BC comes out on top in this battle of the birds
The Eagles redeemed themselves after losing to VCU last week with a gritty win over the Temple Owls on Friday night, 72-69.
Offense came easily for both teams in the early going, with Temple holding a 13-12 lead at the first TV timeout. The Eagles took their first lead of the game on two free throws by Chas Kelley. On BC’s next possession, Donald Hand hit a three to put the Eagles up four points. Elijah Strong also hit a three early on and BC started the game 4-5 from the three-point line to start the game.
Halfway through the opening half, BC led 28-22 and looked like a different team than the one that played VCU. They shot nearly 70% from the field and had six assists within the first ten minutes. Elijah Strong scored his 15th point of the game with 7:52 left in the half, giving him a career-high and pushing the Eagles’ lead to 10, 36-26.
After Temple went back to zone defense, Roger McFarlane knocked down BC’s fifth three of the game and extended the lead to 12 points. After the lead grew as large as 14, the Eagles missed a few shots in a row and the Owls cut the deficit to seven points with 3:48 left. Temple went on a 14-5 run to end the half, but the Eagles still held a 46-41 lead at halftime.
BC shot 56% from the field in the first 20 minutes and racked up 11 assists, both of which were huge improvements compared to their last game. Elijah Strong led the team in scoring and rebounds, with 15 and 6, while shooting 7-10. Donald Hand also pitched in 10 points and Chas Kelley had five assists. Through the first half, Earl Grant’s team looked energetic and confident, but Temple didn’t make the second half easy.
Temple hit a three right out of the game in the second half, cutting the lead to just two. At the first timeout of the second half, BC was still hanging onto a one-point lead, 50-49. But out of the timeout, the Owls made back-to-back-to-back layups to take a 55-50 lead. Donald Hand ended BC’s scoreless streak with a three-pointer at the 12:58 mark, but Temple still held most of the momentum.
Roger McFarlane tied the game at 55 apiece with a free throw with 11:24 remaining in the contest, and it felt like anyone’s game at that point. A few minutes later, Chad Venning made a layup to give BC its first lead since the beginning of the half. But Temple’s Elijah Gray scored the game’s next five points to give the Owls a 61-57 lead with 8:42 left.
BC broke a two-minute scoring drought thanks to a Donald Hand steal and slam, but the Eagles still trailed. A minute later, Elijah Strong grabbed a rebound, scored on a layup, and converted the and-one to give BC the lead. The Eagles’ defense played very well down the stretch and held Temple without a point for over five minutes towards the end of the game. Donald Hand hit two free throws to extend the BC lead to three, but the Owls responded with two of their own with about two minutes left.
After the referees gave BC a very generous basket on a questionable goaltending call, the Eagles had a 68-65 lead with under two remaining. After a Temple miss, Elijah Strong scored on a tip-in to give BC a four-point lead. But Jamal Mashburn ended a stretch of over eight minutes without a field goal for Temple by banking in a three with 20 seconds left, cutting the lead to one.
After BC hit a free throw, Elijah Strong drew a charge to give BC the ball back. Then, the Owls sent Chas Kelley to the charity stripe, where he made one of two, putting BC ahead 72-69 with nine seconds left. After Earl Grant elected not to foul, Temple couldn’t hit a three, and BC held on for the 72-69 win.
Elijah Strong had a masterful performance, finishing with a 25-point, 13-rebound double-double. Donald Hand finished second on the team in scoring with 17, while also pulling down six boards. While the offense did go cold for stretches in the second half, BC rallied and put together a good team win. They’ll return to the court on Tuesday when they take on Loyola Maryland at 6 PM EST in Conte Forum.