On a night where three former greats were inducted into the Temple Hall of Fame, senior forward Lavoy Allen of the men’s basketball team became the program’s all-time leading rebounder as the Owls defeated St. Joseph’s, 66-52.
Allen, who finished the game with 14 points and 12 rebounds, now has 1,045 career rebounds, three more than John Baum, the team’s current radio analyst.
“[The record] means a lot,” Allen said. “John Baum did it in three seasons, so I had a little bit more time to break his record, but it means a lot. I’m going to celebrate after this, but we have to get ready for Duke starting tomorrow.”
“I try and get every rebound I can,” Allen said. “It’s just hard work and getting good position.”
The Owls shot 44.2 percent in the game and 80 percent from the free-throw line. Temple controlled the game for the majority of the time and were never really threatened after the opening minutes. Being able to cruise to a victory was important, Allen said.
“We’re kind of shorthanded so we had to control the game,” Allen said. “I think we did a good job of playing all around team basketball… Our goal is to win every game that we play.”
Aaron McKie, Eddie Jones and Rick Brunson were all inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame at halftime. The three combined for 4,613 points, 79 wins, six NCAA Tournament victories and four NCAA bids during their time on North Broad Street.
Freshman guard Aaron Brown started the game in place of junior forward Scootie Randall. Randall, the team’s third-leading scorer, is out with a hairline fracture in his foot. His availability for Wednesday’s matchup against Duke is up in the air, Dunphy said.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Dunphy said. “We’re going to try to see if he can still play basketball this year. He’s hurt but he’s a great guy and he’s going to continue to work every day with the trainers and doctors and see if he can get something out of it.”
The Cherry and White have now won nine straight games over the Hawks, dating back to Mar. 2, 2008. Before that, the Hawks had won 12 of 13 games over the Owls. The streaky nature of the rivalry is unusual, St. Joseph’s coach Phil Martelli said.
“There is a cyclical nature to [the rivalry],” Martelli said. “In most rivalries, it’s different than this. It’s like ‘We club you, you club us, we club you.’ and you go back and forth. All of these games, when youcome up on the short end, are a challenge.”
Junior guard Ramone Moore led all scorers with 17 points on 6-of-14 shooting. Junior guard Juan Fernandez chipped in 12 points and six assists without recording a turnover. Sophomore forward Rahlir Jefferson, making his third career start, recorded 11 points and six rebounds in 31 minutes of play.
The Owls will travel down to Durham, NC on Wednesday for a matchup against No. 5 Duke. By the time the Owls arrive in the South, the Blue Devils could be ranked as high as No. 1 in the country as all four teams ahead of them in the Associated Press poll lost this week. If so, it would mark the second-straight season in which Dunphy’s squad has faced the top-ranked team in the nation. Last season, the Owls fell to No. 1 Kansas, 84-52, at the Liacouras Center.
Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.
Kyle Gauss can be reached at kyle.gauss@temple.edu
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