On the day when Temple honored the inaugural class for its Ring of Honor, Temple ended its early two-game losing skid with an 88-67 win against Manhattan College.
The Owls (2-2) bounced back against the Jaspers on Sunday after losing to the University of New Hampshire and the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
They’ll play Florida State University on Thanksgiving in the Preseason National Invitation Tournament at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Depending on the results of Thursday’s games, the Owls’ opponent on Friday in Brooklyn could be either the University of Illinois or West Virginia University.
“We go into every game thinking we need to win it,” coach Fran Dunphy said. ”We have a big couple days coming up for us on Thursday and Friday.”
The game started off slowly, with only nine points combined in the first five minutes of action. A layup from redshirt-senior guard and forward Daniel Dingle gave Temple a lead after a timeout and the Owls didn’t look back from there. They led for the rest of the game except for an 11-second period where the teams were tied in the first 10 minutes of the first half.
Three starters got in foul trouble in the first half. Senior forward Mark Williams, junior forward Obi Enechionyia and sophomore guard Shizz Alston Jr. all had to take extended breaks with two fouls.
“They were baiting us into a lot of those early fouls,” Dunphy said. “[Junior guard Zavier] Turner was really good with his body leaning, and he put up 28 points against us. He’s a really good player.”
With Temple’s leading scorer Enechionyia on the bench, Dingle took over. Dingle scored 15 points, making 6-of-10 shots from the field in the first half. No other Owl had more than seven points in the first 20 minutes. Dingle finished the game with 22 points, nine of which came from the free throw line. Dingle is the Owls’ second-leading scorer so far this season behind Enechionyia.
“I feel like I’ve earned this, I’m one of the leaders,” Dingle said. “I’ve been here for five years, and I’ve worked to get here, I know the younger guys are gonna have the same chances as I do, and they’re gonna take the opportunity.”
Freshman guard Quinton Rose shined in the second half to preserve Temple’s double-digit halftime lead. Rose only had three points in the first half but finished the game with 14. He shot a perfect 5-for-5 from the floor. Rose went on a personal 6-0 run to put the game away for the Owls. The run included two dunks and a layup.
“I think getting the easy buckets really helped me get into my game,” Rose said. “I was able to get out and run and it made the game come to me easier.”
Kevin Schaeffer can be reached at kevinschaeffer@temple.edu or on Twitter @_kevinschaeffer.
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