Written By Adrian Beecher
ORLANDO, Fla. - Game 3 of the American Men's Basketball tournament was a role coaster ride that saw each team with 9+ point leads, yet would come down to the final seconds to determine a winner. In the end, it was the Temple trifecta of Josh Brow, Obi Enechionyia, and Shizz Alston Jr., all combining for 51 of the Owls point in an 80-77 win over Tulane.
Tulane wasted no time getting rolling early, scoring the first six points of the game. The Owls of Temple wouldn't get on the board until the 3rd minute of the game on a free throw from Josh Brown.
Tulane's up-tempo pace continued early as the Green Wave jumped out to a 13-4 lead with 16:04 left in the 1st half. After that, the speed of Tulane seemed to slow down quite a bit. Temple was turning the flow of the game, slowly but surely chipping away at the Green Wave lead.
With 12:47 left in the first half, Quinton Rose put in a layup to make it a 3 point game with Tulane still on top. With the lead dwindling away, the Green Wave seemed to get a surge of new wind, sparking an 8-2 run to push their lead back to nine.
Then as the script flipped, the Owls went on an 8-2 run of their own shortly after to make it just a 2-point game with 6 minutes left in half. The way the tempo was going, it only seemed like a matter of time before the Owls got their first lead. Then with 4:17 left on the clock, Josh Brown hit a triple to make it 30-28 as the Owls sat atop the perch for the first time of the night.
As the first half drew to a close, the Owls went into the locker room with a 39-35 lead on Tulane.
Things in the 2nd half couldn't have started much worse for the Green Wave as Temple pulled out to a 12 point lead after their first basket and back to back triples from Josh Brown and Shizz Alston Jr. This forced Tulane to call a timeout and regroup.
It wouldn't prove completely effective as the Owls had extended their largest lead of the game to this point at 13 with 15:48 left to play. Though the fight in Tulane was not down, and over the next two minutes, they cut the deficit to just 6.
After yet another 8-2 run from the Owls gave them another 13 point lead, it looked like they would start to pull away with only 9:45 left to play. That just wasn't the case though.
Fighting to keep their season alive, Tulane once again cut the deficit, this time to just 3 points with 4:18. This would setup fantastic battle for the lead down the stretch. With 32 seconds left, Cameron Reynolds hit a triple for Tulane to make it just a 1-point game.
Then it became a free throw game and too little time would become a factor as the Owls of Temple survived the Green Wave to move onto the 2nd round with a matchup with 2nd seeded Wichita State.
Tulane wasted no time getting rolling early, scoring the first six points of the game. The Owls of Temple wouldn't get on the board until the 3rd minute of the game on a free throw from Josh Brown.
Tulane's up-tempo pace continued early as the Green Wave jumped out to a 13-4 lead with 16:04 left in the 1st half. After that, the speed of Tulane seemed to slow down quite a bit. Temple was turning the flow of the game, slowly but surely chipping away at the Green Wave lead.
With 12:47 left in the first half, Quinton Rose put in a layup to make it a 3 point game with Tulane still on top. With the lead dwindling away, the Green Wave seemed to get a surge of new wind, sparking an 8-2 run to push their lead back to nine.
Then as the script flipped, the Owls went on an 8-2 run of their own shortly after to make it just a 2-point game with 6 minutes left in half. The way the tempo was going, it only seemed like a matter of time before the Owls got their first lead. Then with 4:17 left on the clock, Josh Brown hit a triple to make it 30-28 as the Owls sat atop the perch for the first time of the night.
As the first half drew to a close, the Owls went into the locker room with a 39-35 lead on Tulane.
Things in the 2nd half couldn't have started much worse for the Green Wave as Temple pulled out to a 12 point lead after their first basket and back to back triples from Josh Brown and Shizz Alston Jr. This forced Tulane to call a timeout and regroup.
It wouldn't prove completely effective as the Owls had extended their largest lead of the game to this point at 13 with 15:48 left to play. Though the fight in Tulane was not down, and over the next two minutes, they cut the deficit to just 6.
After yet another 8-2 run from the Owls gave them another 13 point lead, it looked like they would start to pull away with only 9:45 left to play. That just wasn't the case though.
Fighting to keep their season alive, Tulane once again cut the deficit, this time to just 3 points with 4:18. This would setup fantastic battle for the lead down the stretch. With 32 seconds left, Cameron Reynolds hit a triple for Tulane to make it just a 1-point game.
Then it became a free throw game and too little time would become a factor as the Owls of Temple survived the Green Wave to move onto the 2nd round with a matchup with 2nd seeded Wichita State.