Quick Report: Temple 78, Saint Joseph's 72

Obi Enechionyia (above) dropped 26 points to lead Temple to its fourth-straight win, 78-72 at St. Joe's. (Photo: Mark Jordan/CoBL)

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin) &
Daniel Hughes (@dan1el_sun)
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Another standout performance from Temple junior Obi Enechionyia led the Owls to their fourth win in a row, keeping them undefeated in Big 5 play with a 78-72 win over Saint Joseph’s.

At First…
St. Joe’s (3-3, 0-1 Big 5) got off to an early lead against Temple behind three pointers from freshman Nick Robinson and junior Shavar Newkirk, forcing the Owls to take a timeout exactly 100 seconds in. The Hawks’ defense was dominant inside, racking up four blocks before Temple scored its first basket. Temple (5-2, 2-0 Big 5) managed to recover and tied it up at 16-16 with about eight minutes to go in the first. After that, the two teams found themselves in a physical Big 5 matchup, trading leads as well as 3-pointers. The Owls took a 34-31 lead into the half behind 16 points from junior forward Obi Enechionyia.

Despite an excellent first half, Enechionyia struggled to contribute after the break, not scoring any points in the first 13 minutes of the second half. The Owls held onto their lead until around the nine-minute mark, when junior Markell Lodge put the Hawks ahead after converting the free-throw to a vicious and-one dunk. Temple later regained the lead on a layup from senior Mark Williams, but not before the crowd at Hagan Arena loudly expressed their dismay at the officiating.

Turning Point…
After the teams played the majority of the second half separated by a bucket or less, Temple first put some space between the teams with six minutes to play, when an Enechionyia 3-pointer and then baseline dunk made it a six-point game. The Hawks rallied to pull it within a singular point with under 2:30 to play on a 3-point play by Robinson, but then Temple slammed the door shut. A Daniel Dingle put-back off an Enechionyia miss pushed the lead to three, and Enechionyia hit the dagger with 1:09 remaining, a 3-pointer from the left wing that provided to be the game’s final points.

Standout Stars…
Enechionyia continued what has been an outstanding start to his junior season with yet another terrific performance, surpassing the 20-point mark for the fifth time this season and second game in a row. The 6-10 junior from Springfield (Va.) connected on all four of his 3-point attempts in the first half and finished the game with 26 points and five rebounds, plus that one clutch block in the game’s closing minutes; he shot 10-for-22 from the field, including 6-of-12 from deep.

Another junior who maintained his momentum to begin the season was Saint Joseph’s guard Shavar Newkirk. The 6-1 NYC native came within six points of his career high in scoring, dropping a team-high 22 points, with seven rebounds and five assists.

Noteworthy Number(s)...
11: Freshman Nick Robinson scored a career-high 11 points in his fifth start filling in for junior wing James Demery. The 6-6 guard out of Chicago got things opening with a layup and 3-ball, and had a big-time 3-point play for the Hawks as they tried to close the gap down the stretch.

5: Temple continued to be one of the better teams in the country at taking care of the ball, turning it over just five times against St. Joe’s, while dishing out 16 assists.

Up Next…
Temple (5-2, 2-0 Big 5) @ Penn (2-4, 0-1 Big 5) -- Sat., Dec. 3, 4 PM
Saint Joseph’s (3-3, 0-1 Big 5) @ No. 2 Villanova (7-0, 1-0 Big 5) -- Sat., Dec. 3, 1 PM