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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
DAYTON, Ohio (AP) -- Quincy Wadley provided the offensive fireworks in the final minutes but -- as usual -- it was No. 15 Temple's defense that got the credit.
|  | | Dayton's Tony Stanley, left, who scored 19 points, and Pepe Sanchez race after a loose ball. |
"We made key defensive stops down the stretch, which in turn
jump-started our offense," Wadley said after his 3-pointer and
four-point play on consecutive late possessions powered the Owls to
a 64-58 victory over Dayton on Thursday night.
Wadley, who finished with 17 points, scored 11 of the Owls' last
13 points in the showdown between the Atlantic 10's divisional
leaders.
After Dayton (18-6, 8-4) cut the lead to 51-50 on Yuanta Holland's dunk with 4:05 left, Wadley nailed a 3-pointer from the right wing. The Flyers missed a 3-point shot, but Wadley came right back to swish another 3 from the left corner and was fouled, turning it into a four-point play for a 58-50 lead.
Dayton never got closer than four points again, with Wadley
going 4-of-5 from the free throw line over the final 53 seconds.
"Those were two big 3-point shots," Dayton coach Oliver
Purnell said. "Our defense let us down at critical points coming
down the stretch."
Mark Karcher had 17 points and Lamont Barnes added 10 for Temple
(19-4, 11-1), which won its 10th straight game and 13th in its last
14. The Owls' only loss in that span came when St. Bonaventure went
13-of-27 from 3-point range in a 57-56 victory a month ago.
Dayton tried the same tactic, relying almost exclusively on
perimeter shooting against the Owls, who came in No. 1 in the
country in scoring defense (53.8 per game). The Flyers were
11-of-26 on 3-pointers and only 8-of-22 inside the arc.
In taking a 29-25 halftime lead, Temple outscored the Flyers
18-0 in the paint.
"The thing I have to give my team credit for is that they
closed off the inside," Owls coach John Chaney said. "We shot
well. I think that's the most telling thing for me. I try to
measure us in terms of how we do when we don't shoot well. When you
shoot well, everyone looks good."
Tony Stanley had 19 points and 10 rebounds for Dayton, while Brooks Hall had 15 points -- all on 3-pointers -- and David Morris added 11.
Asked if he was satisfied to take four more shots beyond the 3-point line than inside it, Purnell said, "I'd take 126 3-pointers if they were good ones."
Temple scored the first basket of the second half to take a
31-25 lead -- matching its largest of the game -- but Dayton regained
the lead at 34-33 on a dunk by Stanley. The teams traded the lead
10 times over the next six minutes until Pepe Sanchez hit his first
basket of the game, a 3-pointer from the right wing, for a 46-44
Temple lead at the 11:32 mark.
Sanchez followed with a 12-footer before Lynn Greer stole a
pass, drove the length of the court and flipped a pass back to
Karcher who hit the open 3-pointer on the fastbreak to make it
51-44 with 8:22 left.
Dayton didn't score for 5½ minutes until Stanley scored on a
rebound follow, Morris hit two foul shots on Sanchez's fourth foul
and Holland dunked to set the stage for Wadley's heroics in the
closing moments.
The Owls remained in Ohio after the game, awaiting a Sunday
showdown with top-ranked Cincinnati.
Chaney said he didn't expect his team to dominate inside against
the brawny Bearcats.
"I don't want anyone shooting around Kenyon Martin," Chaney
said of the Cincinnati center with a laugh. "There'll be no points
scored by Lamont Barnes or Kevin Lyde or Keaton Sanders. I want to
win the game 2-0. If we get the ball, I'm going to tell them just
to hold on to it."
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ALSO SEE
Mens College Basketball Scoreboard
Temple Clubhouse
Dayton Clubhouse
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