So much for those one-point games.
Behind the best performance of senior forward Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson's college career, Temple cruised to an 82-74 win over La Salle at at the Liacouras Center Thursday night to claim a share of the Big 5 championship.
With both teams at 3-1 against the Big 5, Temple and La Salle will share the 2012-13 title. It's Temple's city-best 27th title dating back to 1955 and the third time in the last four seasons the Owls have won at least a share of the title.
For La Salle, it's just the first time the Explorers have won a share of the title since 1998. It would have been the program's first outright win since 1990, Lionel Simmons' senior year.
Instead, the Explorers fell to 18-7 overall and 8-4 in Atlantic 10 play, while Temple improved 18-8 and 7-5.
Turning point
What began as a tight game gave way to an 18-1 Temple run to close the first half, with the Owls ahead 39-25.
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After leading 18-13, La Salle recorded just one field goal in the final 13 minutes of the half and one point in the final 7:54 on a Ramon Galloway foul shot with less than a minute remaining before the break. The Explorers opened 8 for 13 from the floor, and made only one of their next 15 attempts to finish the half 9 of 28 from the field and 2 of 9 from three.
Over the first five minutes of the second half, Temple actually stretched its lead to as much as 22 points. La Salle continued to chip away, cutting its deficit to as little as nine with 9:09 and 5:35 to play but never got any closer until the final buzzer. Sam Mills hit a three, Ramon Galloway stole the ball and hit a jumper as time expired to reduce the final margin to just eight.
B.M.O.C.
Hollis-Jefferson led all scorers and rebounders, setting two new career highs with 23 points and 17 rebounds for the fourth double-double of his college career. His nine field goals on 13 shots were also a season high.
In the race for the A-10 Player of the Year award, Temple's Khalif Wyatt bested Ramon Galloway with 17 points on 6-for-14 shooting. Galloway, by comparison, had no trouble getting to the rim, but just couldn't finish when he got there. He finished with an inefficient 14 points, going 7 of 9 from the line but a gross 3 of 14 from the floor.
Point guard Tyreek Duren led La Salle with 16 points.
Inside the box score
• Temple dominated the glass, out-rebounding La Salle 42-27 overall and 15-7 on the offensive end.
• Neither team shot well from three, going a combined 10 for 33.
• The Owls were also poor from the foul line, going 17 of 29 to La Salle's 15 of 19.
• Temple did, however, shoot 50 percent from the floor by game's end.
Next up
Both teams are off until Sunday afternoon. Temple will travel to Charlotte for a 4 p.m. meeting with the 49ers. Temple won the first meeting 89-88 at the Liacouras Center on Feb. 6. La Salle, meanwhile, heads north to Rhode Island for a 2 pm. tip with the Rams.