Temple is upset by Bowling Green

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - It was a big loss in more ways than one as Temple's domination of Mid-American Conference men's basketball teams ended Sunday with a 67-64 loss to host Bowling Green, in a nonconference game at the Stroh Center.

The upset snapped Temple's 12-game winning streak against MAC opponents as the Owls (3-2) were without 6-foot-11 center Micheal Eric, who reinjured his right kneecap at Friday's practice.

"Missing Mike out there was big for us," said Temple guard Ramone Moore, whose squad was forced to play four-guard lineups during long stretches.

"We were real small during the course of the game. And they did a good job of getting the ball inside and feeding their big guys."

Bowling Green (4-2) shot 55.8 percent while mostly benefiting from the mismatches.

But the Falcons' biggest shot came from Jordon Crawford, the smallest player on the floor.

The 5-6 point guard came off a screen to make an open shot with 30 seconds left as Moore and another Temple guard, Khalif Wyatt, got tangled on a switch.

The Owls had an opportunity to tie the score eight seconds later, but reserve guard T.J. DiLeo missed one of his two foul shots. Then a dunk by Bowling Green's A'uston Calhoun made it a three-point game with 13 seconds left.

Moore and DiLeo both missed potential game-tying three-pointers in the closing seconds.

"We didn't play as well as we needed to down the stretch," said Temple coach Fran Dunphy, whose squad had a 63-60 cushion with 2 minutes, 50 seconds remaining.

From that point on, the Owls went 0 for 4 from the field and were outscored, 7-1.

Senior point guard Juan Fernandez finished with 11 points, but he was held scoreless after intermission.

He attempted only one shot against a zone defense that gave Temple problems all game.

Wyatt finished with a game-high 19 points. Redshirt freshman forward Anthony Lee had career highs of 11 points and nine rebounds while starting in place of Eric. Moore finished with 10 points on 3- for-10 shooting.

"Their zone took us out of our offense," Moore said. "That's the first time this year that a team threw a zone at us. I don't think we expected them to play zone for the entire game."

The severity of Eric's injury is unknown. He had an MRI exam on Saturday and will have the kneecap examined this week before his status is determined.

He fractured the kneecap Feb. 15 and missed the final 10 games of last season. The graduate student, in his final season of eligibility, is averaging 10.5 points, 11.3 rebounds, and two blocks.

"If Mike can't play, we will be a little bit different team," Dunphy said of Temple's potentially being forced to play four- and five-guard lineups. "So we have to work at it. We've got good players, and we have to pay attention to each other and pick up for each other."