Playing in the same building where he capped his high school career with 25 points in leading St. Joseph’s Prep to the Philadelphia Catholic League Championship, senior point guard Chris Clark finished his last collegiate regular season by hitting six three-pointers and scoring a career-high 22 points in Temple’s 85-66 victory over La Salle on Saturday afternoon at Tom Gola Arena.
With the win, the Owls secured a second place finish in the Atlantic 10. Before the season, they were predicted to finish ninth. Temple is 18-12, 11-5 in the A-10, and will receive a first round bye in the league tournament, which starts on Wednesday at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. The Owls will play their quarterfinal game on Thursday at 6:30 p.m.
With Clark hitting his first five shot attempts, including three threes, the Owls bolted to 50-26 halftime lead against the Explorers. It was 20-15 when Temple took control with a 12-1 run, and the final result was never really in doubt.
Senior guard Mark Tyndale furthered his case to be selected as A-10 Player of the Year, totaling 14 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists. Dionte Christmas scored 19 points, while Sergio Olmos had 14 points and five rebounds.
Early on, the Owls looked to Olmos in the paint and the seven-foot junior delivered a couple baskets and a free throw. He also pitched the ball to frontcourt mate Lavoy Allen, who dropped in a hook shot.
Almost everything worked on offense for Temple, and its lead ballooned to double-digits when La Salle got sloppy. Senior guard Darnell Harris (26 points) was the only consistent scorer for the Explorers, who committed nine turnovers in the first half.
Defensively, Allen and Olmos made life difficult for La Salle, particularly sophomore forward Kimmani Barrett, who had three shots blocked in one short stretch. Allen finished with seven points, five rebounds, and three blocked shots.
But the story of the game was Clark, who added three more three-pointers in the first 10 minutes of the second half – each of them blunting a La Salle rally. Clark was 8 for 8 before he missed his last two field goal attempts.
With the operation running so smoothly, Coach Fran Dunphy was a bit looser than usual with his player rotation. Christmas, for example, played just 26 minutes. The Owls were even able to get deep reserves Martavis Kee, Craig Williams, Orlando Miller, and Rafael DeLeon into the game in the last minute.
The victory gave Temple a piece of the Big 5 title, shared with Villanova.
Dunphy/Tyndale/Clark Postgame: Listen to Audio
Harvey Levine's Temple-La Salle Gallery
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