Temple gave their fans a lot to be thankful for on Thanksgiving. Trailing by 18 points with under 13 minutes and 30 seconds remaining, the Owls defeated No. 25 Florida State in an 89-86 Thanksgiving stunner during the NIT Season Tip Off at the Barclays Center.
The bench for Temple lead the way for the comeback.Quinton Rose had 26 points off bench, continually taking on the bigger defenders and drawing fouls. He hit 12 of 15 free throw line. Shizz Alston added 22 points for the Owls while Obi Enechionyia had 16 points, eight rebounds and six blocked shots.
“We’re on a big stage. We’re not going out like this,” Alston said after Temple’s 89-86 victory over No. 25 Florida State on Thursday in the first game of the NIT Season Tip-Off. “We want to fight back.
The Owls took their first second half lead on Alani Moore’s three-pointer with seven minutes left that gave the Owls a 73-72 advantage.
“They were obviously making shots,” FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said.
“They made some tough shots and got to the foul line. They got hot during a period where we were not executing as well on the offensive end. We took some quick shots and they got the momentum. It was very hard to stop them.”
The Seminoles cut the lead to 87-86, and had a chance to win with 4.6 seconds remaining. Jonathan Isaac wasn’t able to handle the inbounds pass from Trent Forrest in the air, and when he went back up with it to try to score, he lost control of it. Temple got the rebound and FSU immediately fouled.Temple hit two free throws, and Rathan-Mayes last second ,mid court heave went off the rim.
Up next for Temple is a date with West Virginia in the NIT Tip Off Championship Game on Friday at 3:pm