Temple celebrates 2,000th win in men’s hoops history in narrow home defeat of Davidson

Temple found itself trailing Davidson by nine points with just six minutes left and without much momentum in its favor. The Owls then employed a full-court press defense that completely changed the game.

Trailing by one with 10 seconds remaining, Temple forward Elijah Gray backed down his defender and put in a layup tgave the Owls a 62-61 win over Davidson (8-3) Wednesday at the Liacouras Center.

Temple (7-4) also hit the 2,000-win mark, becoming the sixth program in NCAA history to reach the milestone.

“[I mean] 2,000 wins, it’s incredible,” Owls coach Adam Fisher said. “This is a program win. To be the sixth school to ever do it, that’s why you want to come to Temple.”

That late-game full-court press forced multiple Davidson turnovers, giving the Owls momentum they carried into the final minute.

“In a program and a university that talks about being Temple ‘Tuff’, this [was] Temple ‘Tuff,’” said Fisher. “We got down nine, and there’s no quit in this group. Just so proud of these guys, but tonight isn’t about us. This is about the program.”

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Temple had three players reach double-digits in scoring: Jamal Mashburn Jr. had 19 points, Gray had 13, and Quante Berry had 11. Davidson forward Reed Bailey led all scorers with 26 points, as well as six rebounds and four assists.

Gray has had his ups and downs to start his Temple career. After missing the first four games of the season in concussion protocol, it has taken him some time to adjust.

The first half seemed to be more of the same after Gray picked up two quick fouls and sat the rest of the half.

But he stepped up when Temple needed it.

On top of the game-winning layup, Gray finished with six rebounds and was a great defensive presence in the paint.

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“[My performance] means a lot to me,” Gray said. “I sat down after getting my second foul and immediately I had a few teammates in my ear telling me to keep my head up. That’s what I tried to do. Got in the locker room at halftime, my teammates had my back and coaches got in my ear. That gave me the confidence I needed to come out in the second half and do what I did.”

The Owls struggled on offense, particularly against the zone defenses the Wildcats used.

Davidson moved to a 3-2 zone defense halfway through the first half that Temple couldn’t seem to figure out. Through the first half the Owls shot 8-of-27 with just one assist. The Wildcats then moved into a 1-3-1 zone in the second half as the Owls cut the lead, and Temple struggled at first to break it.

“The hardest thing to replicate is their size,” Fisher said about preparing for the zone defense. “When you try to do it in practice it’s hard to simulate that. We’re going to make shots. We got to defend and rebound. When you’re not making shots, that’s what you have to do.”

Temple improved its shooting in the second half and finished shooting 42% from the field. Lynn Greer III and Steve Settle III struggled in particular for the Owls. The two shot a combined 3-of-16 from the field.

The Owls will take on Rhode Island (10-1) in the Hall of Fame Classic on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. in Springfield, Mass.