Feb. 28, 2010

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PHILADELPHIA - Sophomore Juan Fernandez scored 23 points and junior Lavoy Allen added 17 points and 21 rebounds as #20/18 Temple defeated La Salle, 65-53, on Sunday before a sell-out crowd at Tom Gola Arena. The Explorers were led by Rodney Green's 21 points.

Junior Jerrell Williams added 17 points for the Explorers, who shot 50% from the field in the first half on their way to a 33-32 lead over their ranked city foes. The hosts rallied from an eight-point deficit early on to tie the score on Green's slam with 8:45 to play before halftime.

It was back-and-forth the rest of the opening half before Williams' layup at the buzzer gave the Blue and Gold a one-point lead heading into the locker rooms. Green and Williams each had 12 points in the half.

But an 18-0 run to open the second half gave Temple (24-5, 12-2 A-10) a comfortable lead and the visitors never looked back in completing a 4-0 Big 5 record and city title. Fernandez, who hit seven three's on the afternoon, had four triples in the run.

La Salle cut the deficit to seven on Green's layup but it was as close as the Explorers would get.

The top rebounding team in the Atlantic 10, La Salle was outrebounded by 23, with Allen pulling down 21 caroms. Freshman Devon White had a career-high nine boards for the Explorers.

La Salle (11-17, 3-11 A-10, 1-2 Big 5) will honor its four seniors--Green, Kimmani Barrett, Ruben Guillandeaux and Yves Mekongo--prior to Wednesday's home game versus Massachusetts. Tip-off is set for 7 PM.

Notes: Mekongo joined Jack Hurd and Tony DiLeo during a second half media timeout as three of the program's four Academic All-Americans...Mekongo also was honored pre-game for scoring his 1,000th point versus Saint Louis on February 6.