Fran Dunphy’s way of getting the Owls to forget what happened Tuesday against Georgetown was to re-live every second of it. According to The Inquirer, the Temple coach had his players watch every frame of tape from the Georgetown game to prepare for last night’s home-opening tilt at the Liacouras against a very good Siena team, and this time the Owls didn’t wither down the stretch and won, 73-69, in one of those Philly Hoop Group Classic games.

Make no mistake: This was a very, very good win for Temple. Siena is a borderline Top 25 team, and the Owls shot 50.8 percent and got terrific showings from sophomores Juan Fernandez (20 points on 8-for-11 shooting, including 4-for-6 from the arc) and Ramone Moore (16 points on 7-for-10 shooting, four rebounds, three assists), who both posted career-highs. Ryan Brooks added 17 points, and Micheal Eric had a career-high 12, on 6-for-8 shooting.

Temple trailed by as much as eight in the first half but shot a blistering 66.7 percent (18 of 27) after the break. Tough to lose when you do that, no?

Siena coach Fran McCaffrey, whose Philly ties we recounted yesterday, called the Owls “the best passing team I’ve seen,” according to The Inquirer. Conshohocken native Ronald Moore had 12 assists for the Saints, who shot 47.5 percent but made just 1 of 9 from the arc.

One other thing: Dionte Christmas was among the 6,759 in the house, according to The Temple News.

The Owls (2-1) next play Tuesday night at home against Ball State.

Links: Tough loss for Temple [BIG FIVE POST]
Temple outlasts Siena [The Inquirer]
Just what is the Philly Hoop Group Classic? [hoopgroup.com]
McCaffrey, Siena have lots of Philly ties [BIG FIVE POST]
Christmas again on North Broad Street [Temple News]