PHILADELPHIA – Ramone Moore scored 13 of his 19 points in the last 5:17 of the first half and No. 19 Temple beat St. Bonaventure 83-55 on Wednesday night.
Temple has won the last 14 games in the series and all 31 of its home games against the Bonnies. The Owls (12-3, 3-0 Atlantic 10) have won nine of 10 overall.
Andrew Nicholson, who leads the A-10 in scoring at 22.4 points per game, was held to 12 after scoring 34 in the Bonnies' league-opening win over Charlotte on Saturday. Michael Davenport led St. Bonaventure (9-6, 1-1) with 13 points, and Ogo Adegboye and Demitrius Conger each had 11.
Temple shot 51 percent (30 for 59) from the field, including 9 for 21 from 3-point range. The Owls were shooting 29.5 percent from 3-point range entering the game, good for 13th in the conference.
Khalif Wyatt, starting for injured guard Juan Fernandez, had a career-high 15 points as all five Temple starters scored in double figures. Scootie Randall had 17, Lavoy Allen added 15 and Micheal Eric finished with 10 for the Owls, who came within one of tying their season high for points.
Fernandez missed his second straight game with a bone bruise on his left knee. The 6-foot-4 junior, who entered tied with Moore with a team-leading 15 points per game, was injured last Friday in practice and is day to day.
Temple led 49-28 at halftime and stretched the advantage to as many as 31 in the second half. The Owls, who are 52-6 against the Bonnies shot 61 percent in the first half, making seven of 12 3-point attempts.
St. Bonaventure was within one with 10:16 left in the first half before the Owls took control. Beginning with T.J. DiLeo's 3-pointer, the Owls closed the half by scoring 29 of the final 38 points.
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