Temple Can’t Hold off Florida Atlantic, Drops Fourth Straight in Conference Play

Text by Gabriel Bullard

Photo by Chris Borgia

Temple Men’s Basketball was in dire need of a win on Sunday, coming into an American Athletic Conference matchup against Florida Atlantic University with three straight losses. But without top scorer, Jamal Mashburn Jr., Temple saw its losing streak extend to four.

Florida Atlantic (15-10, 8-4 in AAC) stormed back from what was once a 10-point deficit building momentum throughout the second half, and defeating Temple (14-12, 6-7 AAC) 83-81 Saturday at the Liacouras Center.

Steve Settle III led the way for Temple with 17 points, shooting 9-of-18 from the field and draining a trio of three-pointers. One of his corner jumpers sparked a 9-0 run for Temple out of the half, but the momentum didn’t last long.

Temple got itself in quite a bit of foul trouble, with four players recording four personals each. Slightly undersized and desperate to contain the Florida Atlantic three-ball, Temple fought hard but couldn’t keep the whistles in the pockets of the referees.

Florida Atlantic increasingly became harder to play against, and they made Temple pay for its inability to keep them off the free throw line.

“Our attention to detail has got to be a little bit better,” said head coach Adam Fisher.

Kaleb Glenn recorded 17 points for Florida Atlantic, showcasing an impressive 63% field goal percentage (10-of-16) as well as delivering a clutch layup in the final minute to put his squad up

78-75. 

With the two-headed giant of Baba Miller and Tre Carroll, dominance was established for the visitors inside the paint. Carroll flaunted a game-leading seven rebounds and four blocks.

Temple’s offense went dry when it mattered most, despite flashes of brilliance from Quante Berry and Elijah Gray. As Florida Atlantic surged ahead in the late stages of the game, Temple went over three and a half minutes without registering a point.

With the win, FAU now has five straight wins. On the other side, the loss for Temple marks the second time this week that Temple has dropped a conference game at home.

“It stinks you go three months without losing at home and then you lose twice in the same week,” Fisher said. “We’ll come back tomorrow, get better, and get ready for our next game.”

Temple has a chance to snap the losing streak later this week, as they visit the last place 49ers Wednesday at 7 pm in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Click right here for the link to Saturday’s broadcast.