Survive and advance. That’s the mantra of March Madness. And that’s exactly what the Temple men’s basketball team and senior guard Mark Tyndale did on Wednesday night.
Tyndale survived a scary crash landing on his head, and the Owls survived a season-best three-point shooting effort by Duquesne to earn a 90-85 victory at The Liacouras Center.
With the win, Temple clinched a first round bye in next week’s Atlantic 10 Tournament. The Owls improved to 17-12, including a 10-5 mark in the A-10, where they stand alone in second place. The desperate Dukes (16-12, 6-9), who still haven’t secured a spot in the tournament – and played that way – dropped their fifth straight game.
On Senior Night, junior guard Dionte Christmas stole the show from Tyndale and fellow senior Chris Clark, scoring a career-high 37 points. After missing four three-point attempts in the first half, Christmas hit 4 of 7 threes in the second half, including three straight as the Owls otherwise struggled to maintain a lead against the relentless Dukes.
Trailing most of the way, Duquesne rode the hot hand of senior guard Reggie Jackson (25 points) and a career-best three-point shooting effort from senior center Kieron Achara (5 of 6 threes, 24 points) and junior guard Kojo Mensah (3 of 4 threes, 14 points) to throw a major scare at the Owls.
After Christmas hit those three bombs, the Dukes went on a 10-0 run to tie the score at 62-62 with 10 minutes to go. Lavoy Allen and Tyndale responded with big baskets for the Owls. When the Dukes closed within 68-66, Christmas scored six straight points.
Later, Duquesne got as close as 77-74, only to have senior guard Gary Tucker miss a pair of free throws that would have cut the lead to one. On the other end of the floor, sophomore guard Luis Guzman sank two clutch free throws for the Owls.
Again, with barely more than a minute to go, and Temple ahead by three, 82-79, Guzman hit another pair of free throws. Ryan Brooks added two more.
And the Owls survived.
Tyndale survived a frightening first half moment when he half-catapulted over Tucker and landed on his head near midcourt. He immediately bounced to his feet, then covered his head with his arms and took six or seven steps before collapsing to the floor.
Tyndale said afterward that he thought he was walking towards the Temple bench, when he was actually walking towards the opposite side of the floor. But after a few minutes of medical attention, he got to his feet and walked to the training room.
Three minutes later, he was back on the bench, and soon after that he was back on the floor. Tyndale finished with 15 points, seven rebounds, five assists, and three steals in his final regular season home game.
Besides the surprise contribution from Guzman, who played a career-high 34 minutes and totaled eight points, seven rebounds, two assists, and didn’t commit a turnover, the Owls also got a career-best 16 points from Sergio Olmos.
Playing without starting center Shawn James, who averages four blocked shots per game, the Dukes were terribly vulnerable in the paint. James injured his shoulder in Duquesne’s 89-82 loss at Charlotte this past weekend.
The Dukes were generally ineffective with their staple fullcourt pressure, which the Owls turned into a layup line. Temple converted 25 of 39 two-point attempts and committed just 12 turnovers in the contest. That matches the fewest that the Dukes have forced in a game this season.
The pace slowed a bit when Duquesne abandoned its fullcourt press, but neither team stopped shooting.
With James home in Pittsburgh, Achara played a season-high 38 minutes. It was the first time this year that he played at least 30 minutes. And he was terrific on offense, but almost equally as bad on defense.
Coming in, Achara had made 13 of 43 three-point attempts this season. He was 5 for 6 against the Owls. Mensah was 12 for 59 from three-point range heading into the contest. He smiled and shrugged his shoulders after hitting a bank shot three-pointer midway through the second half, then hit another with a man in his face and another at the shot clock buzzer.
But the Dukes hurt themselves in missing 10 of 28 free throw attempts and committing 19 turnovers. It was that kind of night on North Broad Street.
For a long time, the Owls avoided settling for three-pointers – clearly looking to get to the rim since James was out of the picture.
Also, looking back at Temple’s 96-92 loss at Duquesne last season, the Owls made 25 of 37 two-point attempts and 8 of 25 three-point attempts in that one. This time they played it smarter, shooting just 17 threes.
Notably, Christmas played all 40 minutes. He’s the first player to do that against the fast-paced Dukes this season.
Coach Fran Dunphy was joined by Hall of Famer John Chaney as Tyndale, Clark, and senior forward Orlando Miller were honored in a pregame ceremony at center court.
The Owls will close the regular season at La Salle on Saturday.
Dunphy Postgame: Listen to Audio
Tyndale/Christmas Postgame: Listen to Audio
Harvey Levine's Duquesne-Temple Gallery
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