Temple got a career-high 26 points from Zion Stanford but not enough defense, rebounding or even a little help from the officials in a 78-72 overtime loss at Charlotte Wednesday.

The 49ers, who picked up just their third American Athletic Conference win and still sit dead last in the league standings, handed the Owls their fifth consecutive loss in a game that was originally set for a 7 p.m. tip-off but moved up by four hours due to anticipated snowfall in the area.

Temple, which fell to 14-13 overall, 6-8 in conference play and seventh place in the league standings, played once again without guard Jamal Mashburn Jr., the nation’s second-leading scorer, as he continues to recover from a toe injury that has kept him out of three of the Owls’ last four games.

In a game that included 15 lead changes and 11 ties, Temple took a short-lived 68-66 lead on two free throws by Stanford with 57 seconds left in regulation. Charlotte coach Aaron Fearne, whose team lost at Temple in two overtimes back on Jan. 29, called a timeout 23 seconds later to set up the play that allowed the 49ers to tie the game a little too easily. The Owls fell asleep on defense coming out of the timeout and allowed Giancarlo Rosado to slip to the basket unguarded for a game-tying dunk.

Holding the ball for what it hoped would be the game’s last possession, Temple got the ball to Stanford. He drove to the rim and appeared to be fouled by Charlotte’s Robert Braswell, but the officials called a jump ball instead with the possession arrow favoring the 49ers with three seconds to go. The game went to overtime after a Nik Graves miss at the buzzer.

From there, Charlotte outscored Temple by 10-4 in the extra period despite missing its last four shots and going without a field goal for the last 3:07 of overtime. The Owls once again were on the wrong end of a missed call in overtime when Shane Dezonie drew contact driving to the basket inside the final minute but didn’t get the call.

Even without Mashburn and some unlucky calls, Temple still did its fair share in dropping a game to the league’s last-place team. Charlotte outrebounded the Owls by 35-28 and shot nearly 52% in the first half. Graves scored a team-high 23 points to lead four 49ers players in double figures and also dished out six assists.

Temple, conversely, mustered just six assists as a team on 25 field goals. The Owls shot 52% in both halves before slipping into a 2-for-10 shooting spell in overtime.

Aiden Tobiason scored 14 points and Steve Settle added 11 for Temple, which will try to snap its five-game losing streak Sunday at UAB, the American’s third-place team.

Front page photo by Robin Hsiao.