PHILADELPHIA — Temple took care of business at home against the Pirates of ECU by a final of 78-60. The Owls got hot and ended on a 28-10 run after starting slow to sure up their 3rd conference win in four tries this season.
East Carolina seemed to be hungry to earn their first conference win of the season, coming out of the gate hot shooting an impressive 59.3% in the first half. They started 3-3 from beyond the arc and remained hot in the opening half, ending 6-9.
Temple’s offense struggled against the Pirates zone defense to start, shooting a mediocre 41.4% from the field in the first half. Of their 16 first half three point attempts, only 5 found the back of the net. One of the 5 made attempts came when Devin Coleman hit a runner from the left wing as time expired in the first half.
After such a sluggish start, the Owls were fortunate to be down just 5 points to start the second half.
The second half started with three unanswered 3-pointers from Quenton DeCosey (2) and Devin Coleman. Strong defense and hot shooting lead to the Owls first lead since early on in the first half, and momentum began to swing in their direction. DeCosey had 7 first half points, and caught fire in the second half. “Especially in the second half, I felt really good tonight.” He finished with a season high-tying 24 points, going 5-8 from deep and an impressive 8-13 from the field. Josh Brown had an efficient night, finishing with 12 points and 8 assists, while serving as the floor general for the offense. Devin Coleman scored 17 points coming off of the bench, and hit a season high 5 three pointers.
ECU did not score a single second half point until Caleb White sunk a 3 from the top of the key with 15:19 remaining, a whopping 4:49 into the half. The Pirates finished with just 22 second half points. Temple’s defense swarmed to the ball, collecting nine turnovers. The Owls defense forced the Pirates to shoot a woeful 30.7% in the second half.
The Owls will get back to business on Wednesday in Memphis, and will look to get their 4th conference win.
Well written and informative. Impressive