Temple trailed by 13 points shortly after halftime but went on a 16-2 run over the next six minutes en route to a 65-63 win over UMass in a throwback rivalry game on Wednesday.

Senior guard Shizz Alston posted a career-high 31 points and forced a steal on UMass' last possession to pace Temple (8-2). Alston was at the line, looking for his 32nd point, with 4.3 seconds left on the clock before the referees took an official timeout to check the clock. After a delay of a few minutes, the refs adjusted the clock to 4.5 seconds.

The Owls trailed, 37-27, at halftime and allowed a UMass (6-5) 3-pointer to start the second half. After that, however, the Owls came back to take a 43-42 lead with 13:04 left in the game. After Temple took a 47-46 lead with 11:03 left, the Owls never trailed again.

Alston did almost all of Temple's first-half damage, as he had 18 of the Owls' 27 opening points. Quinton Rose, meanwhile, struggled in the first half to the tune of just two points off of 1-of-4 shooting. Rose figured things out in the second half, however, and finished with 14 points and four steals, all in the second half. Temple forced 19 turnovers in the win, including 11 off of steals.

Following the interruption, Alston missed his first free throw of the game to give UMass the ball back, down two. Facing the possibility of losing off of a three or going to overtime off of a two, however, Alston stole the ball from UMass guard Luwane Pipkins to clinch the win.

Pipkins was one of three Minutemen to score 12 points. UMass big man Rashaan Holloway, who was recruited by Temple out of high school in New Jersey, left the game after just 85 seconds of play after injuring his left ankle on a rebound attempt.

The Owls did almost all of their damage inside the arc, as they shot just 2-of-18 from 3-point range, including 0-for-7 in the second half. Temple got to the line 21 times on Wednesday and made 17 of their attempts, compared to UMass' 8-of-10 free-throw performance.

Temple will travel to Atlantic City on Saturday to face Davidson at Boardwalk Hall. UMass, meanwhile, will host Fairleigh Dickinson next Friday.

Listen to postgame interviews here.

Fran Dunphy

Shizz Alston and Quinton Rose