Lavoy leads by example
Morrisville native posts his
best game in Owls' fifth straight win
By Steve Sherman
Sports Editor
Yesterday at the Liacouras Center, they gave out Dionte Christmas bobbleheads to the first 3,000 fans who showed up for the Temple Owls’ battle with St. Bonaventure.
A Lavoy Allen figurine might have been more appropriate however, given the game that the Pennsbury High School alum posted in the Owls’ win over the Bonnies.
Allen posted up with, statistically, his best game of the season when he tallied 20 points, 18 rebounds and four assists in Temple’s 70-56 win over St. Bonaventure. He compiled 13 of those points and 14 rebounds before the halftime buzzer to help the Owls to a 38-26 lead at the break.
A sophomore starter for Temple, Allen leads the Owls in terms of rebounding and blocked shots.
“He is just astounding in terms of knowing where he has to be and getting himself in position to either get the rebound or defend the basket,” commented Pennsbury head coach Frank Sciolla before the start of the Feb. 22 battle.
“One of the criticisms on Lavoy is that he isn’t aggressive enough with the ball.
“Coach [Fran] Dunphy feels there’s times when he needs to take the ball to the basket instead of looking to dish it off to a teammate.”
Allen brushed all that aside yesterday, dominating the game in the first half.
His first bucket--a turnaround hook from down low in the post--put the Owls up 11-6 early. His second came on a break, a layup made off a bounce pass from freshman Juan Fernandez that put Temple up 21-10.
The fourth was a putback of a missed jump shot by Fernandez and his fifth field goal was an allyoop made off a feed from Fernandez. Fouled on the putback basket, Lavoy made the and-one, extending the Owls lead even further.
In between, Lavoy came up with a steal deep inside the defensive end, finding Christmas streaking down the court on a break. He also connected with sophomore Craig Williams on an allyoop basket, made three of his five free throws while outpacing the Bonnies 14-13 in rebounds tallied before the half.
The Morrisville native was on his way to becoming the first to have 20 or more boards Owl since Joe Newman grabbed 24 rebounds against Drexel in 1973, but fell off the pace in the second half.
Allen still broke the building record of 17, previously held by Temple's Keith Butler (March 3, 2004 vs. Massachusetts) and Saint Joseph's Harold Rasul (February 17, 1998).
Allen finished his game shooting a perfect 8-for-8 from the floor. It was his 10th double-double of the season and the Owls’ fifth consecutive win, a streak that started Feb. 8 with a 68-62 triumph over Rhode Island and a narrow victory over St. Joe’s.
"He was tremendous," head coach Fran Dunphy said, referring to Allen. "As we get into the latter stage of this season, I hope he is paying attention to how good he can be and how good our team can be. He absolutely needs to be one of the leaders."
Last season, Temple defeated St. Joe’s 69-64 in Atlantic City to capture the Atlantic 10 Tournament championship. With that win, the Owls secured their first NCAA tournament berth and a No. 12 seed in the South Region.
But Temple never got past the fifth-seeded Spartans, falling 72-61 March 2008 at the Pepsi Center in Denver.
Allen believes the A-10 title--and more--is right there for the Owls’ taking.
Could a Sweet 16 appearance--or better, an Elite 8 showing, perhaps--be in the cards for Temple this season?
“The way we’re playing right now, anything is possible,” said Allen. “Right now, it seems nobody can stop us so I think that maybe there are some teams out there who wouldn’t want to play us.”
The last time the Owls made it into the latter rounds of the NCAA tournament was 2001 when former skipper John Chayney took the cherry and white to an Elite 8 appearance.
Ironically, it was Michigan State who ousted Temple from the tournament that year. The Owls have made five Elite 8 appearances in the program’s history.
best game in Owls' fifth straight win
By Steve Sherman
Sports Editor
Yesterday at the Liacouras Center, they gave out Dionte Christmas bobbleheads to the first 3,000 fans who showed up for the Temple Owls’ battle with St. Bonaventure.
A Lavoy Allen figurine might have been more appropriate however, given the game that the Pennsbury High School alum posted in the Owls’ win over the Bonnies.
Allen posted up with, statistically, his best game of the season when he tallied 20 points, 18 rebounds and four assists in Temple’s 70-56 win over St. Bonaventure. He compiled 13 of those points and 14 rebounds before the halftime buzzer to help the Owls to a 38-26 lead at the break.
A sophomore starter for Temple, Allen leads the Owls in terms of rebounding and blocked shots.
“He is just astounding in terms of knowing where he has to be and getting himself in position to either get the rebound or defend the basket,” commented Pennsbury head coach Frank Sciolla before the start of the Feb. 22 battle.
“One of the criticisms on Lavoy is that he isn’t aggressive enough with the ball.
“Coach [Fran] Dunphy feels there’s times when he needs to take the ball to the basket instead of looking to dish it off to a teammate.”
Allen brushed all that aside yesterday, dominating the game in the first half.
His first bucket--a turnaround hook from down low in the post--put the Owls up 11-6 early. His second came on a break, a layup made off a bounce pass from freshman Juan Fernandez that put Temple up 21-10.
The fourth was a putback of a missed jump shot by Fernandez and his fifth field goal was an allyoop made off a feed from Fernandez. Fouled on the putback basket, Lavoy made the and-one, extending the Owls lead even further.
In between, Lavoy came up with a steal deep inside the defensive end, finding Christmas streaking down the court on a break. He also connected with sophomore Craig Williams on an allyoop basket, made three of his five free throws while outpacing the Bonnies 14-13 in rebounds tallied before the half.
The Morrisville native was on his way to becoming the first to have 20 or more boards Owl since Joe Newman grabbed 24 rebounds against Drexel in 1973, but fell off the pace in the second half.
Allen still broke the building record of 17, previously held by Temple's Keith Butler (March 3, 2004 vs. Massachusetts) and Saint Joseph's Harold Rasul (February 17, 1998).
Allen finished his game shooting a perfect 8-for-8 from the floor. It was his 10th double-double of the season and the Owls’ fifth consecutive win, a streak that started Feb. 8 with a 68-62 triumph over Rhode Island and a narrow victory over St. Joe’s.
"He was tremendous," head coach Fran Dunphy said, referring to Allen. "As we get into the latter stage of this season, I hope he is paying attention to how good he can be and how good our team can be. He absolutely needs to be one of the leaders."
Last season, Temple defeated St. Joe’s 69-64 in Atlantic City to capture the Atlantic 10 Tournament championship. With that win, the Owls secured their first NCAA tournament berth and a No. 12 seed in the South Region.
But Temple never got past the fifth-seeded Spartans, falling 72-61 March 2008 at the Pepsi Center in Denver.
Allen believes the A-10 title--and more--is right there for the Owls’ taking.
Could a Sweet 16 appearance--or better, an Elite 8 showing, perhaps--be in the cards for Temple this season?
“The way we’re playing right now, anything is possible,” said Allen. “Right now, it seems nobody can stop us so I think that maybe there are some teams out there who wouldn’t want to play us.”
The last time the Owls made it into the latter rounds of the NCAA tournament was 2001 when former skipper John Chayney took the cherry and white to an Elite 8 appearance.
Ironically, it was Michigan State who ousted Temple from the tournament that year. The Owls have made five Elite 8 appearances in the program’s history.
Labels: men's basketball, Pennsbury, Temple
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