Men’s basketball team can’t let Hawks loss linger

The men’s basketball team’s loss to Saint Joseph’s Saturday was nothing short of a heartbreaker.Pat Calathes’ three-pointer with five seconds remaining was, no doubt, a blow to the gut of a Temple team that appeared it might finally overcome its struggles against the Hawks.But in those quick, final five seconds the Owls showed off a poise they haven’t had in recent years. Mark Tyndale immediately raced up the court, catching many of the celebrating Hawks off-guard, but had a potential game-winning layup blocked by Ahmad Nivens.In a sense, the Owls had put Calathes’ shot behind them as soon as it happened. That’s exactly what they’ll have to do with the game as a whole.A tough loss like that can shake a team’s confidence, allowing the feeling to linger into the next several games. Or the team can forget about the outcome and focus on the next game at hand. That’s what separates the good and mediocre teams.If the post-game press conference was any indication, the Owls have moved on. Tyndale and Dionte Christmas addressed the media with their heads held high. They were clearly disappointed with the game’s outcome, but they were not devastated.That’s impressive, because the Owls have appeared crushed after losses that were not nearly as tough as that one. One could hear a pin drop in their locker room after they blew a 19-point lead in a loss to Penn last season.That Owls’ ability to regroup after a difficult defeat is just as important as the team’s improved defense in their quest to become a contender in a strong Atlantic Ten Conference.The Owls outplayed the Hawks Saturday. They took away the Hawks’ inside game, limiting Nivens to eight points. They out-rebounded a team that fielded a much taller lineup and also blocked eight shots. They hit clutch shots; Tyndale virtually took over the last five minutes, scoring the Owls’ final 10 points.The game simply came down to Tyndale’s failure to convert the front end of a 1-and-1 free throw, and the team’s inability to cover Calathes on the following possession.Sure, if either is accomplished the outcome of the game probably is different. But the Owls played one of their finest games this season and seemed to understand that.”We just have to learn how to finish out games and close games,” Tyndale said. “That’s it.”The Owls have three very winnable games against Fordham, George Washington and Richmond before Massachusetts comes rolling into the Liacouras Center on Feb. 10.If they wish to continue their upswing, they have to take care of business against the conference’s weaker teams. That’s something they haven’t been able to do in the past, especially on the road.But then again, they haven’t been able to regroup from hard losses in the past, either.”I don’t think our team is going to hold our heads too long,” Christmas said. “It was a tough loss. You win some; you lose some. I think our guys are going to stay together, stay strong.”I look forward to playing Fordham.”We’ll see if that’s still true on Thursday.John Kopp can be reached at john.kopp@temple.edu.