Men's Basketball Holds Off Penn for a 77-73 Big 5 Win at the Palestra

Wednesday, December 9

Palestra

7:00 p.m.

Temple University

4-4

Penn

4-5

Temple

Penn

Men's Basketball Holds Off Penn for a 77-73 Big 5 Win at the Palestra

12.9.15 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA (Palestra) - In typical Big 5 fashion, it came down to the wire but Temple men's basketball was able to hold off Penn for a 77-73 road win at the Palestra on Wednesday night. The Quakers (4-5) came within two points twice in the final 10 seconds, but Temple's Josh Brown made a pair of three throws each time to keep the Owls (4-4) in the lead.

It was the first Philadelphia Big 5 game of the season for Temple, now 1-0, while Penn drops to 1-1.

Quenton DeCosey scored 22 points to lead the Owls, who also got their second straight double-double from Jaylen Bond (12 points, 10 rebounds). Brown dished a career-high nine assists while recording just one turnover and scoring 10 points, and Obi Enechionyia also finished in double figures with 11 points.

Leading the Quakers was sophomore Antonio Woods, whose 22 points included six in the final 20 seconds. Penn got a double-double from Darien Nelson-Henry who added 10 rebounds to 11 points.

The first half was close throughout, with the Owls leading most of the way but never by more than eight. After a tie at 11-11. DeCosey converted a three-point play and the Owls remained in the lead for the rest of the game.

Temple used a 7-0 run to take a 21-13 lead near the midway point, but the Quakers got the margin down to two points with a 6-0 run of their own. Starting near the six-minute mark, DeCosey scored seven points in a row, while Bond hit back-to-back buckets near the 2-minute mark.

The final shot of the half was a putback for freshman Trey Lowe, matching the Owls' largest lead of eight as they went into the break up 38-30.

Temple held a 50 percent to 40.7 percent edge in field-goal shooting at the half, while also leading 21-11 in rebounds after holding the Quakers to just a single offensive board.

Penn opened the second half with a 6-2 run to come within four, but the Owls answered with a 7-0 run to open up an 11-point, 47-36 lead near the 14-minute mark. Temple briefly led by 12 on one of two Obi Enechionya three-pointers a few minutes later, but Penn's three-point shooting kept the Quakers in the game.

The Quakers' fourth trey of the half cut Temple's lead to five, 57-52 with nine minutes remaining. The Owls then picked up the pace over the next six minutes to go back up by 12, 68-56 on a DeCosey trey that capped a 7-0 run.

Penn's Sam Jones hit another shot from long range at 2:33 that were the only points scored in over two minutes. With 1:10 remaining, Bond hit a layup for an 11-point Temple lead, and then Penn's rally began in force.

The Quakers out-scored Temple 14-5 to close out the game, a run that included their sixth and seventh three-pointers of the half as well as nine points for Woods. Penn took advantage of a couple missed front ends of 1-and-1's by Temple, and continued to send the Owls to the line.

After a Woods bucket at eight seconds, Brown hit 2-of-2 at the line. The sequence repeated itself as Woods gave Penn another chance before Brown sealed the win.

Temple will play another Big 5 opponent in its next game, taking on Saint Joseph's at home on Sunday, Dec. 13 at 4 p.m. (CBS Sports Network/1210 AM WPHT).

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