January 17, 2009 | AP Press

AMHERST, MA – Ricky Harris scored 24 points, leading Massachusetts to a 79-75 win over Temple in an Atlanic 10 Conference game on Saturday.

Anthony Gurley added 16 points, Tony Gaffney scored 14 and Chris Lowe added 13 points, six rebounds and 11 assists as Massachusetts snapped Temple’s four-game winning streak.

Massachusetts (7-9, 1-1 Atlantic 10) trailed 37-33 at halftime.

UMass led once in the first half, 30-29 on a hoop by Lowe, with more than three minutes before the break. A three-pointer by Ryan Brooks gave the Owls (9-7, 1-1 A-10) their 37-33 margin at halftime.

Dionte Christmas, the Atlantic 10 scoring leader, led Temple with 28 points and 9 rebounds. Brooks had 17, while Lavoy Allen added 11 points and five assists for the Owls.

January 14, 2009 | AP Press

PHILADELPHIA, PA – Dionte Christmas scored 25 points, and Craig Williams a career-high 17 as Temple dominated city rival Penn 78-53 Wednesday night.

Christmas, averaging 21 points, hit nine of 13 shots, including all five his shots from 3-point range. Williams, a 6-foot-9 sophomore, shot 6-for-12, including 5-for-10 from long distance.

The Owls (9-6) shot 13-for-19 from 3-point range.

Zack Rosen had 12 points, and Rob Belcore 11 for the Quakers (3-8).

Temple made five of six 3-point shots in the first eight minutes and sped to a 25-7 lead. Penn reserve guard Harrison Gaines then scored eight points during a 10-0 run. But Christmas hit a 3-pointer that sparked a 15-5 spurt, and the Owls moved out to a 42-24 halftime advantage.

Temple opened the second half with a 16-7 run for a 58-31 lead, and was up by 30 points three times.

January 11, 2009 by John Lamb | A10CollegeHoops

PHILADELPHIA – As a rule, Big 5 games have a reputation for being wild affairs. Sunday night’s match up between the Temple Owls and the La Salle Explorers was the exception.

The Owls (8-6, 1-0 A10) led from wire to wire and won 75-68 behind Dionte Christmas’ 10th career 30 point performance. La Salle  (8-6. 0-1 A10) weathered an early storm and kept the game close enough to make things interesting but, in the end, they had no answer for Christmas.

This game was the 105th meeting between the two North Philadelphia schools. Temple improved to 3-0 all-time against the Explorers in A10 conference openers. La Salle fell to 2-12 all time in their opening conference game since joining the Atlantic 10.

The Explorers managed to cut Temple’s lead to five on two separate occasions in the closing minutes of the game but big threes from Christmas and Ryan Brooks crushed any hopes La Salle had of making a late comeback.

“When [La Salle] went on their run it was unfortunate that those guys stayed in a zone,” said Christmas, who scored 19 of his 30 points in the second half. “Coach did a good job of letting me bring the ball up, pass to the wing and cut through. La Salle did a great job of hedging their back men up and keeping me from the ball. Lavoy did a good job of getting the ball in the middle and looking opposite and every time he did I was right there for the jump shop. I thought Juan did a good job as well as to getting to the gaps and the middle of their zone and finding me on the opposite side.”

Christmas has been counted on to take the big shots ever since Fran Dunphy took over the program three years ago. It is a role he still relishes.

“It is definitely a good feeling when I know my team needs me the most and I come through like that,” said Christmas. “Coach coming out of the huddle said that we need to score this possession and I just so happened to do a great job of finding the open spot and my bigs and my guards did a great job of finding me and I knocked it down.”

La Salle’s coach Dr. John Giannini was disappointed that his team allowed Christmas to run free in the closing minutes of the game.

“We screwed up on covering Christmas a couple of times – once in the second half and once in the first half where it was just a blatant mistake on our part,” said Giannini. “We didn’t get out on the ball screen on Christmas a couple of times. The two Christmas threes and the plays we didn’t take a charge – it adds up.”

“They were just more active.”

While Christmas’ latest scoring explosion will surely make the headlines, it was Temple’s sophomore forward Lavoy Allen who caused problems for the undersized Explorers. Allen was able to draw two quick fouls on Vernon Goodridge, La Salle’s biggest player at 6-9, which ultimately changed the landscape of the game for both teams.

“It certainly disrupted us early on,” said Giannini on Goodridge’s foul trouble. “It was certainly a factor.”

Goodridge, who played most of the second half with four personal fouls, finished with eight points, one rebound and no blocks in 17 minutes.

Allen collected a career-high 21 points on 6-of-10 shooting. He proved to be too much for the Explorers to handle on the offensive glass as five of his six boards came off of Temple misses. Allen also dished out five assists and blocked three shots.

“[Allen] is just really good,” said Giannini, who recruited Allen heavily. “He takes what the defense gives him and he is consistent. I knew that when [Temple] got him that it was a difference making situation in the city.”

Dunphy has been somewhat critical of his forward at times this season. The Owls coach has stated repeatedly that Allen can be a superstar in the league if he decides that is what he wants to be. Dunphy was satisfied with his play tonight – for the most part.

“[Allen] was tremendous in the early part of the game” said Dunphy, who improved to 17-5 lifetime against his alma matre. “He set the tone. I thought he did a great, great job on both ends of the floor. He was blocking shots. He gets three blocks. He does a great job on the glass on the offensive end, he was really battling that way. He stepped out and made a three, which I would like to see him take more of them. I think he has to step out and set some back screens and face the basket as he is one of our better passers.”

Freshman sensation Juan Fernandez seemed to hit a bit of a wall in his third game as an Owl. He finished the game with four points, two assists and two steals. He also committed three turnovers but they could be attributed to his teammates not expecting a pass coming their way.

“They like playing with him,” said Dunphy. “They understand that they are going to get the ball. Our big guys have to be a little more ready to receive those passes.”

Still, Dunphy preached patience with the newest member of the Owls.

“We are trying to be as patient was we can,” said Dunphy. “He made some plays tonight that you just can’t make. He took a couple of threes, one that I didn’t want him to take. But he is learning and growing as a player so you got to be a little bit patient with him.”

La Salle was led by the one-two scoring punch of Rodney Green (20 points) and  Ruben Guillandeax (17 points). The Explorers proved that they could match baskets with the Owls but it was Temple’s ability to get to the line that ultimately decided this game.

The Owls made more free throws (15) than La Salle attempted (10).

La Salle came into the game looking to replicate the success they had shooting against Howard and Manhattan. In Both games the Explorers shot better than 60 percent from the field. Giannini recognized after the game that Temple is on a whole different level than his previous foes.

“[Temple] made fewer mistakes and were more relentless,” said Giannini. “They ran better, they were more active rebounders and they got better shots. I tip my hat to them, they were just better.”

Temple threatened to blow the game open at the outset as they jumped out to a 17-4 lead with just over five minutes gone in the first half. Allen was a major force for the Owls as he scored their first 12 points.

The sophomore forward got it done in a variety of ways for Dunphy’s Owls, including a monster dunk in traffic to cap his mini-run and a long three-pointer from the wing. He finished the half with 17 points.

Temple’s Michael Eric was able to assert himself when Goodridge was forced to watch the game from the bench. The freshman center/forward scored six points and grabbed five rebounds in only eight minutes of action – all in the first half.

Guillandeaux was influential in keeping the Explorers in the game. It seemed as if every time the Owls looked to extend their lead the junior guard out of the Bronx answered with a big three. All nine of his first half points came from behind the three-point line.

Temple has two days off before they head to the Palestra to take on Dunphy’s former team, the University of Pennsylvania Quakers. The Explorers will also play Wednesday night as they will head down south to take on the Charlotte 49ers.

POSTGAME AUDIO: (right click and save as… if you have trouble hearing the audio)
Dionte Christmas and Lavoy Allen Post Game Audio
Fran Dunphy Post Game Press Conference
John Giannini, Rodney Green and Ruben Guillandeaux Post Game Press Conference
John Lamb can be reached at johnlamb@a10collegehoops.com

January 7, 2009 | AP Press

YPSILANTI, Mich. — Dionte Christmas scored 17 points for Temple, which beat Eastern Michigan 67-45 Wednesday night.

The Owls ended the first half on a 13-5 run for a 32-23 lead at intermission. The Eagles got as close as 43-38 with nine minutes to play but Temple (7-6) answered with a 15-2 spurt in the next six minutes to put the game away.

Lavoy Allen scored 14 points and Ryan Brooks added 10 for Temple, which snapped a three-game road losing streak and held Eastern Michigan to its lowest offensive output of the season.

Brandon Bowdry fouled out after scoring 16 points for the Eagles (2-12). They dropped their sixth straight and remain winless this season against Division 1 teams.

January 5, 2009 by John Lamb | A10CollegeHoops

PHILADELPHIA, PA – The Temple Owls defeated the Kent State Golden Flashes 73-58 on Monday night but, believe it or not, the big story was not the debut of Juan Fernandez.

Sophomore Craig Williams, who played a total of 18 minutes this season before tonight’s game, was inserted into the starting lineup in place of Sergio Olmos. He responded by scoring 16 points, 13 more than his previous career-high.

“I have always been working towards starting but I did not know it was going to come at this point of my career,” said Williams, who looked ecstatic sitting next to Dionte Christmas at the post-game press conference. “[Coach Dunphy] did not tell me why he started me, I guess he just wanted to shake up the lineup.”

It took Williams 40 seconds to tie his previous high and 1:43 to break it. He scored the Owls’ (6-6) first eight points of the game on back-to-back three-pointers and a long two-point jumper.

“Usually we start off going to me the first couple of times but I told the point guards to find Craig because he was hot,” said Christmas. “If this can continue I think we can have a very successful season.”

Williams also tied his previous career-best in rebounds with three and set new highs in assists (two), blocks (one), steals (one) and minutes played (22).

There was some miscommunication after the game regarding when Williams found out that he would be a starter for the first time in his collegiate career. He said repeatedly that he did not know he was  starting until he saw his name on the board right before game time.

Temple Coach Fran Dunphy stated that Williams had been practicing with the “black” team, the Owls’ starters, during scrimmages. When told by a member of the press that Williams said he did not know about status as a starter the Owls coach said that the sophomore was “full of soup.”

“We had a starting team that was out there and he was on that starting team,” said Dunphy, who also noted that Williams performance in a preseason scrimmage with city-rival Drexel first clued him in as to how much the forward had improved during the offseason. “What do you want me to do: write it down for you? ‘Okay Craig you are starting.’ That is tantamount to announcing that you are starting.”

Senior co-captain Sergio Olmos saw just 16 minutes of action in his first stint off of the bench since to 2006-07 season. He finished with four points, three rebounds and three blocks.

“I did not think [Olmos] was playing hard enough,” said Dunphy. “He wasn’t pushing himself enough. He was giving up too many offensive rebounds at one end and not getting enough at the other end.”

Although the play of Craig Williams may have overshadowed him just a bit, it is official: Fernandez has arrived on North Broad Street.

The much-ballyhooed freshman point guard from Argentina saw his first minutes as a Temple Owl and did not disappoint the 3,500 people in attendance.

“He was good, not great, but good,” said Dunphy about Fernandez’s debut. “He made two big threes for us. The second one that he made in the second half when they were cutting into our lead a little bit was a huge three for us. In the first half he tried to post feed Michael Eric pretty high but it just wasn’t there. Overall, I thought he was good and I think his defense is improving. He is never going to be a jet out there so he has to be smarter than everyone else. I think he certainly has that capability to be very intelligent as a player.”

The freshman checked into the game with 14:22 remaining in the first half to a raucous chorus of cheers. A little over one minute later he had the crowd oohing and aahing over his nifty passing ability. Every time he touched the ball the small but vocal student section chanted his name.

“It was weird but I am starting to like it, starting to enjoy it,” said Fernandez, who admitted that he was not used to the to the pageantry that goes along with college basketball in the United States.

His final stat line was not anything special – eight points, four assists, three turnovers, one steal in 21 minutes – but one thing is clear: he is the point guard that the Owls have desperately needed. Fernandez looked very comfortable running the offense and more than once was telling his teammates where they should be in certain offensive sets.

“Since Juan came here he has been doing a great job at finding guys,” said Christmas on the Owls newest star. “He picks up things very fast and has been doing well in practice. I thought he did a great job today. He had a couple of assist which helped out.”

Lost in all of the hoopla was the fact that Christmas went off for a game-high 26 points. He got off to what has become his customary slow start in the first half. Christmas missed his first two shots and did not score until he hit a three with 3:01 remaining.

He added another three and two free-throws to finish the half with six points.

Lavoy Allen, on the heels of a disappointing outing against Villanova, had a solid game. He stayed out of foul trouble, which has been his weakness all year, and put up seven points to go along with 10 rebounds, three assists and three blocks.

“When we grade these guys, Lavoy typically gets the best grades,” said Dunphy. “You want him out there as much as possible because he knows what he is doing out there. He has to affect the game a little bit more. 10 rebounds I will take it but he has to score the ball a little bit more.”

Kent State (7-7) was able to cut the Owls’ lead to seven points midway through the second half on back-to-back three pointers by former junior-college All-American Tyree Evans. Fernandez answered with a three-pointer of his own to push Temple’s lead back out to double-digits.

The Golden Flash never got within 12 from that point on.

Temple will be right back in action on Wednesday night when they travel to Ypsilanti, MI to take on the Eastern Michigan Eagles (2-11). It will be the final non-conference game against a MAC school for the Owls this season before they head into Atlantic 10 play Sunday against Big 5 rival La Salle at the Tom Gola Arena.

POSTGAME AUDIO: (right-click and save as… if you have trouble hearing these files)
Fran Dunphy Post Game Press Conference
Dionte Christmas and Craig Williams Post Game Press Conference
Juan Fernandez Post Game Press Conference

John Lamb can be reached at johnlamb@a10collegehoops.com.

December 29, 2008 | AP Press

VILLANOVA, PA. — Corey Fisher scored eight straight points in the decisive run and finished with 23 to rally Villanova (No. 13 ESPN/USA Today, No. 15 AP) to its 23rd straight win at The Pavilion, 62-45 over Temple on Monday night.

The Wildcats (12-1) continued to roll over their city rivals, winning 18 of their last 19 Big 5 games. Up ahead for Villanova, a stiffer test in the Big East opener on Jan. 1 at Marquette.

The Owls (5-6) led at halftime and stretched it to 32-24 until completely falling apart from the floor. They went 11 1/2 minutes without a field goal and have lost three straight since beating Tennessee.

Fisher and Scottie Reynolds put an end to Temple’s lead, combining for four 3-pointers during a 14-0 run that helped Villanova match its longest winning streak at the Pavilion.

With the Big East season set to tip off, the Wildcats are hoping to avoid a repeat of last season’s early conference slump. Much like this season, Villanova rolled to a 10-1 record and were No. 17 in The Associated Press’ Top 25 thanks to a soft nonconference schedule before it lost six of its first nine Big East games.

They rebounded nicely to make the NCAA tournament for the fourth straight year and reached the round of 16.

The great games in city history are often billed as “Big 5 Classics.” This one was a big dud in the first half with the Owls and Wildcats shooting like they spent their holiday breaks anywhere but the gym.

Villanova went 9-for-22 from the floor and the Owls were 9-for-28. If not for Dante Cunningham’s 10 points in the first half for the Wildcats, the Owls might have been able to build a bigger lead.

Once the Wildcats got going from 3-point range, this one was over in a hurry.

Reynolds hit a 3 — only the third in 12 attempts for Villanova — and Fisher hit one on each of the next possessions for a 33-32 lead. A pair of free throws gave Fisher eight straight points and Reynolds capped the shutout spurt with another 3-pointer that made it 38-32.

Two-time Atlantic 10 scoring champion Dionte Christmas was limited to 13 points, well off his season average of 20.8. Christmas sank his first two shots, then missed 15 of his next 16 from the floor.

Lavoy Allen’s layup with 14:34 gave the Owls a 32-24 lead, but they did not score another basket until Luis Guzman made a layup at the 3:15 mark with Temple trailing by nine.

The Owls routed the Volunteers only two weeks ago, followed by a respectable showing in an 11-point loss at defending national champion Kansas and a loss at Long Beach State.

December 22, 2008 | AP Press

LONG BEACH, CA — Donovan Morris scored 23 points and T.J. Robinson scored a career-high 18 points to lead Long Beach State to a 76-71 victory over Temple on Monday.

Morris made five free throws in the final 1:20 to seal the win for the 49ers (5-6) and help snap Long Beach State’s five-game losing streak. Morris also had nine rebounds and five assists.

Trailing 71-61 with 1:09 to play, Temple’s Dionte Christmas and T.J. Dileo hit back to back 3-pointers to cut the 49ers’ lead to four. However, Stephan Gilling hit two free throws with 32 seconds left, and Morris did the rest from the line.

Gilling finished with 15 points for the 49ers. Christmas, after being shut out in the first half, scored 19 points.

Sergio Olmos scored 13 points and Lavoy Allen grabbed 11 rebounds for the Owls.

December 20, 2008 | AP Press

LAWRENCE, KAN. — Sherron Collins had 19 points and keyed a big second-half run, lifting Kansas to a 71-59 win over Temple on Saturday.

Kansas (8-2) was coming off its worst game of the season, a 61-60 loss to Massachusetts last Saturday in which it shot 34 percent, including 5-of-23 from 3-point range.

The Jayhawks had a week off to get better — and take final exams — and were much more crisp against the Owls, shooting 53 percent to win their 30th straight at Allen Fieldhouse. Cole Aldrich had 13 points and 11 rebounds, and Brady Morningstar added 11 points while helping keep Temple leading scorer Dionte Christmas in check the first half.

Temple (5-5) hadn’t played since Dec. 13, when it pulled off an impressive 88-72 win over then-No. 8 Tennessee. The Owls couldn’t make it two big wins in a row, unable to free up Christmas early or keep up with the Jayhawks late.

Christmas finished with 21 points and hit six 3-pointers.

From the Atlantic 10 website:

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Dionte Christmas – Temple
Senior, Guard, 6-5, 190 lbs.
Philadelphia, Pa./Philadelphia Lutheran Christian Acad.
Christmas scored a season-high 35 points on 12-of-22 shooting, including 7-of-14 from beyond the arc, as Temple knocked off eighth ranked Tennessee on Dec. 13, 88-72…added three steals, two rebounds and two assists…marked his ninth career 30-point performance…named the A-10 Player of the Week for the second time this season…his nine career A-10 Player of the Week awards are tied with Marcus Camby (UM, 1994-96) for third-most in league history.

Aaron Jackson – Duquesne
Senior, Guard, 6-4, 185 lbs.
Hartford, Conn./Worcester (Mass.) Acad.
Jackson shot a blistering 80 percent (20-for-25) from the field while averaging 27.5 points, 4.5 assists and 3.5 rebounds in a pair of contests on the week…poured in a career-high 36 points on 15-of-17 shooting with five assists and four boards on Dec. 10 in Duquesne’s 95-74 win at Radford…his .882 field goal percentage tied the program’s single-game record…scored a team-high 19 points in the Dukes’ 68-63 loss to West Virginia on Dec. 13…made 6-of-7 attempts from three-point range over the two contests…tabbed the A-10 Player of the Week for the third time in his career.

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Jio Fontan – Fordham
Freshman, Guard, 5-11, 180 lbs.
Patterson, N.J./St. Anthony’s HS
Fontan averaged 17.5 points and 5.5 assists while hitting on 13-of-22 field goal attempts over two games…scored 13 points and dished out six assists in Fordham’s 79-58 win over Lafayette on Dec. 8…recorded a season-high 22 points and added five assists and three steals on Dec. 11 in the Rams’ 69-66 loss to Fairfield…has scored in double figures in six of his last seven contests.

The Temple Owls upset nationally ranked Tennessee in Philadelphia on Saturday thanks to 35 points from Dionte Christmas.