HOUSTON -- In a tied game with 15 seconds remaining, Obi Enechionyia, who scored a game-high — and career high — 26 points for Temple, was the No. 1 option for the Owls, who were in the midst of a second-half comeback against the Houston Cougars.
Enechionyia was the Owls’ main offensive threat Sunday with leading scorer Quenton DeCosey struggling from the field. Enechionyia, who was 6 of 9 on three-pointers, couldn’t get open on a top-of-the key screen, so the ball swung to Devin Coleman.
Coleman confidently knocked down a three-pointer to break the tie, and Houston’s Rob Gray Jr. missed a 30-footer at the end as American Athletic Conference-leading Temple survived with a 69-66 win at Hofheinz Pavilion over Houston, a team that earlier this season dismantled the Owls by 27 points in Philadelphia.
“We had a play drawn up, we were very mindful of the difference between the shot clock and the game clock,” said Coleman, who scored eight points and hit the biggest shot of the game. “They broke up the play a bit, so they ended up swinging it around the perimeter.
“It came to me. My defender wasn’t up on me as much as I thought he would be. It was pretty much a clean look for me. It was a matter of raising up and knocking it down. It felt good when it came out.”
The win was Temple’s ninth in its last 11 games.
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“A terrific win for us,” Temple coach Fran Dunphy said. “It gives us another league win on the road. It’s critical. Every one of these games down the stretch is crucial.”
The Owls (17-9, 11-3) were pushed to the limit Sunday. Leading by 13 points in the first half, the Owls fell behind by 10 points in the second half against a team that likes to push the ball up the court.
“We just huddled up and said we got to stay together and do it together,” Coleman said. “There’s no 10-point shot. We have to chip away, we got to get some shots. Thankfully, that was what we were able to do.”
Added Enechionyia: “We know how to stay in the game when we’re down. That’s never been a problem for us to come back and win a game.”
Temple beat a Houston team at full strength with the return of a healthy Gray, who, along with teammate Damyean Dotson, scored 20 points, and defeated one of the hottest teams in the AAC. The Cougars (19-8, 9-6) had won three straight and six of their previous seven games.
Houston handed Temple its worst loss of the season, 77-50, in Philadelphia on Jan. 2, a game in which the Cougars led by as many as 30 points and Gray scored 23 points.
Temple is in first place in the AAC. A loss on Sunday would have bunched up the conference standings at the top.
“It’s really tight and packed at the top of the conference,” Enechionyia said. “If we had lost this game, we would have dropped. It’s good to be in first place. We have to go to Tulsa and keep this going.”
The Owls were rolling early, taking a 30-25 halftime lead. Two free throws from DeCosey gave the Owls their largest lead — 22-9 at the 10:59 mark.
DeCosey, who missed all five of his first-half field-goal attempts, was 2 of 12 from the field for eight points, snapping his streak of 13 games in double-digit scoring.
Josh Brown, third in the AAC in assists, had 10 defensive rebounds for Temple, which was outrebounded, 42-40.
Houston, which shot just 36.1 percent from the field, stayed in the game and made a second-half push.
“We needed another stop,” Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said. “We couldn’t have gotten a better shot. Rob got a clean look.”
Sampson was referring to Gray’s 30-footer at the end that would have tied the game and sent it into overtime.
“Temple showed why they are the best team in the league,” Sampson said. “They make timely threes and don’t beat themselves.”
Although DeCosey had a sub-par shooting game, Enechionyia had a big shooting game, Brown hit the boards and the Owls were 10 of 25 on three-point attempts.
“They (Houston) really rush the ball down the floor and that’s why you have to take really good shots,” Dunphy said. “They’re a really good offensive basketball team.”
Houston forward Devonta Pollard collected 19 points and a team-high 14 points.
The Owls were satisfied not only with the important conference win, but also with the way they avenged the earlier 27-point loss to Houston.
“That loss hurt us and we definitely thought about it on our way here,” Brown said. “We couldn’t wait to get the victory.”