Chronicowls '13 - Wagner (on Temple-Wagner)

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

Chronicowls '11, Post 2 (Temple-Georgetown)

This tweet from the Temple University's Office of University Communications:
#Temple takes down #10 Georgetown 68-65! Hoyas 1st loss 2010; Dunphy's 400th career win. Students storm court. Moore career-high 30 pts.
There you have it. Last night's game, summed up in 140 characters.
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We secured a parking spot on Cecil Moore Avenue, just outside the Liacouras Center. We took it as a sign that the evening was going to be a memorable one.We were further convinced that this game had the makings of an evening to remember when, 15 seconds into the game, Juan Fernandez scored. Temple supporters were thus able to quickly take their seats, much to the relief of a handful of fans (first-timers to the Liacouras Center, no doubt, as they were unaware of the Temple tradition of standing until the Owl's first point) seated behind us who were quick to call out "down in front" as the tip-off approached. Temple scored the first six points of the game, and never trailed. Plenty of drama remained, nonetheless, as the game's outcome came down to the final shot.
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Temple had featured balanced scoring thus far in the season. Not last night. Juan Fernandez had seven points in the game's first five minutes. He did not score again. 16 minutes remained in the game when Lavoy Allen scored his first basket. Allen and Fernandez combined for 13 points for the entire game. Ramone Moore tallied more points just in the FIRST HALF.
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And what an evening Moore had. On national television, no less. A breakthrough game. One year ago,almost to the day, a Big East school (Villanova) came into the Liacouras Center unbeaten and ranked in the top 10. An Owl guard (Fernandez) had a career game (scoring 33 points) to lead the Owls to a stunning victory over their city rivals. Last night, another Big East school , unbeaten and ranked in the top 10, visited the Liacouras Center. And another Owl guard , Ramone Moore, produced a career game to lead the Owls to an upset victory.
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Temple's first half was one of the better stretches of basketball they've played this season. Better than 50% shooting from the field. Making almost half of their three-point shots. And not missing a foul shot. (In fact, neither side missed a foul shot in the opening half). Yet the Owls couldn't shake the Hoyas. At one point in the first half, Georgetown went four minutes without scoring , yet Temple led only by seven points. Five minutes without scoring a basket didn't help matters for Temple.
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Enthusiastic and sizeable crowd last night. Student section full and spirited. The pep band in full complement. And new time-out contests introduced last night ( a bowling game and dice game). And an entertaining intermission show by a talented acrobatic tumbling squad. Yet, while last night's attendance (9509) is likely to be the largest this season, there were nearly a thousand empty seats. Disappointing.
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We were pleased to learn at the beginning of the season that Chickie and Pete's and Whelihan's would be setting up concession stands at the Liacouras Center. Their food choices, we discovered last night, are limited, and so I expect we'll be back to having pre or post game meals outside the Liacouras Center.
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A milestone was reached last night. Congratulations to Coach Dunphy, who picked his 400th win as a college coach. Only his predecessor, John Chaney, has more wins as a Big Five coach.