Basketball teams reach tourneys, fall short
The Temple men and women ended successful seasons with losses in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The men, seeded 12th, lost 72-61 to fifth-seeded Michigan State in Denver on March 20, while the 11th-seeded women fell to Arizona State, the sixth seed, 61-54, in College Park, Md., on March 23.
The men, in their second season under coach Fran Dunphy, finished 21-13, the most victories the team has earned since the 2000–01 season, and won the Atlantic 10 tournament. Dunphy led the Owls to their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2001, when they advanced to the Elite Eight before falling to Michigan State. “I think Coach Dunphy did a great job of getting us back to this point where we deserved to be,” said senior Mark Tyndale, who ended his career with a game-high 16 points. “We would have liked to play a little bit longer, but unfortunately our season ends right here.”
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Photo by Joseph V. Labolito/Temple University
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The Owls made their fifth straight trip to the tournament in a season that they began with a 7-10 stretch before winning 14 of 16, with both losses coming against Xavier. Ashley Morris led all scorers with 21 points. Coach Dawn Staley’s challenge for next season will be finding a player to take the senior’s place. “I told our team we lost the heart and soul of our basketball team,” Staley said. “We have to go to the Wiz and find something so that we can be effective next year.” |