PHILADELPHIA — Georgia's late second-half surge fell short as they fell 81-77 to Temple Tuesday night.
The Owls (3-0) opened up a 45-34 lead by the end of the first half with Shizz Alston Jr. and Quinton Rose accounting for 23 points.
Alston Jr. and Rose poured in 25 points apiece
The Bulldogs (1-1) whittled away at the lead and pulled within 49-45 on Derek Ogbeide's dunk, but Alston had buckets at both ends of a 7-0 run and Temple pushed its lead back to double figures at 56-45. Georgia pulled within 77-74 on two free throws by Ogbeide with 1:12 to play, but Rose buried a jumper and Alston hit two free throws with three seconds left to preserve the win.
Nate Pierre-Louis had 16 points and six rebounds for Temple.
Ogbeide and Crump finished with 16 points each for Georgia. Ogbeide added 11 rebounds for his seventh career double-double. Rayshaun Hammonds added 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting.
The Bulldogs were coming off a 110-76 win over Savannah State in which they shot 57 percent from the floor for their highest point total since 1999. Georgia shot just 42 percent in the first half in falling behind the Owls, but 62.5 percent (15 of 24) after intermission and finished at 51 percent for the game.
Georgia will host Sam Houston State on Thursday. Game time set for 7 p.m.
Associated Press contributed to this article.
