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Quick Report: Temple 75, Minnesota 70

11/19/2015, 1:30pm EST
By Josh Verlin

Obi Enechionyia (above, last season) had 14 points and four rebounds in his first game of the season. (Photo: Tug Haines/CoBL)

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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Temple and Minnesota put on an entertaining, back-and-forth display in the opening game of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off Classic, with one returning player making a big difference for Temple in a 75-70 win.

The Owls advance to Friday's semifinal match-up against the winner of Butler and Missouri State.

At First…
Both teams started off slow from the field. Temple began to heat up midway through the first half, getting back-to-back triples from Obi Enechionyia to spark a 13-3 run that put the Owls up 29-22 two minutes before halftime, which they would enter with a 31-26 lead.

Turning Point…
After Temple went up by as many as nine, Minnesota went on a 17-2 run that looked like it could be the back-breaker, as the Owls looked lost for a good six minutes. But a 3-pointer by Devin Coleman snapped them out of it, and a tough layup through traffic by freshman Trey Lowe resulted in a three-point play that tied things up and brought momentum back to Temple’s side.

The Owls’ dagger would come with just under four minutes remaining, when Levan Alston Jr. drove baseline and found Coleman open on the right wing; Coleman’s 3-pointer, his third of the game, made it a 65-58 ballgame.

Standout Stars…
It was a welcome return to the lineup for Enechionyia, who missed the team’s season opener at UNC with a sprained ankle but didn’t look rusty in big minutes against the Golden Gophers. The 6-foot-8 sophomore finished with 14 points on 4-of-11 shooting, including 3-of-5 from beyond the arc, as well as four rebounds. He also pulled in a huge offensive board with 90 seconds remaining and Temple clinging to a five-point lead to help them seal the win.

After a quiet performance in the season-opening loss to North Carolina where he scored just two points, senior forward Jaylen Bond made his presence felt with 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting. The muscular 6-7 big man had eight rebounds including a key offensive board of his own, also in a five-point game with 35 seconds to play, to buy his team another possession.

Minnesota was led by point guard Nate Morris, who got to the line 12 times (making 11) to help him to a 20-point performance, with five assists and four rebounds. Backcourt partner Carlos Morris added 16.

Noteworthy Numbers…
Temple’s 3-point shooting (10-of-22, 45.5 percent) was far better than its 2-point shooting (13-of-38, 34.2 percent). Enechionyia was one of the biggest culprits, going 3-of-5 from long range but 1-of-8 from inside the arc, while Coleman was 3-of-8 on triples and 1-of-5 on everything else. Daniel Dingle (0-4), Levan Alston Jr. (0-3) and Josh Brown (0-4) all failed to connect from the field.

Of Temple's eight turnovers, five were by senior wing Quenton DeCosey. Point guards Brown and Alston combined for nine assists and zero turnovers as the team had 17 assists in total.

Up Next...
Temple (1-1) vs. TBD (Nov. 20, 1:00 PM)
Minnesota (2-1) vs. TBD (Nov. 20, 10:30 AM)

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