Nov. 21, 2009
Final Stats
Juan Fernandez had 20 points and Temple survived several late scares to hold off Siena 73-69 in Philadelphia Saturday night. Alex Franklin led all players with 22 points for the Saints.
Siena missed several chances down the stretch after Temple erased an early 11-point Siena lead to take a six-point lead with an 11-0 run early in the second half to set up a wild finish.
After Franklin missed a dunk with Siena down 66-63 with two minutes left, Ronald Moore made an uncharacteristic turnover on the Saints' next possession. Still, Siena trimmed the lead to 66-65 with 1:38 left on a layup by Edwin Ubiles.
Fernandez made a twisting, awkward layup to put Temple up 70-67 with 44 seconds on the clock. Siena then turned to sharp-shooter Clarence Jackson, but his 3-point attempt to tie was just off the mark. Ryan Rossiter grabbed the rebound for the Saints and made both free throws after being fouled to cut the lead to 70-69 with 38 seconds left.
On the ensuing inbounds play, Rossiter appeared to steal a cross-court pass, but as he tried to find a teammate he lost control of the ball in a struggle, and Temple regained control. Ramone Moore made two free throws to push the lead to 72-69. The Owls struggled with their free throws late in a one-point loss at #19/20 Georgetown earlier in the week.
The Saints had one final opportunity after Moore missed a driving layup and Fernandez missed the front end of a free throw. Trailing 72-69 with 3.4 seconds left, and with the length of the court to go, Rossiter found Franklin with a perfectly executed three-quarter court pass, but Franklin's quick pass went off Kyle Downey's hands and ricocheted out-of-bounds.
It was a tough loss for Siena which had a chance to crack the top-25 for the first time in over 55 years with a victory. Still, there were some bright spots.
Moore had 12 assists and Rossiter grabbed 11 rebounds. Clarence Jackson scored 17 points and Edwin Ubiles finished with 10 points, four rebounds and three assists despite taking just six shots.
The Siena bench also played well, especially in the first half when four reserves helped hold the big early lead.
In addition to Fernandez, Ryan Brooks had 17 points for Temple and Moore had 16. Siena out-rebounded the bigger Owls 35-32, built Temple shot 67% in the second half as the Saints trailed many times on defense.
"I thought we wore down a little bit toward the end," Siena Head Coach Fran McCaffery said. "Temple is a big, physical team."
The Saints will look to get back on track when they host Delaware Tuesday night at Times Union Center. Kenny Hasboruck will be on hand to help the Saints unveil their 2009 MAAC Championship banner at halftime.
