Quick Report: Temple 79, Fairleigh Dickinson 70

Quenton DeCosey (above) had 22 points as Temple downed Fairleigh Dickinson, 79-70, on Wednesday. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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A sharpshooting Fairleigh Dickinson squad hung with Temple early on, but the size and athleticism of the Owls won over eventually as Temple evened its record with a 79-70 win over the Knights.

At First…
Temple led by as many as 13 points in the opening half, getting production up and down the roster as the Owls looked comfortable in their nest at Liacouras Center But thanks to the hot early 3-point shooting of Fairleigh Dickinson, led by Earl Potts Jr. who connected on four of his six attempts in the opening 20 minutes, the Knights ended the first half on a 13-2 run to go into the half down just two, 36-34.

Turning Point…
All the momentum that Fairleigh Dickinson brought into the locker rooms seemed to stay there, as Temple took took control of the game and didn’t look back. A quick 7-2 spurt by the Owls to start the second half gave them some breathing room, and they would expand that lead to 10 by the under-12 minute timeout. That’s when they put things away, going on a 12-0 run punctuated by a Quenton DeCosey alley-oop off a Josh Brown feed that made it a 65-43 game with under 10 minutes to play.

Fairleigh Dickinson made it interesting, getting within eight points with under 20 seconds remaining, but it was too little, too late.

Standout Stars…
DeCosey continued his string of double-digit scoring performances to begin the year, scoring a team-high 22 points, his second-highest mark of the season. The 6-5 senior wing was 7-of-11 from the floor and made all seven of his foul shots, grabbing eight rebounds and two steals as well.

Temple forward Jaylen Bond had his way inside with a young and undersized Fairleigh Dickinson frontcourt, finishing with 18 points on 8-of-11, grabbing four rebounds (two offensive).

Potts Jr. was feeling it from beyond the arc, finishing the game 6-of-8 from 3-point range to lead him to a game-high 29 points on an efficient 10-of-15 from the floor.

Noteworthy Numbers…
The Owls, who hadn't made more than 40 percent of their shots in any game this year, broke through that barrier by making 25-of-53 (47.2 percent) despite a 4-of-19 (21.1 percent) mark from 3-point range. They shot 25-of-28 (89.3 percent) from the foul stripe.

All 10 Temple players who saw action scored, a feat they’d accomplished by halftime.

Up Next…
Temple (3-3) @ Wisconsin (4-3) (Dec. 5, 12:30 PM)
Fairleigh Dickinson (2-6) @ Lafayette (2-4) (Dec. 9, 7 PM)