Owls slip past St. Joe's in a sloppy shootout

Temple coach John Chaney did not miss much of a game when he decided to stay home with 'distraught' center Marc Jackson Saturday Ten years ago, back when all Big 5 games were held within the Palestra's confines, St. Joseph's battled Temple to the last shot in an attempt to capture at least a tie for the Big 5 crown in front of a crowd which exceeded the Palestra capacity by over 500. On the last shot of that game, Temple had the ball and launched a trey, only to have it rim out and give St. Joe's a 65-63 victory, and eventually, a tie with the Owls as the top team in Philadelphia. Saturday's Temple-St. Joe's game at the CoreStates Spectrum offered a similar battle, with Temple coming out on top, 54-52. Just like that game a decade ago, the game went down to the last shot. But this time, the roles were reversed. The matchup began with some controversy when Temple coach John Chaney was conspicuously absent from the sidelines. Instead, Chaney was staying with Marc Jackson (16.6 ppg), who was serving a one-game suspension for elbowing Duke center Greg Newton during a game against the Blue Devils last Thursday. Temple President Peter Liacouras said that Chaney, who believed it was a just suspension, felt it was more important to be with Jackson, who was apparently very emotional about the whole ordeal. "[Jackson] felt as though he let down his team and his school, and he's been very distraught," Liacouras explained. Replacing Chaney was Jim Maloney, father of former Penn guard Matt Maloney. Officially, the Hawks and the Owls both headed into the game with equal Big 5 records at 1-0. With this victory, Temple clinched its 16th Big 5 title, taking it back from the Hawks, who tied Temple for the title last year. For a few moments during the game, the Spectrum actually came to life -- both during the game, during the usual cheerleader competition and even during the time the mascots spent running around. These moments were rare, however. Only during the last six minutes did any emotion seem to filter through the cavernous arena. During the first half, outside shooting was the main theme, as players from both sides and from all positions were launching threes from as far back as three steps behind the NBA line. The first points of the game came from Temple's Lynard Stewart on a trey, as the Owls opened up a 10-2 lead three minutes into the game. That eight-point lead would be the largest cushion for Temple as the Hawks ate away at it, eventually tying the game at 12 on Terrell Myers's three-pointer from the right corner. From there, the half showed four more ties, including one lead change, which put the Hawks up by four at halftime. Both teams started slowly in the second half, before Temple took the lead, 41-40, on Johnny Miller's deep trey. From there, the game simply went to the Owls' favor. With stellar defense and key shotmaking, the Owls opened up a eight-point lead with five minutes left to play. Two minutes later, the Hawks Mark Bass bucketed a three, was fouled and made his free throw, to cut the St. Joe's deficit to only two points. The Hawks took the lead, only to relinquish it again on a Temple steal with one minute to play. With the Owls' lead at two, St. Joe's botched the inbounds pass with 1.7 seconds remaining. Maloney pointed to Temple's defensive presence inside, which held St. Joe's to only 16 points in the paint, as a key to the victory. "The thing that makes us a good team?is that we have an inside presence. We haven't had an inside presence since Granger Hall [in 1985]."