Chronicowls '13 Temple-Charlotte

Temple 89-Charlotte 88

Want a villain in the nearly disastrous Charlotte game? Start with the carefree lad who missed the half court shot, for a cool 10 grand, by a country mile. Or the sea of no-shows (capacity minus an announced 4,785) who no-showed to not cheer these Owls on (despite those expensive Expressway billboards). How ’bout the “Our defense needs a lot of work at this point” (quoth Dunphy) non-defense? Or was it Scootie Randall singlehandedly, who, in 36 agonizing minutes, amassed 0 field goals, 2 free throws, 3 offensive out of 5 rebounds, and 2 assists but 4 turnovers—to total 2 points.

That’s one point every 18 minutes, while surprising Dalton Pepper bagged 11 points in his 18 minutes. In fact, he and Jake O’Brien, with a most impressive 22 including a sparkling, game-high 4 of 5 from out there, both scored season highs. Khalif Wyatt chipped in a game-high 25 while Rahlir H-J with 11 was the fourth Owl in double figures. Not to mention his career-high 5 steals.

Somebody say steals? The Owls had 10 vs. the slow-starting 49ers’ 8. Turnovers? Sloppiness ruled this contest as Temple committed “only” 13—five of them in the final 2:09 to trigger a frenetic photo finish—vs. a whopping 19 by Charlotte. That’s 32 damaging “here y’ares” in a 40-minute game between two perfectly presentable teams with an aggregate 32-12 won-loss record. Poor passing, poor catching, poor luck.

Because of the turnovers…because Temple blew an early 13-point lead (among others)…because Dunphy stayed with Randall far too long…because the Owls prevailed by one fragile point (48-47) in the second half…because Charlotte shot a glittery 60.4 percent from the floor, without its suspended leading scorer (DeMario Mayfield)…because Charlotte racked up treys twice as effectively (7-10 to 7-19) as the Owls…and because skid happens, the game went down to the wire.

The proverbial and absolute wire, that is. It took Wyatt’s final (of 10-13 on the night) foul shot with 8.3 seconds remaining to stave off the 49ers’ Pierria Henry’s barely-buzzer-beating three. No way it should’ve been this close. Not when Temple needed to show major moxie after the 1-point loss to St. Joe’s just four days back. Not when they’re heading to loud and sold-out Dayton, the conference’s 38.7 percent 3-point shooting juggernaut, for Saturday brunch. Not when Charlotte had been annihilated by 20 and 28 points their last two road games. And not when the Big Dance, from this vantage point, is viewed through cataracts.

But the fans won tacos, the Owls won the game and here’s hoping that all their remaining contests have fairy tale endings. Speaking of which, our group next headed to the redoubtable Jack’s Firehouse, guarding the prison on Fairmount, for a spot of libation liberation. And we witnessed true magic—3-Card Monte with 3 stainless steel mixers and 3 maraschino cherries, till, WHOOPS, where’d the fourth cherry, then, WOW, a lime, and, WHA’ZIS, now that lemon, all come from? Ask Matt behind the bar there to blow your mind as he did ours. And if you’re a self-respecting bourbon fan, the vast selection is to drink for. 

--Post by Chronicowls contributor Tall Phil