Dribble Dawgs Lose To Temple

BASKETBALL

Scootie Randall scored 18 points as No. 20 Temple took command in the second half and held off Georgia late to post a 65-58 win over the Dawgs in the second round of the Old Spice Classic basketball tournament here Friday.

The Dawgs will face Manhattan in the third round on Sunday at 4:30 p.m. at the Disney Wide World of Sports Complex.

Temple (3-1) shot 52 percent from the field in breaking open a tight game in the second half. The Owls led 37-33 when Randall connected from 3-point range with 15:43 left. Both teams went scoreless for the next two minutes before Temple’s Khalif Wyatt hit a jumper that pushed the margin to 42-33 with 13:10 left.

The Owls’ lead reached double figures once at 46-35 before Georgia rallied back into contention. The Dawgs cut their deficit to four at 48-44 on a pair of foul shots by Chris Barnes with 8:07 left. Temple, however, responded and built its lead back to seven when Wyatt hit a jumper with 5:35 remaining, boosting the Owls back in front 54-47.

“We just couldn’t string together enough stops, especially in the second half,” coach Mark Fox said. “Our defense failed us and you have to give Temple credit. They’re a good team and they outplayed us.

“They played zone more in the first half, but I thought we handled the zone much better than last night. The key for us is that we’ve got to be a little more hard-nosed on the defensive end.”

Georgia mounted one final rally when Gerald Robinson’s driving layup with 1:13 left got the Dawgs within 59-55. The Owls answered with perhaps the game’s biggest bucket, a turnaround jumper by Rahlir Jefferson with 41 seconds left. Georgia was unable to score again until a Dustin Ware 3-pointer with just 20 seconds left.