Sunday, February 20, 2011
Posted: 5:50 p.m.Updated: 7:53 p.m.
By Matt Haughton
CSNPhilly.com
BOX SCORE
Temple fans came prepared for a funeral and the Owls did their best to bury their rivalry with St. Joes.
Ramone Moore scored 17 points and Lavoy Allen added a double-double to become No. 23 Temples all-time leading rebounder as the Owls cruised to a 66-52 victory over the Hawks at the Liacouras Center.
Theres a lot of things that pleased me, the fact that we were able to win the game obviously is the most important, Temple head coach Fran Dunphy said. I thought we played very good, unselfish offense and I think thats hopefully the mindset of these guys.
That unselfishness was on full display as the Owls (21-5, 11-2) used 19 assists on 23 total baskets to earn their eighth straight victory overall and ninth in a row over St. Joes in front of a rowdy crowd dressed in black to proclaim the death of the SJU Hawk.
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It means a lot, Allen said of Temples recent dominance over St. Joes. Before me and Ramone got here I think they won 10 of the last 11 or something like that. Just to switch that around and our student section was a little crazy today with the Death to the Hawk and things like that. They seemed really excited, our fans are happy, so it feels good.
That sentiment did not extend to the Hawks (7-19, 2-10), who continued their season-long struggles. The loss gave the Hawks an 0-4 mark in Big 5 play for the first time since 1977-78.
I think the big thing now is we go back and we got to get every guy to really believe, said St. Joes coach Phil Martelli. Just a couple of possessions where we didnt get every guy to play to perfection. Thats what were trying to do.
Trying to avenge an 18-point loss from Jan. 29 at the Palestra, St. Joes was on the verge of that perfection early as the Hawks came out sharp to start the game.
Idris Hilliard knocked down a pair of free throws to give the Hawks an 11-9 advantage with 13 minutes remaining in the half.
Thats when the Owls started to get their footing. Moore and Juan Fernandez traded baskets while Rahlir Jefferson and Khalif Wyatt chipped in with jumpers to spark an 11-0 Owls run.
The Owls didnt let up from there as they shot 48 percent in the first half while outscoring the Hawks 26-12 in the rest of the period to seize control and take a 35-23 lead into halftime.
The Hawks tried to make things interesting in the second half, cutting their deficit to eight behind a pair of three-pointers.
Allen would have nothing of a comeback.
Allen (14 points, 12 rebounds) took over in the second half, throwing down several dunks and cleaning the glass to push the lead back up to double digits as Owls fans passed a coffin around the stands to signify the death march was indeed on.
As the lead stretched, Allen continued to own the boards, grabbing enough to surpass current Temple radio analyst John Baums 1,042 rebounding mark, which he set in three seasons.
I just try to get every rebound that I can, a smiling Allen said of his new 1,045 record.
I think it's a remarkable achievement by a guy who's as selfless as I've ever coached, Dunphy said. He's had a tremendous career. As I said a number of weeks ago, I would hate to see where our program would be without Lavoy Allen.
Temple will need more performances like this out of Allen with the Owls missing two starters. Michael Eric was declared out for the season after fracturing his right patella last week and Scootie Randalls return is unclear after the injuring his foot in the teams win over Richmond.
St. Joes is also undermanned. The Hawks are without freshman guard Patrick Swilling, who is no longer enrolled in school, and center Todd OBrien awaits the conclusion of the universitys judicial process after a failure to comply with the universitys community standards.
Tomorrow, Im going to have to massage them through because theyre tired, Martelli said. Theyre tired of answering that question on how do they keep their spirits up. Theyre tired physically. Theyve had a tough week off the court and weve all had to deal with it. But give up, thats not part of it. It hasnt had anything to do with it all year long.
While Martelli is making sure his Hawks are moving forward, the Owls already have their sights set on their next opponent. Temple will ditch conference play on Wednesday for a matchup against No. 5 Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Its an honor to play that program, with that coach, in that storied tradition and in that facility, Dunphy said. Ive taken a couple of teams down there and its a fabulous atmosphere. Its one of those atmospheres that kids are never going to forget.
I think its going to be fun, but you know at the same time were focused for a big task at hand, Moore said.
E-mail Matt Haughton at mhaughton@comcastsportsnet.com