Temple Defeats Saint Joseph’s 70 – 60 To Stay Unbeaten in the City Series
PHILADELPHIA, PA. 12/6/2022 –
By virtue of their win over the Saint Joseph’s Hawks at least a share of the Big Five title is earned by the Temple Owls. The Cherry and White improves to 3 – 0 in the city series. This is the 28th championship for the Owls who now ties Villanova for the most Big Five titles. And it brings city bragging rights to North Broad Street, and something of which to be proud.
“I think it’s a major accomplishment for us,” said Owls guard and Philadelphian Hysier Miller. “All of the championship goals we put in front of us, just putting ourselves in position to play for the Big Five championship, how much it means to the area. For Temple it’s a big thing for us.”
Temple Takes Control in the Last Five Minutes
When the Owls and the Hawks play, expect feathers to fly. And they did. In a scrappy game, Temple was ahead, but Saint Joseph’s stayed in contention. The Owls held a 59 – 52 lead with just over five minutes to play. The game tilted in the direction of Temple on a basket by Owls guard Khalif Battle, who then scored a traditional three-point play with 3:33 remaining to stretch the lead to double digits, and keyed a 9 – 2 run. The Owls needed to stay focused on the task at hand, and are learning to win tight contests.
“We’re in a lot of close games,” said Temple Coach Aaron McKie. “We’re figuring some things out down the stretch. When we have opportunities to get some good separation, I want our guys to get to the point where we can start doing that a lot better, and it won’t have to be a nail biter down the stretch.”
Throughout the game the Hawks did not go away. The Owls took it away in a highly contested game. A Big Five game.
“The Big Five is great,” said Saint Joseph’s Coach Billy Lange. “They are physical battles. They are intense games. This was a grind for a very large portion. Sometimes you need a few things to go your way. Some of those things did not go our way. That’s the Big Five.”
What Did The Numbers Say
Hawks guard Cameron Brown set a career-high in scoring getting 25 points. He made 7 of 8 field goals, 5 of 6 from beyond the arc, and was a perfect 6 for 6 from the free throw line. Brown pulled down 10 rebounds. And had to defend the better Temple offensive players.
“He stepped up,” Lange said about the performance of Brown. “He’s been in a lot of Big Five games. He’s played Temple. This is his third time. He understands what to expect. He was on both ends. Cam provided defense on Dunn. And he did a great job on what we needed offensively.”
Erik Reynolds added 16 points.
Battle headed Temple with 20 points making 6 of 12 from the floor, 2 three-pointers, and sank 6 of 9 from the charity stripe. Miller scored 10 points. Zach Hicks added 10 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double. Damian Dunn scored 6 points while handing out a career-high tying 6 assists. All 8 Owls who played, scored.
Up Next
Saint Joseph’s (3 – 5) hosts Saint Peter’s on Saturday.
Temple (6 – 4) will go for their first outright Big Five title since the 2009-10 season when they face Penn at the Palestra on Saturday. The Owls understand what is at stake, and are ready.
“To compete Saturday for the ultimate goal which is the Big Five championship,” Battle said. “Bragging rights for the city. We’re really excited about that. We’ll focus on that.”
Written By: Glenn Papazian
Contact: Glenn@PhillyCollegeSports.com
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