Big 5 Title Split by La Salle & Temple

                In a premier match up of Big 5 schools tonight, Temple was able to defeat La Salle by a score 82-74 and force a split of the Big 5 crown, preventing La Salle from taking the crown outright.    While the final score looks relatively close, the game was not as tight as it appeared.
Temple held big leads and was in control for the majority of the game, taking a 14 point lead at the half.  La Salle simply did not appear to be on top of its game, while Temple played extremely well.  Part of La Salle's struggles could be derived from the early foul trouble that Tyreek Duren found himself in, which forced him to the La Salle bench after picking up two first half fouls.  La Salle also shot very poorly in the first half although they managed to finish the game shooting 45% compared to Temple's 50%.  While neither team shot particularly well from 3-point range, La Salle shot an atrocious 29.4% from outside the arc.  Temple simply showed up to the Liacouras Center ready to play, and outworked La Salle throughout the duration of the game.
                 The Owl's charge was led by Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson who had a career night.  The senior forward accounted for 23 points while also grabbing 18 rebounds with 7 coming on the offensive glass.  The Owl's out-rebounded the Explorers 41 to 24 and 15 to 6 on the offensive end.  These offensive rebounds caused trouble for La Salle all game as they could not afford to give a team with as much talent as Temple that many second chance opportunities.  Temple capitalized on each opportunity and continued to be tough on the glass.  Khalff Wyatt and Scootie Randall also had big games for the Owl's, scoring 17 and 15 respectively, with Randall also accounting for 10 rebounds.  After a hard fought game with tournament implications, Temple can add a quality win to their resume, as well as the schools record 27th Big 5 title.  The win made for a split title between Temple and La Salle, and prevented La Salle from taking their first outright title since 1990.  Both teams entered the contest needing a win to enhance their chances of going dancing in March but even with the loss, La Salle's hopes may not be diminished as they boast quality wins against VCU and Butler.  The Big 5 champion has qualified for the NCAA Tournament every year since 2000, so at 18-7 and 18-8 respectively, La Salle and Temple each still have high hopes for making the tournament but will need to not look to far ahead and play tough the rest of their seasons to not diminish their chances.  Only time will tell, but it is very possible that the Big 5 will put multiple teams in the NCAA Tournament in what has a been a strong year for Philadelphia Basketball.