Men's Basketball To Open Season At Charleston Classic Friday :: Owls to take on East Tennessee State at 3:00 p.m. on Comcast SportsNet

11/13/08

CHARLESTON, SC - The defending Atlantic 10 Conference champion Temple Owls open their 2008-09 season Friday afternoon (3:00 p.m.) in the first round of the Charleston Classic against the East Tennessee State Buccaneers. The game will be televised in the Philadelphia area by Comcast SportsNet and can be heard on The Big Talker, 1210 AM WPHT.

It is only the fourth time in school history that Temple men's basketball has opened on the road in a tournament. Twice Temple opened a season at Madison Square Garden in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic (1998, 2001) and the other time came in the 1986 Coca-Cola NIT where the Owls won at Virginia en route to the tournament championship.

All-America candidate Dionte Christmas enters the season as the leader of the Cherry and White. The 6-5 senior guard is looking to become the first player in Atlantic 10 Conference history to lead the league in scoring in three consecutive seasons after averaging an A-10 best 20.0 ppg. and 19.7 ppg. the last two seasons, respectively. Third-year head coach Fran Dunphy's squad also returns three other starters, 6-2 junior guard Luis Guzman, 6-9 sophomore forward Lavoy Allen and 7-0 senior center Sergio Olmos from last season's team that posted a 21-13 record en route to the program's first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2001.

Junior guard Ryan Brooks, who has been the team's top reserve the past two seasons, will move into a starting role this season while senior Semaj Inge and newcomers, Micheal Eric, Ramone Moore and Scootie Randall will give the Owls solid support off the bench.

East Tennessee State, under the direction of sixth-year head coach Murry Bartow, returns eight players, including its top two scorers, from last year's Buccaneer squad that posted a 19-13 record. Senior guard Courtney Pigram, a two-time all-Southern Conference selection, has led ETSU in scoring the last two seasons, averaging 15.8 points per game in 2007-08 and also a team-best 3.4 assists per game. Second team all-conference selection Kevin Tiggs, a 6-4 senior forward, is the team's top returning rebounder (5.7 rpg.) while ranking second in scoring at 14.6 points per game.

The Owls will continue play Saturday at either 11:0o a.m. or 2:30 p.m. against either College of Charleston or Southern Illinois-Edwardsville.