Owls Complete Comeback Against the Colonials
Kieran McCauley
Wednesday night’s Atlantic 10 matchup between the Temple Owls and George Washington Colonials was nothing short of magical. The 66th meeting between the two schools may have been the greatest of all time. The Owls were able to persevere and erase a fifteen point deficit in the second half defeating the Colonials by a score of 79-72.
The Owls came out extremely flat in the first half. George Washington’s guard Tony Taylor, and forwards David Pellom and Dwayne Smith stole the show in the early going. The Colonials found success shooting the ball from fifteen to twenty feet out, attacking the rim with back door screens, and constant offensive rotation leaving cutters wide open in the offensive paint. When the teams met down in Washington DC last year George Washington was only able to score 41 points. This year the Blue and Gold reached that total by halftime, carrying a 41-29 lead. What made this turn of events so vexing to Temple fans was that George Washington mimicked many of the offensive sets Temple is accustomed to running. It was bizarre to see the Owls struggling on the defensive side of the ball when the looks George Washington threw at them were so familiar. However the Temple made the adjustments at halftime and finally turned the ship around in the second half.
The Colonials came out in the second half on fire. They extended their twelve point lead to fifteen points. With five minutes remaining in the game Khalif Whyatt and Ramone Moore erupted, leading the Owls on a 25-4 run to finish the game. With a little over two minutes remaining Moore knocked down a three pointer from the top of the key which put Temple in the driver’s seat for the remainder of the game. The 4,000 plus who battled the snowy weather to attend last night’s game, were treated to possibly the most exciting win in the Liacouras Center this entire season.
As a side note, Juan Fernandez injured his hip in the second half of last night’s game when he slid for a loose ball. His status remains day to day and his future for Saturday’s game remains to be seen.
With the victory. the Cherry and White improve to 18-5 this season and stay atop the Atlantic 10 standings. As for George Washington, this is just the latest collapse in a forgettable season for the Colonials. They fall to 8-16 on the year and their losing streak grows to five games in a row. Up next for Temple, a Saturday night showdown at 9pm against their Atlantic 10 rival the Xavier Musketeers. Tip off is at 9pm in the Liacouras Center.
Follow Kieran McCauley on Twitter @K_Mac_14
