Temple Continues Winning Ways

               Temple improved to 21-8 and 9-5 in Atlantic 10 play today in a 76-70 victory over Rhode Island that was a little to close for comfort.  The Rams who are 8-19 kept the game close against a very tough Owls squad that appears headed for the NCAA Tournament.
 The Rams took a 37-36 lead into the locker room at halftime.  Temple and Rhode Island shot for pretty much the same percentage from the field, however, the Rams shot 50% from 3-point range while the Owls shot only 37.5%.  This allowed a Rams squad that has had little to celebrate about this year to keep the game within striking distance and little to close for comfort for the Owls.  Both teams shot quite poorly from the free-throw line on the day, with Temple shooting 54.2% and Rhode Island shooting 50%.  The Owls will need to be careful in their few remaining games, and not allow bad teams like the Rams to hang around with them, as a loss this late in the season could be costly as they hope for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.  The Owls received big contributions on the day from multiple players, as they clawed out a hard fought win.
                  Khalif Wyatt continued to impress for the Owls, contributing 24 points 3 rebounds and 3 assists respectively.  Scootie Randall had a very impressive game, scoring 15 points while also grabbing 8 rebounds.  Jake O'Brien made contributions on both ends of the court, adding 16 points and 10 rebounds, to collect a double-double on the day.  Sophomore Will Cummings also had a big day for the Owls, scoring 15 points and accounting for 4 steals on the day.  While Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson was not particularly impressive on offense, only scoring 6 points on the day, the senior forward added 13 rebounds, with 7 coming on the offensive glass.  The Owls managed to claw out a tough win against a bad Rhode Island team today and now find themselves on the cusp of receiving an at-large bid to go dancing.  With two games remaining in regular season play, the Owls will not be able to afford a loss against Fordham, but a loss in the season finale against VCU would not likely hurt their chances, especially after VCU routed a strong Butler team today, 84-52.  So it's looking like its time for the Owls to polish their dancing shoes, the Tournament is just around the corner.  Temple is playing some quality basketball at the moment and it would not surprise me if they ended up being this years Cinderella team.