Owls survive test against Maryland, 64-61

WASHINGTON - Temple is no longer consistently inconsistent.

The Owls shed that label Sunday night with a 64-61 victory over Maryland in the BB&T Classic at the Verizon Center.

That's because Temple (5-2) has won consecutive games for the first time since beating Seton Hall and Toledo to start the season. Before Sunday, it was win a pair, drop a game, win another, lose another, win one more.

"This is a game that hopefully we made some strides in becoming a better basketball team," Temple coach Fran Dunphy said. "I'm proud of our guys. They hung in there pretty tough against terrific pressure as well."

The Terrapins (6-3) had a three-game winning streak snapped.

The Owls have a chance to sweep the two traditional D.C.-area powerhouses in a span of five days. Temple will entertain No. 16 Georgetown on Thursday night at the Liacouras Center.

A triumph over the Hoyas would give Dunphy his 400th career victory. He is 399-214 over 22 seasons at Temple and Penn.

The play of Lavoy Allen and Ramone Moore down the stretch helped Dunphy move closer to that milestone.

Trailing by 15 points early in the second half, Maryland fought back to tie the score at 56 on James Padgett's dunk with 1 minute, 52 seconds to play.

Allen and Moore responded by combining for six of Temple's final eight points.

Allen, a 6-foot-9, 225-pound senior power forward, converted a three-point play 10 seconds after Padgett's dunk.

"I was just there at the right time and laid it up," said Allen, who finished with 13 points, 10 rebounds, and a block before fouling out with 1:18 to play. "And with the foul shot, that just put us up by three at the time."

Moore went on to score the Owls' final three points from the foul line. His last foul shot gave Temple a 64-61 advantage with three seconds left. Maryland's Terrell Stoglin missed a desperation three-pointer at the buzzer.

"I wasn't thinking about nothing," Moore said of his clutch foul shots. "I went up there and cleared everything out of my mind and made the big shots.

"I think with me and the other guys leading this team, we have to do things like that."

The 6-4 junior shooting guard made 8 of 10 foul shots en route to a team-high 16 points.

Junior point guard Juan Fernandez (14 points, three assists) and junior swingman Scootie Randall (10 points, seven rebounds, three steals) were the Owls' other double-figure scorers.

Sophomore center Jordan Williams had game highs in points (17) and rebounds (11) for Maryland.

Projected as NBA frontcourt players, the 6-10, 260-pound Williams and Allen were the game's headliners.

It didn't take long to realize that Moore would share the stage. The Southern High product scored nine first-half points, all during clutch situations.

And after he and center Micheal Eric scored back-to-back buckets, the Owls had a commanding lead at 36-21 with 18:16 remaining. But the Terrapins eventually knotted up the score before Allen and Moore led Temple to victory.