The Temple Owls loss another game that went down to the wire Wednesday night, as the Owls would lose their third straight game against UCF.
Temple would hold a lead for most of the game, even going up 11 at one point in the second half, but UCF would overcome the deficit and defeat the Owls down the stretch. Temple even led for over 23 minutes of game time, but once again the Owls would fall short.
The Owls would be led by the individual performances of junior Obi Enechionyia, who led all Temple scorers with 17 points. All of Enechionyia’s points would come in the second half. Temple would also receive solid performances from sophomore Shizz Alston jr., who notched 15 points, and both freshman Quinton Rose and senior Mark Williams; both scoring 11 points.
Temple would hold a lead with just under a minute to play in the game, when B.J. Taylor of UCF would hit a mid-range jumper to take the lead. Temple would receive two opportunities to take the lead; one being a shot attempt from Obi Enechionyia with 30 seconds left, and the other being a shot attempt from Mark Williams with seven seconds left after a missed free throw from UCF’s Tako Fall. The two shots would ultimately fail to go in, and UCF would pull of the victory.
The loss comes as Temple’s third in a row, and second straight game were Temple blew a lead with in the final minute of a game. The other game being the heartbreaking loss to UConn that the Owls suffered on Sunday. It also is the second loss of the season to UCF; their first coming back on Dec. 31 when they were dominated on the road by UCF 77-53.
“We loss this one, and it’s tough” said Temple’s Shizz Alston. “But, we just didn’t hit our shots in these last two games. If Obi can hit his shots and Dan plays well, I think we’re a tough team to face. In fact, I think we could make a deep run into the tournament.”
The loss drops Temple to a conference record of 5-11, and an overall record of 14-15. It also drops the Owls home record at the Liacouras Center to 8-7.
Temple will be back in action Saturday, Feb. 25 for their last home game of the season against Tulane. Tip off is at 12pm.
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