Sophomore guard Ryan Brooks benefited most from senior guard Mark Tyndale’s lack of minutes against Charlotte Wednesday night.
In the Owls’ 75-61 win over Charlotte, Tyndale played only 29 minutes and failed to reach double digits in scoring, registering just nine points. Entering the contest, he averaged 16.4 points in 37.6 minutes per game.
Brooks took advantage. He scored 16 points, 11 of them by halftime, and played 31 minutes. For the season, Brooks has averaged 8.4 points while playing 27.3 minutes per game off the bench.
“Brooks came up big,” coach Fran Dunphy said. “He made three three-point shots and was 3-for-3 shooting them which was great for us. He had a very good game.”
In the past three games, Brooks has scored 40 points and played 87 minutes, an improvement for a player who struggled earlier this season.
“It feels good,” Brooks said. “My coach has been telling me to keep shooting, keep playing hard, staying within the offense, not trying to force anything. My shot was going to come back, so I just listened to them, kept working hard outside of the game, getting reps up with my coaches. And I could fill a little bit coming back.”
For the Owls to go deep into the Atlantic Ten Conference Tournament and earn a trip to the NCAA tournament, Brooks will need to continue to play well off the bench.
BLOCK PARTY
Freshmen forward Lavoy Allen and junior center Sergio Olmos dominated the paint with a combined seven blocks against the 49ers. The Owls finished the game with eight total blocks, with Tyndale contributing the other.
For the season, the Owls average 4.4 blocks per game.
SCARY MOMENT FOR SHRIER
With about six minutes left in the game, Al Shrier, the special assistant to the athletic director and a long-time member of the Temple athletic administration, was speared by Tyndale as he tried to save a ball going out of bounds.
The 6-5 guard jumped over the scorers table opposite of Temple’s bench and hit Shrier, who had little time to get out of the way.
Despite Tyndale’s effort to help him up, Shrier remained on the ground for a while. After being helped up by his co-workers and the medical staff, he walked off the floor to a standing ovation.
Todd Miller can be reached at todd.miller@temple.edu
Read about the Owls win over Charlotte: “Men’s basketball team stops Goldwire, beats Charlotte”
Read about the women’s win over Saint Louis: “Staley’s squad remains atop A-10 with win over Saint Louis”
Also read: “Attendance spotty at event to improve attendance”
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