March 9, 2008
PHILADELPHIA- Temple used a balanced attack that saw four Temple players finish in double-figures to dispose of the Explorers on their Senior Day, 85-66. With the win Temple secured a share of the Philadelphia Big 5 title, along with Villanova, by finishing with a 4-1 record. Senior Chris Clark came off the bench to score a career-high 22 points, including six treys in the game. Junior Dionte Christmas added 19 points and three steals for the Owls in just twenty-six minutes.
Temple came out firing in the first half as they shot better from the three-point line (62.5%) than they did from the field (58.1%). The 5-foot-8 Clark sparked the Cherry and White in the first half when he converted back-to-back treys to push the Owl lead to 19 points with just under four minutes remaining. That lead would grow to as much as 24 points on a jumper from sophomore Ryan Brooks. The margin would be the difference after first frame as Temple went into the half ahead with a decisive lead, 50-26.
Junior center Sergio Olmos was the inside compliment to Clarks' outside threat as he finished with 14 points and five boards in the game. Senior Mark Tyndale showed off his typical all-around excellence with 14 points, eight rebounds and seven assists while only giving up one turnover.
La Salle closed the gap in the second half but could never get close enough to make a serious run at winning the game. Senior Darnell Harris did his best to keep his team in the contest by scoring 26 points on 11-of-21 shooting. Sophomore Yves Mekongo-Mbala chipped in with 14 points. The Explorers (14-16) finished 2-2 in Big 5 play with victories over Saint Joseph's and Penn.
Dionte Christmas and La Salle's Darnell Harris both made some history from beyond the arc. Christmas set the all-time mark in school history for triples made in a single season when he passed former-player Lynn Greer's 95 threes in '01-'02 during the second half. Harris broke Monty Mack's (UMass) conference record for three-pointers made in a career during the contest. He now has the Atlantic 10 record with 335 and counting.
The Big 5 title was the 25th for Temple which is the most of all the Big 5 schools. It was their first championship since 2004-05. Both teams will continue their season in the Atlantic 10 tournament. Temple secured the 2nd seed in the tourney and La Salle will be playing out of the 7th slot.
