And so they came to the Land of Liacouras, these Seahawks,
from their 105-acre perch atop Grymes Hill on Staten Island, overlooking
harbor, ocean and Manhattan. They were loaded for bear fresh off their mid-week
dismantling of Princeton via an 8-2 OT run. Coached by Bashir Mason, who led
Drexel in assists and steals for four years and beat Temple as a senior, the
Green & White had averaged 43 pts. in two wins and 63 in three losses. If
you can imagine that!
Saturday afternoon’s final at the staggeringly unpopulated (no
part of an announced 5,371) North Broad bastion: 70-62 Owls, about which Dunphy
confessed, “I think they outworked us…played harder…tougher…better than us.
They deserve a lot of credit, the Wagner guys.” Hmmm. Probably so, praying to
reprise their 25-6 campaign last year. But they were smaller and couldn’t shoot
straight, or long, with a woeful trey display of 3-for-11. That’s vs. Temple’s
9-19, 47.4% longball game, surpassing its 16-38, 42.1 efficiency inside the
arc.
Advisedly ceding the turnover title 12-7, the Owls prevailed
in FG and FT percentages (.431, .786), blocked shots (7-4), assists (14-11) and
steals (7-3). Three Wagner guys may’ve had three with double figures, but they
were no match for Temple’s two, Scootie Randall with 10 pts. plus a team-high 9
boards and Khalif Wyatt with a game-high 26 in his 34 minutes. That included a critical
trey at the 1:45 mark when Wagner had, somehow, fought back to trail just
60-55. Which must’ve been what Dunphy meant!
Strange game? Sure. Minutes in, Wagner led 10-2. Cause for
concern? Welllll…nope. Moments later, it was all Owls, 12-10. And they built
leads from there, albeit never commanding, because Wagner, despite an
entertaining airball display and some awfully short guys in awfully long
shorts, is certainly scrappy. And don’t forget, these Seahawks were seeking to
set the tone for their gridiron brethren who, that evening, would tangle with
Eastern Washington in the FCS playoffs, after trumping their 0-3 start with a slick
9-0 finish. In the end, alas, both squads fell.
NEC conference member Wagner draws from a student body under
2,200, with 375 grad students thrown in. Temple doesn’t. Speaking of which,
Temple’s graduate forward Jake O’Brien added 8 pts. and others of the nine who
saw action contributed. But now the fun starts. First, the Big 5 opener at the
Pavilion on Wednesday vs. a ’Nova squad ripe for the picking. Looks like 6-0,
best since the ’87-’88 opening run of 14-0 (en route to 32-2). Then, next
Saturday at the Izod Center, it’s Doooookkk. So 7-0 outta the box could portend
great things this season, especially with three home games to follow.
Oh, and by the way, one great thing happened when the Owls’ all-male
Broad Street Line took center court before tip-off to belt out a courageous and
mostly harmonious rendition of, “Oh, say can you see.” If you can see ’em at an
entertainment venue near you, do. If, on the other hand, you’re offered one
chance to hurl an ersatz bowling ball the length of the Liacouras court at an
ersatz bunch of bowling pins, albeit for $10,000, tell ’em you’ll have to ask
your mother.
Posted by "Tall Phil" Wagner
