With seven minutes remaining, Temple had its back against the wall facing a 10-point deficit. The Owls were put in the bonus and guard Shane Dezonie made his two free throws, opening the door for a potential comeback.
La Salle guard Jahlil White, who transferred from Temple during the offseason, answered right back by scoring four straight points From there, the game became a back-and-forth battle. The Owls went down by as many as 15 points but clawed their way back to trail by just four with 60 seconds remaining.
Temple forward Dillon Battie fouled out after an over-the-back foul and White made his free throws to seal the deal on the Owls’ loss. Temple attempted two more three-pointers but neither fell as the clock ran out and its chances at facing Saint Joseph’s in the Big 5 Classic championship game were dashed.
Temple (4-3, 0-0 American Athletic Conference) fell to La Salle (6-2, 0-0 Atlantic 10 Conference) 83-75 Saturday afternoon at John E. Glaser Arena. This is the first time La Salle has defeated Temple since 2017. The loss clinches the Owls’ spot against Villanova in the third-place game of the Big 5 Classic.
“They kicked our butt start to finish,” said head coach Adam Fisher. “17 offensive rebounds, [La Salle’s] toughness was better than ours. It’s my fault. We’ll be more ready to go, it’s on me.”
La Salle forward Demetrium Lilley knocked down a three-pointer just 14 seconds into the game to get the action started for the Explorers. Temple got even right away on a three-pointer from Dezonie — the only Temple three of the game. The Owls finished just 1-16 from behind the arc all game.
Temple pushed its lead to four but the Explorers responded with an 11-point run to regain control at 18-11 with just less than 11 minutes left in the half. White sparked the run with a layup and Lilley added four points in the span. White transferred from Temple after playing three seasons with the Owls and finished the game with a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds against his former team.
The Owls were down by two at 24-22 with seven minutes left in the half and looked to tie the game again. Instead, Explorer guard Deuce Jones stole the ball from guard Jamal Mashburn Jr. and slammed down a dunk on a fast break. The Owls quickly responded as forward Elijah Gray knocked down back-to-back shots.
“We got stagnant at times,” Fisher said. “We got to move basketball. So I thought there were stages in the first half and then early in the second half where we did that. There’s a time and place for that, but we have to keep the basketball moving.”
Mashburn has led the Owls in scoring almost every game this season but was silent for most of the day Saturday. He reached 2,000 career points in an 87-80 win against UMass on Nov. 23 but only scored five points in the first 20 minutes against La Salle, with three points coming from the charity stripe. He finished with 15 points to mark the first game all season he scored less than 20.
Explorer guard Andrés Marrero stole the ball from Dezonie and found guard Corey McKeithan who sank a jumper with 12 seconds left in the half. McKeithan led La Salle in the first half with 16 points and had 28 on the night. Mashburn fired off a shot from beyond the arc as the buzzer was going off but it was off the mark and Temple went into the locker room down 42-33.
Temple has struggled to rebound all season but outrebounded La Salle by three on the defensive end in the first half. However, the Owls weren’t able to replicate that success on the offensive glass. The Explorers outrebounded Temple on the offensive end 13-4. La Salle made the most of the extra possessions and scored 14 second-chance points in the opening half.
“We gotta know heart, we gotta fight,” Fisher said. “And we can’t think somebody else is going to go get [rebounds]. I think we did some of that.”
Mashburn looked to find his groove and scored the first points of the second half off a step-back jumper. However, the Owls could not create momentum and La Salle extended its lead to as many as 14 at 60-46 with 13 minutes remaining. La Salle had 12 seals in the game with three coming from Marrero.
The Owls upped their intensity with six minutes left in the game. They went on a 10-3 run to put the score at 77-73. Guard Quante Berry added two more from free throws but the Owls were unable to score from the field again.
The Explorers scored four more points in the final 26 seconds of the game and cruised to the 83-75 win. Berry had his best game in the Cherry and White, finishing with 18 points and 15 rebounds for his first career double-double.
“We challenge our guards to go rebound,” Fisher said. “I thought [Quante Berry] did an unbelievable job tonight of rebounding. And that’s what we said, guys are gonna play, gonna rebound. We need a team rebound, all the guys that come in the game.”
Temple will head to the Wells Fargo Center to face Villanova (4-4, 0-0 Big East Conference) in the third place game of the Big 5 Classic on Dec. 7 at 4:30 p.m.
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