National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Temple 86, Central Florida 78
When: 6:30 PM ET, Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Where: Liacouras Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Officials: # Mark Schnur, # Zelton Steed, # Michael Stephens
Attendance: 4063

Temple 86, Central Florida 78 (OT):
Dalton Pepper scored 26 points as the Owls turned away the visiting Knights to pull out of sole possession of last place in the American Athletic Conference.

Will Cummings scored 23 points while Anthony Lee collected 20 points and 10 rebounds for Temple (8-21, 3-14 AAC), which snapped a four-game slide. Quenton DeCosey struggled to eight points on 3-of-13 shooting but added seven rebounds, five assists and three steals for the Owls.

Calvin Newell paced Central Florida (11-17, 3-14) with 23 points while Kasey Wilson collected 14 points and seven boards. Matt Williams chipped in 11 points off the bench for the Knights, who were missing leading scorer and rebounder Isaiah Sykes due to a foot injury.

Back-to-back layups from Central Florida guard Eugene McCrory knotted it at 63 with 3 1/2 minutes remaining in regulation before Lee’s layup gave Temple a 70-68 edge with 1:14 to play. Cummings fouled Newell with five seconds left and the free throws forced overtime, where Lee’s three-point play with 1:07 left gave the Owls a 78-74 edge before Cummings and Pepper sealed it at the free-throw line.

Cummings scored the final four points of a 10-0 run that left Temple with a 48-37 lead six minutes into the second half. The Knights responded with a 12-2 burst to draw within 50-49 and took a one-point lead with eight minutes left as it went back and forth.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Sykes, who also leads the team in assists (3.5), recorded 23 points, 15 rebounds and six assists in a 78-76 home win over Temple on Jan. 4. … Central Florida was also missing coach Donnie Jones, who was out with the flu. … Temple committed only nine turnovers while the Knights gave it away 19 times.
Top Game Performances
 
Central Florida   Temple
Calvin Newell 23 Scoring Dalton Pepper 26
Brandon Goodwin 4 Assists Quenton DeCosey 5
Kasey Wilson 7 Rebounds Anthony Lee 10
Kasey Wilson 7 Free Throws Made Will Cummings 8
Calvin Newell 2 Steals Will Cummings 3
Tristan Spurlock 4 Blocks Anthony Lee 1
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Central Florida 78 50.0 11-23 17-22 11 27 5 4 19
Temple 86 42.6 6-22 22-26 15 32 1 9 9