Temple rediscovers its shooting touch before star alumni

Eddie Jones, Aaron McKie and Mark Macon returnedEddie Jones, Aaron McKie and Mark Macon returnedto see the Owls break out of their two-game slump Three of the 3,548 fans in attendance, who saw Temple knock off city-rival St. Joseph's, 60-58, had come home. They'd come home to see Owls coach John Chaney and remember where they learned all about the game of life. Former Temple stars Mark Macon, Aaron McKie and Eddie Jones, all current NBA stars, made the trip back to North Broad Street to visit their alma mater and former teammates. "I appreciate these guys," Chaney said, smiling ear to ear. "They coach the team more than I do. They call the guys up and tell them to make sure not to do anything to give me a heart attack. They never forgot the team or Temple. I love these guys." The guys were pleased by what they saw. Temple improved to 12-9, 8-2 in the Atlantic 10, in a contest that was not as close as the score indicated. The Owls used their patented matchup-zone defense and uncharacteristic long-distance shooting to knock down the Hawks and break a two-game skid. St. Joe's fell to 9-10, 4-6 in the conference. Over their past two contests, blowout losses to No. 1 Massachusetts and George Washington, Temple shot only 2-of-43 from behind the three-point stripe. Last night was a different story. Led by Johnny Miller and Levan Alston, Temple knocked down 38.9 percent of its trifectas. Miller set the tone by hitting his first three long-range bombs and Alston sank three more in a five-minute run that posted the Owls to a 28-18 lead late in the first half. "I knew we were in trouble early on," first-year St. Joe's coach Phil Martelli said. "I went out to sneak a peak at warmups and Johnny just kept making shots. He had his stroke. I just said, 'Oh shit.' " Everybody in the building, even Macon, Jones and McKie, knew the Hawks would make a run. After all, this was a game between a pair of Big 5 schools, and the Hawk never dies. By the half, St. Joe's had cut the margin to four at 30-26, thanks to three treys by senior sharpshooter Mark Bass. An 11-2 run to open the half gave Temple a lead they'd never relinquish, however, as the early outside shooting opened up the middle for center Mark Jackson and forward Derrick Battie. Jackson, Battie, Alston and Miller all finished with at least 11 points for the Owls, who got their most balanced scoring of the season. The Hawks did make another run to cut Temple's lead to only three at 48-45, but, as it always does, that matchup zone tightened up and forced crucial turnovers at key moments. An Alston steal and an errant St. Joe's pass pushed the lead back to seven. The Hawks cut it back to four, but another Alston steal sealed it with 1:40 remaining . "We just weren't careful enough with the basketball," Martelli said. "Seventeen turnovers does not indicate beating Temple. Something phenomenal would have to happen to win. That just didn't happen." St. Joe's guard Rashid Bey did hit a 30-footer at the buzzer, but that wasn't the miracle Martelli was hoping for. That just meant that Temple won another two-point ballgame. Just like Jones and McKie and Macon used to do.