GAME RECAPS: Owls knock off Duke at the Spectrum

Temple (10-7), which has wins this season over then-No. 1 Kansas and then-No. 2 Villanova, rallied from a 10-point deficit with 8:17 to play. The Blue Devils (11-7) led 51-41 after consecutive three-pointers by Ricky Price, Chris Collins and Carmen Wallace. But the Owls then went on its 15-0 run, taking a 52-51 lead on Battie's slam with a little over four minutes left. On the play, Temple center Marc Jackson appeared to elbow Greg Newton in the head and Newton went down. He lay motionless on the court for a minute, but later returned to the game. Jackson hit two free throws with 3:20 remaining to stretch Temple's lead to 54-51. Temple's spree continued with Levan Alston's steal and layup, making it 56-51 with 2:30 left. Rhode Island 86, St. Joseph's 83 SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. -- Led by Tyson Wheeler's 18 points, Rhode Island used a balanced attack and good free-throw shooting as it held off a last-minute rally by St. Joseph's to post an 86-83 Atlantic 10 victory last night. Trailing 83-71 with 48 seconds to play, St. Joseph's (7-6 overall, 2-2 Atlantic 10) scored 10 of the next 11 points in the game to draw within three, 84-81, with 19 seconds remaining. A pair of free throws by Wheeler with 17 seconds left then iced the game for Rhode Island (11-5, 3-2). St. Joseph's Will Johnson tossed in a layup to close out the contest. Xavier, Ohio 60, La Salle 59 CINCINNATI -- Lenny Brown hit the game-winning jump shot with 4 seconds to go and finished with 18 total points as Xavier of Ohio defeated La Salle 60-59 last night. La Salle (4-13 overall, 1-5 in the Atlantic 10) rebounded from a 31-26 halftime deficit to take a 59-56 lead with 1:07 left to play. A jumper by Brown brought Xavier (8-7, 4-1) to within 1 with 54 seconds remaining. A traveling violation by Mike Gizzi gave Xavier possession with 21 seconds left, and Brown hit a jump shot to put Xavier ahead 60-59. Everett Catlin then had the ball alone at half court and drove toward the basket, but time ran out before he could shoot. Bullets 120, Rockets 85 LANDOVER, Md. -- The injury-depleted Washington Bullets got the most out of their nine players in uniform last night, placing seven in double figures in an improbable 120-85 rout of the Houston Rockets. The Bullets, playing without injured starters Chris Webber and Mark Price, made 15 of their first 19 shots and never trailed in handing the two-time defending world champions their most lopsided loss since a 38-point blowout in Portland last Feb. 6. It was the most points scored against the Rockets this season. Brent Price scored 19 of his 25 points in the first half and Calbert Cheaney finished with 20 points for the Bullets, who had lost two straight and five of six. Gheorghe Muresan had 17 points and 13 rebounds, while Tim Legler had 16 points and Juwan Howard 14. MELBOURNE, Australia -- Defending champion Andre Agassi ran out of miracles at last when human backboard Michael Chang overcame a rib injury yesterday to reach the Australian Open final. The top-ranked Agassi, who clawed from behind in four matches and won three five-setters, played indifferently as a nearly flawless Chang beat him for the first time in a Grand Slam event, 6-1, 6-4, 7-6 (7-1).