But, serendipitously, that was hardly the story of this
Liacouras Leap Lunge—not on our Senior Night, not in our house, not with the
A-10 tourney top seed dangling in the balance. No sir. The headline signature
moment was…hold on, is this possible… as exhilarating, octave-scaling, deeply mez-MO-rizing
a rendition of the national anthem as we’ve likely heard since Julius Caesar
coined Leap Day. Truly, this golden-tonsiled goddess could’ve halftimed a Gladiatorial
Super Bowl in Rome’s great Coliseum. Talk about a tough act to follow…but we
digress.
Here, then, was a cherry’n’white squad, slackjawed at Chaz’
jazz and hardly energized by an early Juan Fernandez 4-pointer, with a
transcendent vocal presence still suspended in the air. Yet the anthem did end,
on the word “brave,” no less, and the game did ensue, on this night where
things weren’t always as they seemed, and things seemed ill at ease. From tipoff
to .7 sec. left in OT, less than recommended went right for a Temple team
looking to finish with wins in 13 of its last 14 (check, assuming 10-18 Fordham
complies on Sat.,), a 13-3 conference record (check, ditto Fordham) and a
barely nicked 13-1 home slate (check, thanks Dayton). The 90-88 final tally,
after Temple’d squandered its 10-pt. cushion over the final 150 seconds of
regulation, before yielding the first 6 markers in OT, didn’t come easy. In fact,
it left the announced 6,519 faithful near catatonic, uncertain if and when to
launch into “I do believe that we…”But all was right with the universe when the words “…have won!” came full cycle. And the Owls had, by a whisper, thanks in no small measure to their staggering 30 of 40 free throws vs. UMass’ 6 of 10. A correlated success: Owls had just 14 fouls vs. UMass’ 25. Beyond that, comparable numbers all around, mostly, other than the Minutemen’s .449 vs. .391 field goal superiority. Fortunately, enter #1, on this undesignated Khalif Wyatt Night. The junior guard’s 26 were big, yes, especially including only 4 field goals. So how huge were his 17 (yup, seventeen) free throws? And his deft touch scoring the final 7 pts. of an OT where UMass nailed the first 6? Oh, and let’s not forget Michael Eric’s career high 19, all after intermission, plus a game high 15 rebounds (tying his season high). Or Juan Fernandez’s well-above-average 18. All on a night when Ramone Moore’s 13 were 4 pts. under average.
The difference, on this Senior Night? Maybe #31 Jake Godino. Okay, he played only the first minute in his 6th game appearance, bringing his season total to all of 9 minutes, but the guy bagged his first career start, set the game tone and showed his grit while dishing a flawless pass even as the world cried SHOOT! Untold stories like Godino’s can propel teams to greatness. He was joined at center court pregame by Messrs. Moore, Fernandez and Eric in receiving framed jerseys from a duly grateful Fran Dunphy. (Heck, could he be Jeremy Lin in disguise for the Big Dance?)
Alas, reluctantly, we bid farewell to the effervescent
Diamond Gems and Spirit Squad, the resonant trombonists-oboists-percussionists
et al, the Drunken Dunkin’s, the Silverthroated Voice of the Owls, the Hot Dog
Howitzer that Couldn’t (Be Shot Straight), the…. Happy summer to all, till we
gather again to exhort the 2012-2013 Temple Owls, whose predecessors, we here
predict, will find deserved madness in this fabled month of March.
Guest post by Chronicowls Contributor Tall Phil (the Content Razor)
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