Balanced Attack Leads Temple Over Eastern Michigan, 67-45 :: Dionte Christmas led all scorers with 17 points

Jan. 7, 2009

YPSILANTI, MI - All-America candidate Dionte Christmas topped a balanced Temple offense with a game-high 17 points in leading the Owls to a 67-45 win over host Eastern Michigan Wednesday night at the Convocation Center. The Owls improve to 7-6 on the season while the Eagles fall to 2-12.

Sophomore forward Lavoy Allen and junior guard Ryan Brooks joined Christmas in the double-figure column, scoring 14 and 10 points respectively. Freshman Juan Fernandez added eight points in 17 minutes off the bench, hitting both if his shots from behind the arc. The Argentina native gave head coach Fran Dunphy and his staff a scare when he limped off the court in pain with eight minutes to play. He returned to the lineup, however, in the final minutes after getting treated for a sprained ankle.

The Owls shot 54.2 percent from the field, their second best output of the season, and 50 percent (9-18) from three-point range. That proved to be the difference against an Eagle squad that relied heavily on foul-prone Brandon Bowery (16 points) for its offense. Bowery tallied 12 of his team-high points in the first half, but picked up two bad fouls, his second and third, in a 25-second span to take a seat on the bench at the 3:00 mark.

Bowery, who made eight of his nine shots, scored the first two baskets of the second half to cut the Owls lead to 32-27, but following an Allen lay-up and a Brooks triple, committed an offensive foul.

With their leading scorer on the bench, the Eagles were able to stay within striking distance. A 6-0 run following a Fernandez three-pointer, pulled EMU to 43-38 with 8:40 to play. Fernandez again drained a trey, making him a perfect four-of-four from long-range in his two games, to spark a run of nine straight Owl points. In that deciding run, Bowery, who had just been reinserted into the contest, fouled out on a reach-in at mid-court.

Two free throws by Will Cooper broke the TU run, but the Cherry and White allowed just five points over the remaining 4:48 to win going away.

Craig Williams again started in place of Sergio Olmos and chipped in four points over a career-high 24 minutes. Olmos played just eight minutes (2 points) as he was plagued by foul trouble. Freshman Micheal Eric added four points in 15 strong minutes.

Luis Guzman tallied a season-high six points, hitting both of his attempts from three-point range.

Temple opens its Atlantic 10 Conference season at La Salle Sunday. The game time for the nationally-televised contest (CBS College Sports) has been moved to 8:00 p.m. to avoid a conflict with the Eagles playoff game.