SPORTS A NEW VIEW
After graduating in 2015, Tyonna Williams returned to the Owls as a graduate manager coach Tonya Cardoza. PAGE 18
thecherry.temple-news.com
NEARING THE STRETCH
FENCING HITS THE STRIP
The gymnastics team has four competitions before the start of conference championships. PAGE 18
PAGE 20
The fencing team competed twice this weekend, Obi Enechionyia is honored by the conference, other news and notes. PAGE 17
TEMPLE-NEWS.COM
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2016
men’s basketball
men’s basketball
After last year’s snub, Owls avoiding the ‘hurt’ After a lackluster road trip resulting in a tournament snub last year, the Owls are in a similar situation. By MICHAEL GUISE Sports Editor
HOJUN YU TTN
Quenton DeCosey handles the ball in the first half of the Owls’ 83-67 loss to Villanova last Wednesday at the Liacouras Center.
In the ‘mecca for pickup runs,’ DeCosey hones go-to mentality Senior guard Quenton DeCosey leads the team in scoring with 16 points per game this season. By OWEN McCUE Assistant Sports Editor
D
uring the summer before his senior season, Quenton DeCosey immersed himself in the sport he fell in love with at five years old after watching Michael Jordan in “Space Jam.” With the departure of leading scorer Will Cummings, DeCosey knew he would need to shoulder the load offensively for the Owls in 2015-16. Instead of going home to Union, New Jersey for half the summer, the senior guard stayed on campus where he took classes in the mornings then conditioned and worked out at the Owls’ practice facility in Pearson Hall. After he was finished, DeCosey and his teammates played pickup on the third floor of Pearson against local players who had returned home from college for the summer. “Just basketball all day after you finished your school work,” DeCosey said. The games, which recreated high school
HOJUN YU TTN
Quenton DeCosey (right), receives a pass in the second half of the team’s loss to Villanova.
matchups and pinned former teammates against each other, included former Owls like Cummings, Ramone Moore and Scootie Randall and other talents like ex-Oregon University and Providence College player Brandon Austin and University of Massachusetts alum Maxie Esho. “This was like the mecca for pickup runs in
track & field
the summer,” DeCosey said. “It’s always going to be competitive when you have a lot of talented guys in the gym,” he added. “Everybody’s going to compete hard, and I think that’s what got our team better.”
DECOSEY | PAGE 17
Obi Enechionyia and his teammates have not forgotten about the Owls’ twogame road trip last season. In a span of four days in late February 2015, the Owls lost to Southern Methodist, then-No. 21 in the AP Top 25 poll, and Tulsa in their final multi-game road trip of the season. “If we would have won one of those games, we would have made the tournament,” the sophomore forward said. “We had that on our minds and knowing that, we are playing on a different level than we did last year. That hurt last year.” On Sunday night, the Owls kicked off their last regular season road trip with a comeback victory against Houston. After trailing by 10 points with 11:05 in the second half, the Owls rallied with the help of senior guard Devin Coleman, who scored eight of the team’s final 14 points. “I don’t think there is a time where we don’t feel comfortable on the court,” Enechionyia said. “We know we always have a chance to come back and win it.” The Owls were also aided by Enechionyia, who scored a career-high 26 points on 50 percent shooting from the field. “My shot was going down,” Enechionyia said. “I felt pretty good. At the start of the game, I hit my first shot and after that, my confidence was high.” In the team’s first 17 games of the season, Enechionyia scored double-figure points six times. The sophomore has scored 10 or more points seven times in the team’s last eight games while averaging 15.4 points per game on 46 percent shooting from the field and 45.8 percent from 3-point range. “He’s so important to what we do,” coach Fran Dunphy said. “He’s changed in his mindset. I think he has been really focused over the last three weeks.” Tonight, Enechionyia and the Owls will complete their road trip with a game
BASKETBALL | PAGE 17
Prepping for championships The Owls finished last at the 2015 conference championships. By MAURA RAZANAUSKAS The Temple News The Owls are hoping to send a message to the university with their performances at the American Conference Championships. “We the T,” junior hurdler Simone Brownlee said. “We’re showing that we’re just as awesome as all the rest of the sports.” Last season at the conference championships, the Owls finished last of 11 teams in the conference championships.
SPORTS@TEMPLE-NEWS.COM
This year, Temple is sending 14 of its 29 athletes to the conference meet in Birmingham, Alabama, on Feb. 28-29, compared to last season when coach Elvis Forde sent the whole squad. “Based on what we’ve been doing and what we’ve been running so far this season, I’m very optimistic,” Forde said. “The key for us is I want us to see how many points we can score as compared to last year. That’s critical for us.” Last year, Temple scored 26 points. Graduate-student distance runner Blanca Fernandez scored 20 points with two first-place finishes in the mile and the 3,000-meter. This season, the Owls will not be able to rely on Fernandez as much since she is recovering from an overuse injury involving her IT band
CHAMPIONSHIPS | PAGE 18
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Junior sprinter Kenya Gaston runs the 400-meter in a recent practice at the Student Pavilion.