Jan. 11, 2009

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PHILADELPHIA (AP) -Dionte Christmas scored 30 points and Lavoy Allen added a career-best 21 as Temple defeated city rival La Salle 75-68 Sunday night in the Atlantic 10 opener for both teams.

Christmas, the conference's top scorer the last two seasons, had 19 points in the second half, including four 3-point shots.

Rodney Green scored 20 points and Ruben Guillandeaux 17 for La Salle (8-6). Twelve of Guillandeaux's 17 points came on threes as he went 4-for-4 from beyond the arc.

Temple (8-6) never trailed, and held a 62-50 lead with 9:10 remaining. Green then led the Explorers on a 12-5 run that cut their deficit to 67-62 at the 3:48 mark. But Temple's Ryan Brooks hit a 3-pointer and Christmas followed with another basket from long distance to seal the victory.

Allen scored Temple's first 12 points as the Owls raced to a 17-4 lead. La Salle rallied behind the 3-point shooting of Guillandeaux and trailed 43-36 at the break.

It was the 104th meeting between the teams. Temple holds a 65-39 lead in the series.