PHILADELPHIA - After coming off of a successful Thanksgiving week with two wins over AP Top 25 opponents, the Temple Owls continued their high level of play this past Wednesday at St. Joseph’s. Obi Enechionyia has been having a great year thus for for the Owls, and was recently crowned the NIT Season Tip-Off MVP after averaging 19 points, 10 rebounds and 5.5 blocks in wins against #25 Florida State and #19 West Virginia. The back-to-back victories over ranked teams earned Temple the 2016 NIT Season Tip-Off Championship, and Obi and the Owls brought that positive momentum into Hagan Arena for Wednesday’s Big 5 matchup against the Hawks.

Though Temple was the team coming off of two huge wins entering their game against St. Joseph’s, it was the home team Hawks that started off the game hot. St. Joe’s began the game on an 11-2 run, which included a stretch of nine points courtesy of three three-pointers in a row from Shavar Newkirk and Nick Robinson. Temple would answer back though, and by the 8:59 mark in the first half, the score was tied at 16.

From that point on, the game remained tight as both teams began trading buckets back and forth. After the nine-point edge that the Hawks had during their 11-2 run to start the contest, the biggest lead of the first half since then was just a five point, 24-19 advantage in favor of Temple, proving just how competitive this Big 5 rivalry usually is.

Each of the last two games between the Hawks and the Owls have been decided by just three points. St. Joseph’s owns both of those Big 5 battles with a 58-56 win at Hagan Arena in 2014 and a 66-65 victory at Temple in 2015. After the first 20 minutes of play in the 2016 contest, the game was just as close as the last two. Temple held a three point, 34-31, lead over the Hawks at halftime.

By the end of the first half, it was a game highlighted by the juniors of both teams. St. Joseph’s third-year guard, Shavar Newkirk, led the Hawks by scoring 11 of his team’s 31 points while making all three of his three point attempts going into halftime. Temple’s Obi Enechionyia, also a third-year player, was able to outscore all players by dropping 16 first half points. The junior forward also one-upped Newkirk’s tremendous three point performance by going a perfect four-for-four from beyond the arc in the first 20 minutes of regulation.

The second half continued the trend of the first, as both squads went on runs of their own to keep the game close. Enechionyia started off the second half cold, missing his first five shots of the closing period. In that time, St. Joe’s took advantage of the struggling Owls and led the game three different times while Enechionyia was trying to find his rhythm. The Hawks’ final lead however came with 9:16 left to play in the game, when they held a 56-55 advantage over the Owls. From that point on, Temple’s junior star guard took over.

After a layup by Mark Williams to put the Owls at the 8:20 mark in the second half, Enechionyia went on to score Temple’s next seven points, which included two highlight dunks and a deep three pointer. Though St. Joe’s was able to keep it a close contest thanks to big shots from Nick Robinson and Charlie Brown, the Hawks were never able to contain the momentum that Enechionyia had given the Owls.

Enechionyia hit a clutch three on a set play out of a timeout with 1:09 left in regulation to put the game just out of reach. Thanks to Enechionyia’s career night, Temple was able to come away with a 78-72 victory over St. Joseph’s--the first win for the Owls at Hagan Arena since 1999.

Enechionyia ended the game tying his career high in points with 26 total while also adding five rebounds, a block and a steal to his stat line as well. Temple senior point guard, Josh Brown, made his return from an achilles injury for the first time this season and was also able to contribute efficiently to the win as well despite his limited amount of play. Brown made two of his three shots and ended with four points, two rebounds, one assist and one block in just 11 minutes of play. The Owls’ young backcourt was also able to support the play of the veterans, as sophomore, Shizz Alston Jr., and freshman, Quinton Rose, each scored in double figures to combine for 25 points.

Though they failed to come away with the win, St. Joseph’s had impressive performances from a number of players in the loss to Temple. Shavar Newkirk was able to match his season average by scoring a Hawk high 22 points which included four three pointers and a perfect, four-for-four, performance from the free throw line. Philadelphia native, Lamarr Kimble, also came up big for the Hawks, scoring 12 points and dishing out nine assists against the Owls.

Though it was a tough played game by both schools on Wednesday, it was only the beginning of Big 5 week. Both teams will continue Big 5 play on Saturday afternoon as Temple (5-2) takes on Penn (2-3) at the Liacouras Center for a 4 p.m. tipoff while St. Joseph’s (3-3) looks to bounce back in The Pavillion against #2 Villanova (7-0) at 1 p.m.