Owls bounce back in win over Hofstra

WRITTEN BY BRENNAN SCUTT

PHOTO BY LILLIAN PRIETO

Head coach Adam Fisher knew after last Saturday’s performance against Boston College that the Owls needed a bounce back game against the Hofstra Pride. 

Hofstra guard Cruz Davis did everything in his power to try and prevent that, scoring a game high 25 points. but it wasn’t enough as Temple walked away with a hard fought 81-76 win at the Liacouras Center. 

The Owls were led by guard Aiden Tobiason’s  21 points on 5/9 shooting and going a perfect 8/8 from the charity stripe. Transfer guard Derrian Ford scored 20 points, shooting 11/12 from the line and adding three steals. Nebraska transfer Gavin Griffiths chipped in 11 points for the Owls, sinking 50% of his three-point field goals. 

Temple got the game started with an easy layup from Griffiths, but Hofstra guard Biggie Patterson scored eight unanswered points himself. 

From there, the Owls’ three shooting took over. Temple missed nine consecutive threes to start the game against Boston College, another thing they turned around this game. 

Tobiason got his first three pointer of the game to fall four and half minutes to knot the game at ten apiece. The next three point shot the Owls took also fell through the bottom of the net as Derrian Ford drilled the long-distance jumper.  

After some back and forth scoring throughout the first half, the Owls began to get cold and failed to score a field goal until the final minute of the half. That final score came when Ford drove to the cup off a pass from guard Jordan Mason to tie the Pride at 31.  

It looked like the two teams would be going into the locker room tied until Mason buried a fade-away jumper as time ran out, with Temple escaping into the first half with a two-point lead.  

Tobiason started the second half for the Owls, looking unguardable. He scored Temple’s first four points along with getting a three pointer to fall to give Temple a 43-41 edge over the Pride.  

Bowling Green transfer Jamai Felt kept the momentum going when he came off the bench and added a slam off a pretty pass from Ford to extend Temple’s lead.  

But Hofstra wouldn’t go down without a fight as a Davis three pointer found the bottom of the net to give the Pride a 55-53 advantage over the Owls  

Griffiths after only scored two points in the first half before catching f from three-point land, drilling three straight threes to extend Temple’s lead to six with five minutes to go.  

“Sometimes you just got to see one through,” he said after the game.  

Pride forward Joshua DeCady knocked down his own three to cut into Temple’s lead with three and a half minutes to go in the game with the Owls holding a two point lead. 

Tobiason was fouled on the other end and made his pair of free throws followed by a Cruz Davis jumper for the Pride. This began a series of back and forth moments from both teams. 

The Owls called a timeout to sort their bearings before getting a huge jump shot from Mason. Cruz and the Pride wouldn’t give up as the junior guard was able to score again sinking a jumper.  

Mason and Cruz both traded free throws to keep the Owls margin at two. On the next possession, Temple got a huge bucket from forward Babatunde Durodola off a pass from  Griffiths to double the lead and make the score 74-70.  

The bad news for Temple was that Cruz Davis was still on fire draining another key jumper for Hofstra.  

Temple’s defense would not let sharpshooter Davis get off a shot on this trip down the floor leading to a missed three from Hofstra’s Preston Edmead. It looked like it would be smooth sailing for Temple from here as Ford hit his two foul shots to push the lead to five.  

Davis did everything he could to keep his team in the fight as he came down the court and nailed a three pointer to make it a two-point contest.  

Ford was fouled again and calmly knocked down two three throws before a missed AJ Willis three pointer from the Pride officially putting the game out of reach for Hofstra.  

Following the game, head coach Adam Fisher expressed how proud he was of his team for staying strong when the lead kept getting cut into.  

“Proud of these guys. You know I think we found a way and that’s something we talk about all the time, when things aren’t going your way, or things are a little out of character”.  

Temple has four days to rest before their first game of their Thanksgiving tournament in Orlando versus UC San Diego, an NCAA tournament team last year.