When No. 14 stepped off of the court in North Carolina a few weeks ago, he had only registered four points in a blowout loss at N.C. State.
Worse than that, he was 0-for-11 from the field and scored his only points from the charity stripe.
Back on North Broad, he corrected those woes in a hurry.
Lynn Greer burst out for 43 points in a 91-74 trouncing of the Fordham Rams last Wednesday.
Greer has been defended by two or three players all year. But last Wednesday all of his work paid off. “I just thought I was able to get my shot at times when we needed it,” said Greer, who set a Liacouras Center record with 13 field goals. “Their big guys weren’t stepping up when we set screens and I got a lot of open looks.”
He was 13-of-21 from the field, 7-of-9 from three-point range, and 10-of-11 on free throws.
Saturday against Saint Joseph’s in an 82-72 win, Greer didn’t hit the 40-point mark. But he wasn’t done breaking Temple (8-12, 5-3 Atlantic 10) records.
Greer catapulted to second all-time in Temple scoring. He surpassed Terence Stansbury with 1,839 career points against the Hawks with 34 points.
Greer also broke a 47-year-old Temple free-throw record. He made 18-of-18 free-throws to beat Hal Lear’s record of 16 made in a single game. Greer also topped the former Atlantic 10 record of 14-for-14 free-throws in a game.
But once again Saturday, Greer was doubled by St Joe’s guards, allowing other Owls to contribute. Brian Polk scored 17 points and David Hawkins scored 18.
“The kid’s been facing two people all year; they’ve doubled him all year long,” Temple head coach John Chaney said. “St. Joe’s can’t double him because we have Brian Polk (17 points against the Hawks) making baskets. We have David and Alex on the floor making baskets. Try and remember we didn’t have these kids [earlier in the season], we just didn’t have them. So I think it’s a compliment to him that two people have to play Lynn.
“I’ve heard people talk about the great linebacker we had here, what was his name? White? (reporters tell him it was former Philadelphia Eagles’ defensive end Reggie White) Reggie White, remember him? Remember how people used to talk about he didn’t do so well today. Well, shoot, when you look at the damn tape you see he had three people on his ass. How could you do well? When you look at players when they’re being doubled, then the other coach knows what I know, he’s the most important on [our team] offensively.”
The win was the second in a row, but Greer knows the test has only begun in finishing out the season on a good note.
“We know we have to finish out strong and then play very strong in the A-10 tournament,” Greer said. “The months really don’t matter to us, we just want to try and come out every game and give 100 percent.”
Temple played at Rhode Island Wednesday night and plays at George Washington Saturday. After a game Wednesday at LaSalle, Temple returns home Feb. 16 against UMass.
Be the first to comment