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A packed but not quite full Palestra, although the
attendance was announced as a sellout of 8722. Doubtless, more than a few
couldn’t make the game because of “wintry mix” driving conditions. Nonetheless,
plenty of spirit and energy in the hoops cathedral, as the Maryland faithful
“travel well”, and brought at least several thousand supporters to the Penn
campus venue. So it seemed more like a Big Five contest, as each cheering
section tried to outdo the other. Only rollouts were absent.
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A little more than 5 minutes remain in the game. In the five minutes just elapsed, the Terrapins
had cut a 10-point Temple lead to one. In the next 90 SECONDS, first Wyatt, then
Moore, and then Fernandez each make unlikely three point shots. I Believe We Have Won broke out with about
one minute remaining.
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It was an extraordinary day for Philadelphia college
basketball, and its fans. For starters, one could have begun at 11am with the Temple-Maryland tipoff,
enjoyed lunch following the game (Slainte, at 30th and Market, was a
good choice yesterday), walked several blocks to the Daskalakis Athletic Center
to join 2500 other fans to watch Drexel play Northeastern (the Dragons won),
then return to the Palestra to join another sellout crowd to watch Penn edge
St. Joe’s in a Big Five classic. If an
Explorers fan, one could have gone to the Gola Arena (instead of the Daskalakis
Center) to see LaSalle play Rhode
Island. All in all, five city teams won (Villanova played at Madison Square
Garden where they defeated St. John’s) and more than 20,000 fans were in
attendance at college basketball games across the city and throughout the day . Reuben Frank, CSNPhilly columnist, has an interesting recap of the day (read here
).
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Amazing series of ramps now connect part of the Penn campus.
It is now possible to walk from the River Field athletic complex to the Palestra
without setting foot on a Philadelphia street.
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Oddsmakers had the Owls favored by NINE over their ACC
opponent. Surprised me (after all, Maryland
entered the game with a record (12-5) identical to Temple’s), but the
forecasters had obviously done their research, as the Owls beat the spread.
While the game was tight throughout, Temple trailed for less than a minute, and
led the entire second half.
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The Diamond Gems were in fine form yesterday. The halftime
entertainment featured a young man in a Temple teeshirt performing one balancing act after another (using his chin) ,
starting with a chair and concluding with a 10-foot stepladder. You had to be there!
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Temple now stands at #19 in the RPI rankings. St. Joe’s, their next opponent at the
Liacouras Center, this Saturday at 4pm, holds the 60th place in the
RPI. Before then, a difficult game on
the road, against Charlotte, this Wednesday evening. Only radio coverage(1210 AM WPHT) of the game.
