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Quick Report: Temple 70, Penn 62

12/03/2016, 6:00pm EST
By Josh Verlin & Brendan Flatley

Alani Moore (above) and Temple won their fifth straight game, 70-62 over Penn. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Brendan Flatley (@bflat7) &
Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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Despite an off day from its star, Temple found enough from its supporting cast to hold on for a 70-62 win over Big 5 rival Penn at the Liacouras Center.

At First…
Temple (6-2, 3-0 Big 5) jumped out to an 8-0 lead after two Alani Moore II threes and never took their foot off the gas pedal in the opening minutes. The Owls extended that lead to 16-4 at the 13:29 mark and seemed in control of both sides of the floor. Penn started its comeback and cut the deficit to 25-17 and never getting closer than that eight before the half.

Coming out of the half, the Owls held a consistent 8-12 point lead for the first 8 minutes as the two teams traded buckets. The Quakers got a quick two then three from Matt MacDonald and Matt Howard respectively to cut Temple’s lead down to four with nine minutes left as Penn refused to go away.

Turning Point…
Early on in the second half the Quakers (2-4, 0-2 Big 5) attempted to claw back, but struggled to cut the lead to fewer than seven. With five minutes left, Temple junior Obi Enechionyia started to turn it on after a rough first half, knocking down a runner in the lane then catching a lob from junior Shizz Alston Jr. for a big-time dunk to get the crowd on their feet. But that did not put the Quakers away completely, as Penn was able to get within two with just over minute left on an A.J. Brodeur finger-rolll.

Temple freshman Quinton Rose scored a big bucket under the hoop off a feed from Alani Moore II to extend the lead to four with just under a minute left which led to intentionally fouling by Penn after a missed 1-and-1 by Jackson Donahue. Temple put the game out of reach thanks to two foul shots by Alston, and ended it on a great hustle play by Daniel Dingle and Alani Moore II to track down the loose ball and feed Enechionyia for an exclamation point ending.

Standout Stars…
Temple sophomore Ernest Aflakpui had a solid day on the glass and on the scoresheet, putting up his first double-double on the season since the opener against La Salle. Aflakpui consistently got the ball in the post and made the most of it, scoring 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting while also grabbing 11 rebounds, a new career high on the glass. He was one of four Owls in double figures: Shizz Alston Jr. (14), Alani Moore II (12) and Obi Enechionyia (12) joined him.

Penn senior Matt Howard had 19 points on 6-of-10 shooting, including an uncharacteristic 4-of-6 from 3-point range. Freshman forward A.J. Brodeur added 17 points and seven rebounds for the Quakers.

Noteworthy Numbers…
2: Temple junior Obi Enechionyia had his roughest half of the season thus far not making a single shot from the floor on nine attempts. He had only two points in the first half coming from the free throw line; the 6-10 junior finished with 12 points, but was 5-of-17 from the floor.

11: After seeing 14 minutes of action in his first game of the season against St. Joe’s on Wednesday, Temple senior Josh Brown saw 11 minutes against Penn, scoring five points and grabbing four rebounds as he continues to return from an Achilles injury six months ago.

Up Next…
Temple (6-2) vs. George Washington (5-3) -- Wed., Dec. 7, 7:30 PM
Penn (2-4) vs. Lafayette (2-4) -- Wed., Dec. 7, 8 PM

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