Temple overcomes poor-shooting first half to beat Towson

Will Cummings scored 22 points to lead four Temple players in double figures, and the Owls shook off a bad first-half shooting performance to defeat Towson, 76-64, at the Liacouras Center on Wednesday night.

"We were just missing shots," Cummings said about the first half, when Temple made just 8 of 27 field-goal attempts. "We just figured if we are not going to score, then we don't want to let them score. We attacked the basket a lot more aggressively in the second half, and it paid off for us."

Quenton DeCosey added 16, Daniel Dingle finished with 11, and Jaylen Bond added 10 points and nine rebounds to lead the Owls (6-3). Cummings was 15 of 17 from the free-throw line.

Four McGlynn led Towson (7-3) with 20 points. Philadelphia native John Davis pulled down 14 rebounds and added seven points for Towson.

The game was a break for the Owls from their Big Five schedule. After losing at St. Joseph's last week, 58-56, the Owls bounced back to score a 58-57 win over La Salle over the weekend at the Palestra.

The Owls' next game will be Sunday at No. 7 Villanova.

Temple, which has struggled offensively this season, still led at halftime, 25-20, because Towson was an even-worse 7 for 30 from the field.

Sharper early in the second half, Temple extended its lead to 48-33 when DeCosey sank a pair of free throws with 11 minutes, 34 seconds left to play.

The Tigers were down by as many as 16, but they pulled to within 60-54 on a three-pointer by McGlynn. Temple, however, outscored Towson by 16-10 the rest of the way.

Dunphy was displeased with the 50-38 rebounding edge Towson established. The Tigers pulled down 23 offensive rebounds.

"That's how they play, they just pound the offensive glass. I would have liked to have seen us do a better job keeping them off," Dunphy said.

Towson is off to one of its best starts in history. After dropping its opener against Alabama, Towson ran off seven straight wins before Georgetown blew the Tigers out on Sunday, 78-46.

The Owls came into Wednesday having won three of their last four games.

@JmitchInquirer