Temple defeats La Salle to open Big 5 play
- Adam Mack
- 2m
- 2 min read
Temple opened Big 5 play with a dominating victory over La Salle 90-63. Temple with an incredible game on both ends of the court led to the lopsided victory.
Aiden Tobiason led Temple in both scoring and rebounding in the 1st half with 12 points and 4 rebounds. He started the game on 4-4 shooting with a trio of 3 pointers. Babatunde Durodola and Gavin Griffiths were not far behind with 3 rebounds each. The difference in shooting was evident. Even though both teams were similar in shooting percentage, Temple dominated the amount of shot opportunities. With 34 field goal opportunities and 14 3 point shot attempts, Temple has found ways to find the open shots.
Temple came out in the 1st half playing very aggressive both offensively and defensively. Temple dominated in shot attempts and it paid off for the Owls. They outrebounded La Salle 20-12 in the 1st half. Even though both teams had similar shooting percentages, it was Temple's shot attempts that was beyond evident in the 1st half. 15 more 3 point attempts and 13 more field goal attempts than La Salle.
Temple came out in the 2nd half even hotter than they played in the 1st half. Griffiths’ block, rebound, and put back helped spark a Temple 8-2 run to begin the 2nd half. A pair of 3 pointers from Derrin Ford helped increase the lead.
Temple continued to play aggressive throughout the 2nd half. Multiple steals and blocks continued to lead to points for the Owls. La Salle started to play more aggressive, but quickly found themselves forcing bad shots and sending Temple to the foul line.
Temple continued their domination on defense. Multiple players recording at least 2 blocks. With Temple continuing to play aggressive during the 2nd half, La Salle finally made the adjustments and matched their aggressiveness. However, that came back to bite them. La Salle quickly found themselves in foul trouble and over aggressive defense helped Temple find the open shooter.
La Salle found themselves shooting around 40% in the 1st half and that fell to below 30% in the 2nd half. Bad shot selections and tight defense by Temple.
Derrin Ford led Temple with 22 points with 5 rebounds and 4 assists. Aidan Tobiason had 16 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists. Gavin Griffiths had 10 points, 6 rebounds, and a pair of blocks.
La Salle was led by Rob Dockery with 11 points and 8 rebounds.
Temple begins 1-0 in pod play. They will play Villanova for a chance to play in the Big 5 Championship Game.
Temple (2-0) will be back in action at home this Saturday against Boston College. La Salle (2-1) will take on Penn State on Saturday from Xfinity Mobile Arena. Both Temple and La Salle will take on Villanova to finish off pod play for the Big 5. The 2025 Big 5 Classic will take place December 6th from Xfinity Mobile Arena in a triple header of games.