clarinews@clarinet.com (JOE CIALINI, UPI Sports Writer) (02/01/90)
PHILADELPHIA (UPI) -- Temple Coach John Chaney gave his team a task -- come back from an eight-point halftime deficit in the first five minutes of the second half. Using a ferocious press to disrupt St. Joseph's, the Owls accomplished thatgoal in style, scoring the first 20 points of the second half and 30 of the first 32 on their way to a 78-63 Atlantic 10 victory Wednesday night. ``The only thing I said to them was that I gave them five minutes to see if they could get me back 10 points,'' Temple Coach John Chaney said. ``I wanted them to recognize (St. Joseph's) triangle-and-two (defense) ... and I told the guards to shoot the ball from the outside.'' Mik Kilgore ingited the 20-0 run with 12 of his 17 points and Macon, who finished with 28, added six as Temple won its fifth straight game overall, its ninth straight Atlantic 10 contest and its 10th in a row against St. Joseph's. ``The coach gave us five minutes to be up by 10 points and we tried to do it,'' said Macon. ``We got up by 14 points and then just put everything behind us.'' The Hawks committed five turnovers and missed three shots during the 20-0 Temple run as they lost for the fourth straight time. Donald Hodge had 17 points for Temple, 11-7 overall and 9-1 in the Atlantic 10. Mike Shaak led St. Joseph's, 4-13 and 2-7, with 18 points and Richard Stewart had 15. St. Joseph's built a 38-30 lead in the first half as it successfully handled the Owls' pressure. That all changed after the break as the Hawks turned the ball over the first four times they had possession and Kilgore hit a three-point shot to give the Owls the lead for good, 39-38 with 18:25 to play. Kilgore hit a second three, Macon drove for a basket and Macon later scored on a tip-in to give Temple a 50-38 advantage with 14:25 to go. ``We showed a different press and they didn't react to it very well,'' Kilgore said. ``I got a couple of steals and easy layups. I posted up my man and felt confident. I hit a couple of threes and then left it up to Mark Macon.'' After Chris Gardler scored St. Joseph's first basket of the half, Temple ran off 10 more points to take a 60-40 lead on a follow shot by Hodge with 10:15 to play. St. Joseph's Coach Jim Boyle said the Hawks expected the Owls' pressure, but that knowledge did them no good. ``Defensively, they're good enough to take us out of what we wanted to do,'' Boyle said. ``Knowing it and doing something about it are two different things.'' St. Joseph's used a 10-2 run of its own to close within 62-50 on a three-point play by Shaak with 6:59 to go but Macon scored a basket and added two free throws to give Temple a 66-50 lead with 5:24 to play and the Hawks never got closer than 11 points after that. Craig Amos scored all 11 of his points in the first half, including a pair of free throws with 31 seconds remaining, as the Hawks took a 38-30 lead at intermission. St. Joseph's outscored Temple 9-2 to go ahead 25-15 on a three-point shot by Amos with 7:03 to go and led 29-22 on a pair of Amos free throws with 3:40 left. The Owls used an 8-2 spurt to close within 29-26 on a layup by Chris Lovelace and cut the Hawks' lead to 31-28 on a follow shot by Lovelace with 2:29 to go before St. Joseph's scored seven of the last nine points in the first half.