The Penn men's basketball team held on to defeat Temple, 68-62, at the Liacouras Center for just the second time in the team's last 20 meetings. The last Penn win came in 1998, as the Quakers needed overtime to hand the Owls, who were nationally-ranked at the time, a 73-70 loss at The Palestra.

It may have taken a long time, but the Quakers have now won seven games before January and defeated Temple and Villanova in the same season for the first time since 1974-75, a year in which no current player on the Penn basketball team can say they were around for.

Both teams came into Sunday's game needing a victory, as Temple was on a five-game slump and the Quakers had lost their last two contests. The Quakers got off to a quick start and held the Owls scoreless for the first two minutes of the game. Unfortunately, neither team was doing much on offense and the score was 6-4 in favor of Penn with five minutes gone. Another very long scoring draught ensued and the Quakers found themselves tied at seven with 11:46 remaining. Temple's leader, and the leading scorer in the nation, Lynn Greer, got the Owls rolling with a three at 9:45 (11-7), but the Quakers squelched Temple's momentum as freshman Tim Begley hit the team's first three of the day at 7:30 to give Penn a 14-11 lead that they would never relinquish.

The Quakers made two huge runs during the first half, including an 18-3 run that spanned 3:34, which left Temple in a spin and made Head Coach John Chaney pull his star guard (Greer) off the court for the first time in four games. Penn utilized Greer's "off-game" and went on to finish the first half with a 32-17 lead, which was the largest halftime lead of the season and the lowest opponent total of the season for Penn. Junior Duane King gave the Quakers a boost with a season-high five points and the Quakers were steady from the free throw line, hitting 7-for-8 for the half.

The second half was not as pretty. Temple came out with a vengeance and chopped at Penn's lead mercilessly. Greer picked up his third foul of the game just 30 seconds into the half though, and Penn took full advantage as King hit two three-pointers and Begley also hit for three to push the Quakers' lead to 41-22, with 17:35 left. But Temple stepped it up and contained the Quakers' offensive attack for the rest of the second half. The Owls went on a 16-4 run that ended at 13:30 to bring themselves within eight (45-37). Missed free throws by the Quakers kept the Owls in the game for the next five minutes as Koko Archibong missed four straight and Penn went 3-for-9 in a three-minute span.

Greer fouled out of the game with 7:03 left and his team down, 52-44. But it would not matter as the Owls played great defense and forced Penn into five turnovers within a span of three minutes, as Temple continued chipping away at Penn's lead. Temple pulled to within six, 58-52, with 3:42 left in the game, before technicals were called on Temple's Coach Chaney and the Owl mascot, who approached a referee on the court. Sophomore Jeff Schiffner then made 3-of-4 technical free throws to give the Quakers a nine-point advantage, 61-52. Temple got as close as three in the final 20 seconds, but Schiffner and Ugonna Onyekwe combined to make three free throws down the stretch to close out the win.

"I thought we defended the ball well and moved the ball well," Head Coach Fran Dunphy said. "I am just grateful for the win. This is another chance for this team to grow from this type of game.

"I don't think we were very composed, especially late in the game. The demons came out at the free throw line again - they're always there. Hopefully we can learn from it."

Statistically, neither team shot well from the floor or the free throw line. The Quakers finished shooting 38 percent from the field, which included a 26 percent clip from three-point land. The Owls on the other hand, shot just 50 percent from the free throw line, and made just 5-of-28 from behind the arc. Penn continued to have problems on the boards, giving up 19 offensive rebounds to the Owls, but recording 40 rebounds on the day.

Archibong led all scorers with 19 points (11 from the free throw line), and just missed his first double-double of the season, with nine rebounds. Onyekwe and King each added 11 points, while Begley had six points, six rebounds and six assists against the Owls.

The Quakers are back in action on Saturday, Jan. 5 at Lehigh University. Tip-off is at 7 p.m.