BY JOSH ABRAMS
(Photos: Kathy Leister for PSD)
Olney - Another chapter of the rivalry between Temple and La Salle has been written. And for the first time in a while, it's the Blue & Gold who are eager to tell this year's story.
Saturday afternoon's clash between the two North Philly universities was as much of a classic battle as anticipated. The Explorers managed to hold off a fierce Owls comeback late in the second half and emerge victorious by a final score of 83-75; their first win over the Cherry & White since 2017.
Any basketball game that ends in a deficit of less-than 10 points can almost always be considered a close, hard-fought one. Ask Temple head coach, Adam Fisher, about this eight-point affair, and he might feel a bit differently.
"They (La Salle) kicked our butt from start to finish," admitted the Bucks County native after the game. "17 offensive rebounds; their toughness was better than ours, (and) that's my fault. We weren't ready to go; that's on me... It's hard to win on the road, and (La Salle) did a nice job protecting home court. Great credit to them, they came out ready, they came out energized."
Explorer grad transfer Corey McKeithan stole the show in front of a packed house at the new John Glaser Arena, pouring in a career-high 28 points (10-19 FG shooting). Forward Demetrius Lilley recorded 13 points, six rebounds and two blocked shots, and scored La Salle's first five points of the contest. Senior guards Daeshon Shepherd and Jahlil White also reached double-digit scoring with 11 points apiece.
For Temple, sophomore guard Quante Berry did all that he could to keep the Owls afloat, recording team-highs in points (18) and rebounds (15). Grad transfer guard Jamal Mashburn Jr scored 15, and forward Steve Settle rounded out the double-digit scoring with 13 points.
Temple @ La Salle first half highlights: Explorers forward Demetrius Lilley makes presence felt early, Jones flying all over the court (Video by Josh Abrams)
Temple head coach Adam Fisher reflects on tough eight-point loss to La Salle, gives credit to Explorers (Video by Josh Abrams)
La Salle head coach Fran Dunphy gives opening statement following massive Big-5 victory over Temple (Video by Josh Abrams)
Temple opened the game hot, scoring 11 points in the first five minutes after senior guard Shane Dezonie scored the Owls' first five points followed by free throws from Settle and baskets via Berry and junior forward Elijah Gray. From there, La Salle went on an 11-0 run and never looked back. Temple managed to cut the lead down to two, 24-22, with seven minutes remaining after Dezonie found Berry cutting to the hoop. But just like earlier in the half, the Explorers used another run to cushion their lead going into halftime.
This second burst involved a bit more offense than the first; 18-11 in favor of La Salle, with McKeithan leading the charge scoring 12 of the Explorers' 18. Freshman guard Deuce Jones started the run with an "oomph" - a steal and slam off a Temple inbound to make it 26-22 La Salle.
McKeithan spent his first three seasons at Rider University, so to say he is a welcome addition to this Explorers squad is an understatement. Through eight games he has established himself as an elite and efficient scorer; his 28 points raised his average to 19 per game on 46% shooting.
"I think it starts with the coaches first," said the 5'10" guard from Windsor, CT. "They got confidence in me to handle and shoot the ball as I'm doing now. And my team, they give me confidence as well. If I miss a shot they tell me to keep shooting."
McKeithan's jumper with 12 seconds remaining in the first half extended La Salle's lead to nine, and the Explorers took a 42-33 lead into halftime.
Part of the reason why Temple only managed to score just 22 points in the last 15 minutes of the first half is because of the stellar defensive job La Salle did on Mashburn Jr, who entered Saturday's affair averaging over 23 points per game at just north of 47% shooting. The Explorer defense held him to just five first-half points and an 0-5 start before he completed an and-one layup with just over five minutes left.
La Salle grad student guard Corey McKeithan talks about what went well for him against Temple, and what's been working so far this season (Video by Josh Abrams)
Second half highlights from Temple @ La Salle; Jones, Mashburn Jr and McKeithan all find the bottom of the net (Video by Josh Abrams)
Fisher reflected on Mashburn Jr's performance, expressing confidence in the newly-acquired transfer via the portal despite a rough day at the office.
"He's probably the number one guy on the scouting report when you're averaging 23 points a game," said Fisher. "I thought he took some good shots early (and) missed them... then he hit some tough ones late to get us back into it. He's a great player. He's a guy that we know we can count on. We know he's ready for the next game."
Dunphy gives background on what the past nine months have been like for his team, who is still acclimating themselves to the new Glaser Arena (Video by Josh Abrams)
La Salle's Daeshon Shepherd rises up for the block, leads to McKeithan transition basket off Marrero assist (Video by Josh Abrams)
La Salle maintained a consistent double-digit advantage for most of the second half, leading by as much as 15 halfway through. Berry cut it to four with under two minutes left but any momentum gained from that was squandered on the next possession when Shepherd slammed the ball home. The final buzzer sounded, and Explorers fans cheered in celebration as the team moved to 4-0 at the "Glaser".
Dunphy provided a unique and thoughtful description on why his team has yet to drop a game on their home court.
"The crowd today was very good for us," started Fran. "But we were not here for the spring and summer and a lot of the fall. We finally got in here mid-October. We don't have to travel anymore to go to practice... (Glaser) is our home, our place, (the players) obviously feel pretty comfortable."
The loss for Temple drops them to 4-3 overall, and they will have the entire week to prepare for the 3rd place game of the Big-5 Classic, where they will take on Villanova.
The victory for La Salle moves the Explorers to 6-2 on the season. Before traveling south to the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday evening to take on St. Joe's in the Big-5 Classic title game, they will ship up to Boston and take on Northeastern.
He might not necessarily show it on the surface, but Dunphy speaks for the rest of Explorer Nation when he expresses excitement for his team's heavily-anticipated first clash with their Northwest Philly rivals.
"I think it's great for Philadelphia, I think it's great for our league," said Fran on the opportunity to get to play St. Joe's earlier than usual. "We're really looking forward to the challenge but they're really good, St. Joe's... I think our guys know a lot about the St. Joe's group, and they know how good they are, so if we played well in stretches tonight we've got to play just as well, if not better, against St. Joe's."
