Men's basketball's rally falls just short vs. Temple

Lacking energy in last night's game against Temple, the Terrapin men's basketball team relied on substitutes to engineer a furious comeback.

The reserves did their job, tying the game with less than two minutes remaining and giving the Terps a shot at a signature nonconference victory they need desperately.

But the 15-point deficit the team's starting corps handed the Owls early in the second half ultimately proved too much for anyone on the team to handle. The Terps fell, 64-61, again beset by issues of inconsistency among the players counted on to lead the team.

"You can't expect to come back 15 in the second half on a Temple team that's won the Atlantic 10 the past three years, picked to win the Atlantic 10 again this year," coach Gary Williams said. "I'm just very disappointed."

After coming out flat in the first 20 minutes — and shooting just 28.6 percent from the field — the Terps came out in the second half equally listless. By the first media timeout, they were down 40-25.

Coach Gary Williams decided he needed to take drastic measure. When the Terps retook the court, three substitutes joined forward Jordan Williams and forward Dino Gregory on the court.

"I thought Coach was 100 percent correct," Jordan Williams said. "We needed guys out there who were going to play hard."

The energy shifted immediately. The Terps strung together a 10-point run, all on scores by the bench players — a layup by forward James Padgett, a 3-pointer by guard Terrell Stoglin, a layup by guard Pe'Shon Howard and finally a 3-pointer by forward Haukur Palsson to cap the drive. Suddenly, the Owls held just a two-possession lead.

"Young guys came in and did a great job," Gary Williams said. "I told the team after the game: It doesn't have to be perfect, you just have to play hard, and those guys played hard, so I was proud of them."

Temple extended the lead slightly, but the Terps kept within striking distance through the half, never again falling behind by double-digits.

With less than four minutes to go, the Terps mounted another run, again keyed in part by their substitutes. Down by eight points, Howard and Stoglin each contributed scores after a Williams layup, cutting the score to 56-54. A Padgett dunk tied the game.

But the Terps never took the lead.

On the possession immediately following Padgett's dunk, Temple forward Lavoy Allen was fouled by Stoglin while scoring a layup. He converted the free throw to complete the three-point play, which ended up putting the lead out of reach for good.

Although Allen fouled out just 23 seconds later, sending Jordan Williams to the line, the sophomore missed two key free throws, leaving the Owls' lead at three.

Williams, though, was far from the problem last night, finishing with a team-high 17 points and 11 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season.

"Especially in the first half, he wasn't getting a lot of help," Gary Williams said. "He got some help in the second half. ... We got a couple plays where we could have won the game, a couple of free throws go in, a pass, but that's the way it goes. When you get behind that far, you have to be pretty perfect to win the game."

The Terps continued to trade scores with Temple late, but even after a 3-pointer by Stoglin with five seconds to go pulled them within one possession, the Terps could not match the Owls. Stoglin missed a desperation buzzer-beater just past half-court to seal the defeat.

"We've got to learn how to start off and start off better," Williams said. "You're not going to win games being down by 15 to start off the second half. ... You're just not going to win a game like that, simple as that."

The Terps struggled throughout the game to set up their half-court offense. Though the Terps worked well in transition for much of the game, Temple made stopping the Terps' fast-break attack one of its priorities.

Again, mental miscues plagued the Terps. The team had 14 turnovers and was outrebounded, 42-32.

"We have to get better," Gary Williams said. "We're not good enough offensively yet; rebounding tonight, we could have done better. We can't throw it in to Jordan and watch him. That doesn't work. We need plays like Pe'Shon and Terrell gave us tonight. We need guys to step up."

kyanchulis@umdbk.com