• Recap
• Bleachers

Temple stifles George Washington

Feb 26, 2011 - 11:57 PM Washington, DC (Sports Network) - Lavoy Allen recorded a double-double with 19 points and 16 rebounds, as the 24th-ranked Temple Owls used a strong second half to defeat the George Washington Colonials, 57-41.

Khalif Wyatt added 14 points off the bench for the Owls (22-6, 12-2 A-10), who bounced back from Wednesday's 78-61 loss to No. 1 Duke.

Ramone Moore donated 11 points for Temple, which sits behind Xavier in the conference standings. The Musketeers hold a 12-1 record in the A-10 and play at Dayton on Sunday.

"I don't think he can play any better," Temple head coach Fran Dunphy said of Allen. "He's always in the right spot defensively, but his line today -- he made jump shots, he made great plays running to the rim, he had two assists, he doesn't turn it over, he had three blocks--he was just terrific today. It's something that we're kind of used to, but today was an exceptional day across the board for him."

Dwayne Smith finished with 12 points and seven boards for the Colonials (15-13, 8-6), who had a three-game winning streak snapped. Aaron Ware had 11 points.

Nemanja Mikic started the second half with a three-pointer to give George Washington a 29-23 lead. The Owls, though, responded with 10 straight points to go in front. Allen capped the surge with a trey and tip-in to give Temple a 33-29 edge.

The Colonials came back and held a 39-38 edge with under 11 1/2 minutes to play. From there it was all Temple, as the visitors closed out the game on a 19-2 run.

Juan Fernandez made a pair of three-pointers around Wyatt's two free throws and Moore's jumper to give the Owls a 48-39 lead.

Tony Taylor stopped the bleeding with a jumper, but it proved to be George Washington's lone points during Temple's burst. Moore's jumper, Wyatt's trey and Allen's jumper and layup capped the game-sealing run.

"It's always tough to lose a game. Our Conference is one of the top conferences in the country," Ware said. "One team can beat another at any time; that's the parity we have. But at this point, we just have to move on to Rhode Island. Temple is a Top-25 team, and they're a very solid team of defense."

Holding a 7-6 lead just 5 1/2 minutes into the game, the Colonials put together a 13-2 run to create some distance. Ware tallied the last five points of the surge to give George Washington a 20-8 margin with 9 1/2 minutes to go.

But Temple used an 11-2 flurry moments later to get back in the game. Allen had seven points during the burst, including a layup with three minutes remaining to make it 24-21.

The Colonials took a 26-23 lead into the locker room.

Game Notes

Temple owns a commanding 50-16 series lead over George Washington...With the win, the Owls clinched a first round bye in the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament...The Owls went 13-of-17 from the foul line, while the Colonials went 4-of-11 from the charity stripe.