Overtime is Temple’s time.
What else can you say?
The Owls won their fourth overtime contest of the season on Wednesday night, scoring on eight of nine possessions in the extra session to gain a 92-89 victory over Rhode Island at The Liacouras Center.
It was the second straight overtime win for Coach Fran Dunphy’s squad against one of the Atlantic 10 Conference’s multiple NCAA Tournament contenders. Now, the Owls might be one of them.
Beating UMass in OT was nice. Beating Rhode Island was better, especially considering how it happened.
The Owls trailed by 15 points early in the second half. They fought their way back with a 10-0 run, then surrendered eight straight points as the Rams claimed a 55-42 lead with 14:59 to go.
In a fast-paced contest, that was plenty of time.
With a huge boost from junior point guard Semaj Inge, who played the entire second half and overtime, the Owls kept chipping away.
Mark Tyndale hit a huge three-pointer. Ryan Brooks hit a huge-three-pointer. Then Dionte Christmas hit the big one, a 25-foot bomb that cut the deficit to 69-68 with 4:20 remaining.
The Rams answered, getting a 15-foot jumper from A-10 MVP candidate Will Daniels and a cutting layup from spring-legged guard Keith Cothran. But the Owls wouldn’t be denied.
Inge hit a leaning eight-footer, and after 94 percent free throw shooter Jimmy Baron hit one of two free throws, Christmas drove the baseline for a dunk. Rhode Island swingman Lamonte Ulmer darted into the lane but missed a layup, and the Owls raced the other way and Christmas was fouled. He hit both free throws to tie the score at 74-74 with 1:57 to go.
Daniels got the ball and was whistled for traveling as he tried to drive past Inge. Rhode Island Coach Jim Baron vehemently disagreed with the call. Baron may have been right.
Temple then took its first lead of the game when Christmas got the ball on the low block and tossed in a half-hook shot. After a timeout, Daniels responded with a short jumper that trickled over the rim and tied the score at 76-76.
And the action kept going.
In the final 30 seconds, Inge missed a long jumper, giving the Rams a chance at the last shot. But senior point guard Parfait Bitee refused to slow it down, instead pushing the ball into the lane and passing to Daniels. His short jumper was blocked from behind by Temple’s Lavoy Allen. The ball hit one of the Rams on the shoulder and bounced out-of-bounds, giving the Owls a chance for a last-second victory.
Inge missed a three-pointer at the buzzer.
Nevertheless, Tyndale and his teammates were all smiles as the extra period got underway. With OT wins over Marist, Saint Louis, and UMass already this season, they clearly had a level of comfort.
The Owls started overtime with an Inge steal. Brooks missed a short jumper, but Inge was there for the putback. After a Rhode Island miss, Tyndale raced through a crowd for a layup.
With 2:50 remaining, Inge hit a three-pointer to push the lead to 85-78. But the Rams refused to quit.
Daniels hit a three-pointer, then Christmas hit one of two free throws and Bitee hit a three-pointer. Tyndale and Allen misconnected on a pass in the lane and Daniels broke free for a layup that tied the score at 86-86.
Like almost every one of Temple’s A-10 games this year, this would come down to the final minute.
Tyndale followed his own miss to give the Owls a two-point lead. Cothran then missed a three-pointer. Tyndale missed another driving shot attempt, but Allen was there for the putback with 13.3 seconds to go. Back came the Rams, getting within one, 90-89, on a Bitee three-pointer with 7.1 seconds remaining.
After a timeout, the Owls inbounded the ball to Christmas. He calmly drained two free throws.
Dunphy said afterward that he considered instructing his team to foul the Rams instead of letting them get off a game-tying three-point attempt. But he decided against it because the Owls haven’t practiced it enough, and because the strategy backfired on him several years ago at Penn.
The Rams inbounded to Baron, who was a bit slow advancing the ball into the frontcourt and wound up settling for a fading 30-foot jumper that wasn’t close as time expired.
With the victory, the Owls improved to 13-10, 6-3 in the A-10. That puts them alone in third place. Rhode Island dropped to 20-5, 6-4 in the A-10.
Dunphy Postgame: Listen to Audio
Inge/Tyndale/Christmas Postgame: Listen to Audio
Baron Postgame: Listen to Audio
Harvey Levine's URI-Temple Gallery
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