Fernandez Sends Temple Past Penn State

Guard's last-second shot leads Temple to 66-64 win over instate rival

The Owls success against the Nittany Lions continued Thursday afternoon.

Juan Fernandez sank an off-balance 18-footer with under a second to play to give Temple a wild 66-64 victory over Penn State and end coach Fran Dunphy's NCAA tournament record 11-game losing streak.

It also ended Temple's 10-year tourney win drought. The win was the Owls first since a decade ago when they beat none other than Penn State.

Fernandez, double-teamed as time was running out, got off a shot off his right foot while fading to his left just inside the 3-point line.

This was a classic March matchup. Neither team had led by more than four points and there were 10 lead changes in an intense second half. Talor Battle's 3-pointer from far behind the arc for Penn State tied it at 64-64 with 12.2 seconds to go.

Fernandez and Ramone Moore scored 23 points each for the seventh-seeded Owls (26-7). Battle scored 23 for the 10th-seeded Nittany Lions (19-15) in their first NCAA tournament appearance in a decade.

Temple will face No. 2 San Diego State on Saturday.


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