While a crushing loss to a hated rival will certainly sting, the men’s basketball team doesn’t have to look too hard to find something to feel positive about.
With 14 points in the contest, 12 of which came in the first half, junior guard Semaj Inge played his best game of the season and perhaps earned himself some more playing time.
Starting for injured sophomore guard Luis Guzman, Inge played 26 minutes – his most since Nov. 15 against Providence. His last start came a day a later against Marist, and since then, his playing time has been inconsistent to say the least. But, despite those personal struggles, Inge remained focused and aware.
“I’ve still been working hard in practice, trying to earn the coach’s trust back,” he said. “So I guess that’s why I was so ready to step in and play.”
And even though Inge performed well, he wasn’t willing to give himself the credit. Instead, he chalked that up to the attention Saint Joseph’s paid to his pair star teammates.
“I think [Saint Joseph’s] keyed on Dionte [Christmas] and Mark [Tyndale] a lot,” Inge explained. “So I just found the open spot and I hit a couple shots and made a couple plays.”
Still, his line read what it read. And it certainly caught the eyes of his coaches and teammates.
“I thought he did a terrific job,” coach Fran Dunphy said. “He had one turnover; he made a couple three’s in the first half that were tremendous. That really got us back because we were struggling early in the game.”
“[Semaj] came in and played great, I thought,” senior guard Mark Tyndale continued. “Semaj hit a couple of big shots in the first half; I think he played a great ball game. I think he did a good job.”
Todd Orodenker can be reached at todd.orodenker@temple.edu.
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