Matthews named to all-conference team

Junior Brandon Matthews’ list of achievements grew on Friday when he was named to the 2015 American Athletic Conference Men’s Golf All-Conference team for the second consecutive year.

In 11 of 12 tournaments this year, Matthews placed among the Top 10 individual finishers.  He also set a school record for season stroke average at 71.0, and tied program records for total victories (eight) and consecutive wins (three) during the spring portion of the schedule.

Matthews was also named the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference’s Golfer of the Month for April this past Wednesday.

On Monday, Matthews will compete in the U.S. Open qualifier at the Trump National Golf Club in Pine Hill, New Jersey before heading north to play in the NCAA Regional in New Haven, Connecticut at The Course at Yale next weekend.

Players swipe Soccer Six honors

After a season in which he captained Temple’s men’s soccer team as a sophomore, defender Robert Sagel earned his second Philadelphia Soccer Six All-Star Team selection at the Soccer Six Banquet on Tuesday night at the University City Sheraton. Midfielders Felipe Liborio and Miguel Polley were also named to the all-rookie team.

Sagel started each game and played every minute for the second consecutive season in 2014.

Liborio, meanwhile, started 17 games, logged the third-most minutes for the Owls and scored a goal in his freshman campaign, while Polley posted a goal and three assists, second to junior midfielder Jared Martinelli, in 16 games as a redshirt freshman.

After a 10-4-4 season in 2013, the team finished with a 2-14-2 record last fall, its worst mark under coach David MacWilliams since the 2006 season (2-14-1).

Men’s tennis blanked by Navy

The Owls traveled across the Pennsylvania state border to Maryland and were swept by Navy, 7-0, on Saturday.

The Owls only won one match in nine contests. The only victory came from juniors Nicolas Paulus and Hicham Belkssir in the first flight doubles match.

Tough competition has caused the Owls some trouble this season. They only have one conference win and are winless against nationally ranked opponents.

Navy controlled the match from the beginning by securing the doubles point in two matches with respective scores of 6-3 and 6-4. The Midshipmen also won three out of the six singles matches in straight sets.

Owls coach Steve Mauro said his team was unable to play the aggressive style that it’s accustomed to. In Saturday’s match, Mauro said his team had to play a more conservative style, trying to just keep balls in play.

The weather played an important part in the match Saturday as both teams played sloppy tennis.

“The wind played a huge factor in the match today,” Mauro said. “Because we haven’t been able to play that much outside hurt us because we were not used to the wind conditions. The official told me that the wind was blowing at about 20 miles per hour … it was like we were playing on a different surface.”

The Owls lost all three third-set tiebreakers to fall on the wrong side of those singles matches. This season, the team has struggled to win those all-important tiebreakers and win close matches.

Mauro said both teams were just trying to get the balls over the net through the gusty conditions. He also said that he is looking forward to the team’s remaining games, which will all be at home.

The Owls (11-9, 1-2 American Athletic Conference) will have three days off before hosting a doubleheader at the Student Pavilion on April 8 against Coppin State at 11 a.m. and Rider at 3 p.m.

-Dalton Balthaser

Owls kick off competition at Colonial Relays

The women’s track & field team began competition Friday at the 50th annual Colonial Relays at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia.

Highlighting the day for the Owls was sophomore Jimmia McCluskey, who earned herself a first-place finish in the long jump with her mark of 5.80 meters.

Graduate-student Nicole Cummings earned third place in the event with a mark of 5.57 meters, while sophomore Bionca St. Fleur finished 10th with a mark of 5.39 meters.

Cummings also finished sixth in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.26 seconds, which qualified her for the hurdle finals on Saturday.

McCluskey also finished ninth in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.24 seconds, as well as 11th in the 200-meter dash with a mark of 24.98 seconds.

Sophomore Bionca St. Fleur placed fourth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 24.56 seconds. Junior Demeshia Davis finished 13th in 25.04 seconds.

In the 400-meter dash, sophomore Kenya Gaston finished fifth in 57.39 seconds, while Davis finished seventh with a mark of 57.49 seconds.

Senior Jenna Dubrow placed sixth in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 10 minutes, 11.02 seconds.

-Tyler DeVice

Owls rebound in defeat of Lehigh

After losing two to Penn and Georgetown this past Saturday, the Owls rebounded with a victory against Lehigh, 5-2.

In singles, juniors Nicolas Paulus (6-4, 6-2), Hicham Belkssir (6-3, 6-2) and Santiago Canete (3-6, 6-2, 6-2) led the team with strong performances. Sophomores Vineet Naran (6-4, 6-2) and Filip Stipcic, who won in 7-6 (2), 6-2, each took singles points to help the Owls gain control of the match.

“Santiago played really well today, even though he was under the weather,” coach Steve Mauro said. “After losing the first set, he won the next two sets pretty convincingly and I was happy with how he performed. Everyone else played really solid, and I was happy with how we came back from back-to-back losses.”

In doubles, the Owls struggled and Mauro said that he was unhappy with the team’s effort on the court.

“I was disappointed that we lost the doubles point,” Mauro said. “I don’t know what happened, but to me it looked like the guys weren’t ready for the match and were tired. The guys didn’t look up for the match.”

After losing the double point because his team was not ready, Mauro had to get his team back in the right mindset.

“After doubles we had to talk about showing more emotion in these matches because I though we were definitely the better doubles team today,” Mauro said. “I hope the guys learn not to take any team for granted in singles or doubles. We need come out with a lot more energy in our matches.”

With his win in singles today, Paulus now has 48 career victories, fifth all-time since 2001. He is four wins away from passing current graduate-assistant coach Kacper Rams for fourth all-time on that list.

The Owls (10-8, 0-2 American Athletic Conference) will have three days off before playing one of the most important matches of the season, as they host conference rival Connecticut on March 28.

-Dalton Balthaser

Denver match cancelled to snow

Temple will no longer be playing on Friday against the University of Denver due to poor field conditions. The game was canceled at 3 p.m. after close to three inches of snow accumulated on the field with more expected to come.

It is possible that the match will be played Saturday if Denver’s flight back to Colorado Friday night is canceled. If not, the Owls will play next at home against the University of Florida on Saturday, March 28 to start off Big East Conference play.

Temple currently holds a five-game winning streak and an 8-1 record.

-Matt Cockayne

Former running back arrested on trafficking charges

Former Temple running back Matt Brown was one of two men arrested on numerous human trafficking and prostitution charges Thursday.

According to a report from Baltimore’s WBAL-TV 11, Brown and 30-year-old Anthony Leon Eley Jr., Brown and Eley Jr. brought three girls – ages 14, 16 and 17 – to a Baltimore hotel room. Police said one of the girls asked for money.

Vice detectives had responded to an advertisement known to be used by prostitutes and arranged a meeting at the hotel, leading to the arrests. According to the report, both men told police they knew the girls were underage and taking part in prostitution.

Brown, a 25-year-old Baltimore resident, was a special-teams standout for the football team from 2009-2012, and is the school’s fourth-best all-time leading rusher. He signed for the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers in May 2013, but was released prior to the start of the season. He also had a brief stint with the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League from 2013-14, but failed to appear in a game before his release in June 2014.

Brown was released on bail Thursday night and will await a May 19 trial in Baltimore. His father, Warren Brown, is a Baltimore attorney.

Brown marks the second former Temple running back arrested in three days, and the fourth Temple-affiliated player arrested this week.

The school’s second-highest all-time leading rusher, former running back Bernard Pierce, was arrested on DUI charges early Wednesday morning. He was released by the Baltimore Ravens later that day, the team with which he had spent the entirety of his three-year NFL career.

Pierce rushed for 532 yards and averaged 4.9 yards per carry as a rookie in 2012, but his numbers progressively dipped through his next two seasons as Baltimore’s backup running back.

On Monday night, current Temple players Dion Dawkins and Haason Reddick were arrested on aggravated assault and related charges stemming from an incident at an off-campus party in Philadelphia’s Northern Liberties section in January. Both players were released on bail Monday night and will appear in court for a preliminary hearing March 31.

They have been suspended from the team, but still remain on the roster.

Men’s basketball to face Southern Methodist in conference semis

HARTFORD, Conn. – With an 80-75 defeat of Memphis in the quarterfinal round of the American Athletic Conference tournament, the Owls won the right to face the team that beat them twice in the regular season.

Temple, the fourth seed in the tournament, will face Southern Methodist, led by hall-of-fame coach Larry Brown, in a conference semifinal matchup Saturday at the XL Center.

The Mustangs highlighted a regular season in which they finished 25-6 with a 15-3 conference record, which topped The American standings. SMU also finished the season with a spot in the Associated Press Top 25 poll for the second consecutive year, holding the No. 20 ranking.

With Nic Moore leading the way for the Mustangs, they’ll be tough to contain on the offensive end. Moore, a redshirt-junior guard, won the conference’s player-of-the-year award and is averaging 14.5 points per game and 5.2 assists per game in 31 games, including SMU’s 74-68 win against eighth-seeded East Carolina on Friday.

The Owls will counter with senior guard Will Cummings, who drew consideration for player of the year in his own right, as enters Saturday’s contest with averages of 14.4  ppg and 4.3 apg, along with 2 steals per game.

A Temple spokesman said Saturday morning that junior forward Jaylen Bond is questionable for the game after Bond sprained his right ankle toward the end of the first half against Memphis. He did not return for the rest of the game.

If Bond remains absent for Saturday’s contest, that could give an edge to a Mustangs frontcourt consisting of sixth-man-of-the-year honoree Markus Kennedy, along with the likes of sophomore Ben Moore and senior Yanick Moreira.

ESPN Bracketologist Joe Lunardi had Temple out of his list of teams that he predicts will be the last four teams to make the tournament, and among those that will secure an automatic spot in the second round.

While Friday’s defeat of Memphis may help the Owls’ tournament resume come Sunday night, junior center Devontae Watson, who posted eight points and four rebounds in the second half of Friday’s game in light of Bond’s absence, said his team needs to keep winning if it wants to play in the field of 68.

“With all the talk that’s going on, it’s definitely important that we [beat Memphis],” Watson said after Friday’s game. “The only sure way you get into the NCAA tournament is that you win this tournament. That’s the only sure way you’re getting a bid, and you have to try to strive for that. You’re not guaranteed unless you get that bid.”

Fernandez finishes 12th in NCAA meet

Graduate-junior Blanca Fernandez officially concluded her first indoor track & field season at Temple after competing in the semifinals of the NCAA National Championship at Fayetteville, Arkansas on Friday.

Fernandez finished in 12th place in the mile run with a time of 4 minutes, 42.17 seconds. Fernandez was four seconds away from moving into 10th place, which would have allowed her qualification into the finals on Saturday.

After arriving at Temple in January, Fernandez was the first athlete to represent Temple at Nationals in 28 years.

Her season was highlighted by breaking two Temple indoor track records in both the mile and 3,000-meter runs. She also claimed first place in both races at the American Athletic Conference Championships on Feb. 27-28.

With this, the Owls will officially open up their outdoor track & field season at the University of Pennsylvania on March 21 for the Philadelphia Classic.

-Tyler DeVice

Men’s basketball to contest conference quarterfinal with Memphis

HARTFORD, Conn. – When Memphis faces the Owls Friday in a quarterfinal matchup in the American Athletic Conference Tournament, it’ll likely do so without its top scorer.

Sophomore forward Austin Nichols re-injured his ankle in the Tigers’ 74-72 overtime loss to Tulsa on Feb. 28, and hasn’t played since. Reports last week said Nichols, who averages 13.3 points per game, will likely sit out for the duration of the Connecticut-hosted tournament, which will take place in downtown Hartford at the XL Center.

Nichols initially injured the ankle in Memphis’ 61-60 home defeat to the Owls (22-9, 13-5 The American), in which junior guard Josh Brown hit a game-winning jump shot with 2.4 seconds left to play.

Senior forward Calvin Godfrey has averaged 11 points in his last two games starting in Nichols’ spot on the frontcourt alongside junior Shaq Goodwin. Without Nichols, Goodwin will enter Friday’s contest as the leading scorer for the Tigers (18-13, 10-8 The American) with his 9.5 ppg.

Senior guards Will Cummings and Jesse Morgan are coming off games in which they netted point totals of 23 and 17, respectively, in the Owls’ 75-63 defeat of Connecticut in their regular-season finale March 7 at the Liacouras Center. Cummings, who earned first-team all-conference honors for his regular-season efforts, paces Temple with 14.1 ppg, along with 4.3 assists per game and 2.1 steals per game. After re-joining the starting lineup Jan. 22 against South Florida after suffering a muscle strain in his lower left leg earlier in the month, Cummings hasn’t scored less than 12 points in any of Temple’s contests since.

Morgan, meanwhile, enjoyed his highest point total in a game Saturday since he netted 19 points in the Owls’ defeat of USF on Jan. 22. He sank 5 of 7 3-pointers in the victory, including two in the game’s final eight minutes.

With the absence of Nichols, junior Jaylen Bond, the conference’s leading rebounder with 8.3 boards per game, could benefit from a favorable matchup Friday alongside a combination of Temple forwards Devontae Watson and Obi Enechionyia.

Temple last won a conference tournament in the 2010-11 season as a member of the Atlantic 10. In The American’s inaugural tournament at Memphis last year, the Owls dropped a 94-90 contest to South Florida in double overtime.

The Tigers entered a conference quarterfinal matchup against Connecticut last season as the favorites and the No. 19-ranked team in the Associated Press Top 25 poll, but were topped, 72-53, by the Huskies en route to UConn’s national-title-winning run.

The two teams will tip off at 2 p.m., and will be shown on ESPN2. The winner will play Saturday at 3 p.m. against the victor of a quarterfinal between East Carolina and Southern Methodist, which will take place Friday at noon.