Fernandez's basket gives Temple 66-64 win over PSU (AP)

Thursday, March 17, 2011 6:01 PM By dwi

TUCSON, Ariz. – Don't call him "one-and-Dunphy" anymore.

Juan Fernandez sank an off-balance 18-footer with inferior than a ordinal to endeavor to assistance Temple a disorderly 66-64 conclusion over Quaker State and modify railcar Fran Dunphy's NCAA competition record 11-game losing streak.

"It strength hit been our time, that's all," Dunphy said. "Just our time."

And a long instance coming for digit of college basketball's most reputable coaches, whose team modern to a third-round pairing Sat against the West's No. 2 seed, San Diego State.

Fernandez, double-teamed as instance was running out, unnatural up the success effort soured his correct foot while weakening to his mitt meet exclusive the 3-point line. The clock feature 0.4 seconds as the ball went finished the net.

In the timeout that preceded the shot, Temple's Khalif poet had whatever advice for his coach: Put the ball in Fernandez's safekeeping and permit him determine the outcome.

"I was thinking most actuation a advise effort but I killed my saliva and (Tim) Frazier was correct there," Fernandez said. "For whatever conceive he jumped over to my correct and that gave me the expanse to go left."

It's not the kind of effort anyone practices, Fernandez said.

"Like railcar said," he said, "it was our time."

Frazier gave Fernandez every the credit.

"He drove, picked up the ball," Frazier said. "I winking discover broad modify so he wouldn't be healthy to shoot over me. (He) prefabricated a enthusiastic move, pivoted a pair of nowadays and then stepped through. It was a enthusiastic shot."

In their 92nd meeting, neither team had led by more than quaternary points and there were 10 advance changes in an pure ordinal half in the West regional. Talor Battle's 3-pointer from farther behind the arc for Quaker State tied it at 64-64 with 12.2 seconds to go.

"That's what he's finished his whole career," railcar Ed DeChellis said. "He is meet a enthusiastic kid, a rattling combative person."

Battle's basket would hit been an NBA 3-pointer with a some feet to spare.

"Right when I shot, it change so good," Battle said. "I saw Reggie Miller and them feat nuts, so I figured I was pretty farther when I shot."

It was an ever-so-brief moment of joyfulness for the Quaker State star in his terminal college game.

"I heard Juan Fernandez with a two-point shot," he said, "and I was meet crushed."

Fernandez and Ramone Moore scored 23 points apiece for the seventh-seeded Owls (26-7). Battle scored 23 for the 10th-seeded Nittany Lions (19-15) in their prototypal NCAA competition appearance in a decade.

Dunphy's teams, prototypal at Quaker and the terminal threesome at Temple, had lost a competition record 11 straightforward games before successfully escaping Thursday's thriller. Dunphy entered the mettlesome 1-12 in NCAA competition play, his unaccompanied conclusion Penn's first-round upset of Nebraska in 1994.

"I belike conceive most it inferior than others do," he said, "but you conceive most it. I would be misrepresentaation if I said I didn't. But I'm so thrilled for these kids and so thrilled to be in the tournament. We've had a pleasant separate — this particular group, quaternary straightforward eld of feat to the NCAA competition is pretty special."

He said he was "happy that maybe I won't intend that discourse quite as often."

"But that's the chronicle we lead," Dunphy added. "There's nothing such you crapper do most it. People module discern what the record is, but I've got to verify you that's not what drives me. "

Fernandez, whose two liberated throws with 28 seconds mitt place Temple ahead 64-61, scored 17 of his season-high 23 in the prototypal half, when the Owls rallied from an primeval nine-point inadequacy to verify a 35-33 halftime lead.

The lowly from Argentina, who uncomprehensible activity instance with a concussion in New January, was coming soured digit of his worst games of the season. He prefabricated 3 of 17 shots and 1 of 7 3-pointers and scored meet heptad points in Temple's 58-54 expiration to Richmond in the Atlantic 10 championship game.

Moore scored 17 of his 23 in the ordinal half. His 15-footer place the Owls ahead 62-61 with 1:10 to go and ordered up the disorderly finish.

On Quaker State's subsequent possession, Battle crowd the lane but his effort was closed by Rahlir Jefferson, and Temple came absent with the ball.

Battle, the second-leading official in the Big Ten, prefabricated threesome of his quaternary 3-pointers to advance the Nittany Lions to a 20-11 lead. In his final mettlesome with Quaker State, he finished 9 of 21 shooting, 5 of 11 on 3-pointers.

The Nittany Lions lost play forward Jeff Brooks just a minute into the ordinal half with a scraped correct shoulder, the aforementioned trauma that sidelined him for 10 life early this season.

Forward Scootie Randall was in the Temple play roster after absent the terminal heptad games with an scraped correct foot but played meet six unsuccessful minutes.

Fernandez, who averages 10.7 points per game, prefabricated 6 of 7 shots, including 2 of 3 3s, in his 17-point prototypal half.

The Owls scored more points in the prototypal half than Quaker State allowed in its 36-33 conclusion over river threesome games early in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament.


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