Temple wins Big 5 battle over La Salle in triple overtime

The Temple Owls walked into the Liacouras Center Wednesday night with an opportunity to reach the inaugural Big 5 Classic championship game at the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday. All they had to do was beat La Salle.

The Owls finally did, defeating former Temple coach Fran Dunphy and the Explorers, 106-99, in a thrilling triple-overtime game. Temple (4-2) will face St. Joseph’s for the first official Big 5 Classic title.

Temple held a nine-point lead with four minutes remaining in regulation, but La Salle didn’t go away as the game rolled on into the extra periods.

Despite fouling out, Hysier Miller led Temple with 20 points while dishing out three assists. Forward Steve Settle III also recorded his first double-double as an Owl with 19 points and 16 rebounds.

But the Explorers (5-2) had the big scorer of the night. Although he fouled out, 5-foot-11 guard Jhamir Brickus poured in a game-high and Big 5-record 41 points to go along with nine rebounds and four assists. Khalil Brantley was brilliant for the Explorers with 29 points, 14 rebounds, and 5 assists.

The story for the Owls’ offense was their inability to hit shots of any kind, but specifically from the free-throw line. Despite shooting just 67.4% from the line, Temple was able to come through when it mattered most.

“I told them if they made them earlier we wouldn’t have been here for three overtimes,” said head coach Adam Fisher. “It’s great to have guys that step up late in the game and go make them.”

Temple also shot just 35.4% from the field and a poor 20.6% from three, yet the groups effort on defense kept the Owls afloat.

Thanks to some hounding defense, the Owls managed to hold La Salle to 37.2% shooting percentage, mainly in part to a change in the way Temple handles screens.

Temple opened the third overtime period with 5-0 run, thanks to forcing two turnovers, extending its lead to 96-91. A lead that the Owls did not relinquish.