City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin) &
Graham Foley (@graham_foley3)
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The 2016-17 season got off to an exciting start, with a Big 5 clash at Temple’s Liacouras Center between the Owls and crosstown rival La Salle needing more than 40 minutes to resolve. Temple eventually emerged victorious, 97-92 in overtime.

Here's a quick report from the action:

At First…
Temple took advantage early of an inexperienced La Salle lineup that featured two freshmen -- La Salle coach John Giannini has said he’s going to start his best team from practice -- by jumping out to a 13-5 lead. But a four-man substitution at that point righted the ship for the Explorers, who quickly closed the gap and took the lead at 28-27 with 5:58 left in the first half.

The Owls fought back with a late eight-point run capped by an alley-oop dunk by Enechionyia, securing a 42-39 lead at halftime.

With 7:38 left, the Owls led 67-57, marking the first double-digit lead of the game. Temple freshman Quinton Rose’s steal and layup with 2:23 left gave Temple a nine-point lead, but the Explorers fought back getting within two with 26.7 seconds left. After two foul shots from Levan Alston Jr., La Salle’s Jordan Price knocked down a 3-point shot from the top of the key with five seconds left, tying the game at 81 and forcing overtime.

Turning Point…
After a Levan Alston Jr. jumper put the Owls up 88-85 with 2:28 left in overtime, an Alston block on the other end of the court denied a scoring chance for La Salle and allowed Daniel Dingle to give the Owls a 90-85 lead. On the next possession for La Salle, an Alston steal and breakaway layup made it a 92-85 game. La Salle got within three on a B.J. Johnson tip-in with 7.5 seconds left, but four free throws from Alston and Moore put the game out of reach and gave the Owls a 97-92 win.

Standout Stars…
All summer long, the expectation was that Obi Enechionyia would become Temple’s featured player this year, and the 6-foot-10 forward lived up to that in the first game of his junior season with an impressive 20-point, 14-rebound performance, setting his career best in the latter. Daniel Dingle, one of Temple’s three seniors, led the team and set a career high in points with 21. Sophomore Ernest Aflakpui also had a career-high night with 12 points, scoring in double-digits for the first time in his career, to go along with 10 rebounds.

La Salle’s redshirt junior B.J. Johnson, a transfer from Syracuse, led the team with 23 points. The Lower Merion product averaged 4.3 ppg as a sophomore in an Orange uniform in 2014-15 but will certainly play a much bigger role in his new uniform; the 6-7 wing also chipped in eight rebounds, three blocks and two steals.

Noteworthy Number(s)...
95: The win was Temple’s 95th all-time in season openers, against 26 losses (.785). The Owls had a seven-game winning streak in season openers snapped last year with a loss to preseason No. 1 North Carolina.

46: The combined number of points for Temple’s four underclassmen who saw minutes in the Owls’ victory. Sophomores Ernest Aflakpui (12) and Levan Alston Jr. (14), plus freshmen Quinton Rose (12) and Alani Moore (8) all found the scoring column, coming up with 47.4 percent of Temple’s offense in the win. The quartet also combined for 21 rebounds and nine assists, with Alston’s six-assist, zero-turnover performance leading the way.

0: Temple's starting backcourt of Moore and Alston combined for zero turnovers in 58 minutes of action. As a team, the Owls committed 11 turnovers.

12: La Salle freshman Isiah Deas was a more-than-pleasant surprise for the Explorers, finishing with a double-digit scoring performance in his first taste of college action. Deas, who didn’t play in La Salle’s exhibition win last Saturday and who only got cleared by the NCAA on Nov. 9, started in his first career game and showed why, knocking down three first-half 3-pointers to help the Explorers stay close. He finished with his dozen points, seven rebounds and two assists in 29 minutes of action.

Up Next….
Temple (1-0) vs. New Hampshire (0-0) -- Mon., Nov. 14, 7:00 PM
La Salle (0-1) vs. Delaware (1-0) -- Tues., Nov. 15, 7:00 PM