Temple has had a roller coaster last couple of weeks after taking down nationally ranked Memphis on Jan. 16.
Three days after the upset, the Owls eked out a victory against a strong Tulane team. But after that, they fell to first-place North Texas and UTSA on the road.
Temple (13-8, 5-3 American Athletic Conference) returned home and narrowly defeated Charlotte, 90-89, in a double-overtime thriller on Wednesday night at the Liacouras Center. The win pushed the Owls to 9-0 on their home court this season.
» READ MORE: Guards Quante Berry and Jamal Mashburn Jr. lead Temple to an upset win over No. 18 Memphis
Temple barely snuck by the last-place 49ers (8-13, 1-7) on a court it hasn’t lost on since March 7, 2024. It looked like the Owls were on their way to a third-straight loss until back-to-back blocks from guard Zion Stanford and forward Steve Settle III preserved a two-point deficit with 24 seconds in the second half..
“It’s great to have people protecting the rim,” coach Adam Fisher said. “We talk about that a lot. Everyone on this team has a different role, but everyone’s value is the same. If you’re putting a puzzle together and you’re missing a piece, it doesn’t look right.”
The Owls gained possession and tied the game, 69-69, on free throws by Jamal Mashburn Jr. Guard Quante Berry hit a midrange jumper with five seconds left in overtime to give Temple a two-point lead, but Kylan Blackmon ran the full length of the court and converted on a layup with 0.2 seconds left to send the game to a second overtime.
In double overtime, Temple outscored Charlotte, 12-11, but didn’t take the lead for good until a free throw by Mashburn with just two seconds left.
“It was a wild, wild college basketball game,” Fisher said. “I’m really proud of our guys for their resiliency. I thought we could have folded multiple times, whether it be injuries, foul trouble. But they keep fighting.”
Owls battle back
The Owls built a 13-point lead, but a 17-2 run by the 49ers in the closing minutes of the first half erased the deficit. A three-pointer from guard Nik Graves put Charlotte up, 36-34, with 1:18 until halftime. Graves led the 49ers with 26 points and eight assists.
Temple reclaimed the lead on another Mashburn layup at the 17:12 mark in the second half, and the teams traded blows until an 11-1 49ers run pushed them back on top by five points with 4:52 to go. Back-to-back dunks by forward Robert Braswell put the finishing touches on the run and forced Fisher to call a timeout.
Stanford (12 points, six rebounds) and Mashburn quickly cut the deficit to one on a pair of free throws and a jumper. But Charlotte responded yet again.
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Mashburn stars again
Mashburn, who entered the game as the nation’s eighth-leading scorer (21 points per game), helped spearhead the Owls’ overtime runs. He finished with 34 points and shot 10-of-22 from the floor — including a trio of key three-pointers.
He hit multiple key shots to keep Temple’s hopes at winning alive, but perhaps his biggest moment was that game-winning free throw in double overtime.
“We didn’t expect this game to go into double overtime,” Mashburn said. “But it did, so we just have to roll with the punches and just respond. I do my best to remain as calm as possible for leadership purposes, but we always have to respond.”
Up next
The Owls will look to make it two in a row when they welcome East Carolina (12-9, 4-4 AAC) on Saturday (2 p.m., ESPN+).