionyia's three-pointer from just beyond the arc bounced out at the overtime buzzer.

"It felt good coming off, and I thought it was a good shot," Enechionyia said. "I thought I could make it, but it just didn't go in."

It was one of the few things that didn't work for the 6-foot-9 sophomore, who enjoyed a career day, statistically speaking. He finished with 25 points and 13 rebounds, both career highs, and made 4 of 7 shots from beyond the arc.

After Kimble's overtime three-pointer, only one more point was scored in the final 2:13 - when Enechionyia hit 1 of 2 free throws with 1:04 left.

After that, Kimble turned the ball over, but Temple's Josh Brown, who made the steal, turned it back over because of the defensive presence of DeAndre' Bembry with 36 seconds left.

Kimble missed a three-pointer with five seconds left, and Enechionyia got the rebound and began dribbling downcourt.

"I didn't want to call a timeout, because we wanted to get them as scrambled as we could after a miss," Temple coach Fran Dunphy said.

Enechionyia took it the length of the court before missing the final three.

There were plenty of missed open shots in the game. St. Joseph's shot 23 for 68 (33.8 percent) and Temple was 23 for 69 (33.3 percent).

Bembry had 17 points, 13 rebounds, and 3 assists for the Hawks, while forward Isaiah Miles had 12 points and 15 rebounds, and Aaron Brown added 11 points.

Miles missed a three-pointer from the top of the key at the end of regulation.

Temple's Brown and Quenton DeCosey each scored 13 points. Jaylen Bond, who fouled out, was limited to just 21 minutes, seven points, and four rebounds. Brown also had 12 rebounds, a career high.

In a game with so many veteran players, Kimble, the one who is nicknamed "Fresh," came up biggest at the most opportune time.

"I am very impressed with Fresh," Dunphy said. "He did a good job and took the challenge."

mnarducci@phillynews.com

@sjnard