No. 19 West Virginia erased a 20-point halftime deficit but Temple answered the comeback with clutch play of its own for an 81-77 upset in the championship game of the NIT Season Tipoff in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Forward Obi Enechionyia, despite scoring only four of his 22 points in the second half, made a key 3 with 5 minutes left to stabilize Temple (4-2) after the Mountaineers’ press tightened the game. Enechionyia also grabbed 12 rebounds and made the clinching free throw with 0.7 seconds left.
BOX SCORE: Temple 81, West Virginia 77
Freshman guard Alani Moore added 18 points, including 8-of-8 at the foul line where the Owls made 21 of 24 overall.
Esa Ahmad scored 17 of his career-high 19 points during the second-half charge for West Virginia (4-1), though with 1:42 left he missed a chance to tie the game when the Owls’ defense collapsed to contest his driving jumper.
Reserve guard Teyvon Myers scored 13 of his 15 after halftime before attempting an off-balanced 3-pointer that was blocked by Shizz Alston with 4 seconds left and the Mountaineers trailing 80-77.
Nathan Adrian and Tarik Phillip added 13 points each for West Virginia.
Daniel Dingle added 15 points and backup guard Quinton Rose contributed 12 for Temple, which upset No. 25 Florida State the previous day.
After committing only eight turnovers in first half, Temple lost six in first 4 minutes of second half.
Phillip, Jevon Carter, Ahmad and Miles sank 3s during a 19-3 run that drew West Virginia even at 62-all with 9:13 left. Moments later, Phillip’s free throw put his team ahead 65-64, its first lead since 7-6.
Enechionyia’s fourth 3-pointer of the first half gave him 18 points — one off his per-game average —with 3:09 remaining until the break. After transition 3s by Alani Moore and Daniel Dingle, Temple’s lead expanded to 45-25 at intermission.
West Virginia led its first four games by an average of 25 points at the half.
By that juncture the Owls had made 6-of-9 from 3-point range and 55 percent of their shots overall.
Behind two dunks by Enechionyia, the Owls reeled off 11 unanswered points to lead 13-7. They soon tacked on two 9-0 spurts, one of which included free throws by Shizz Alston after West Virginia coach Bob Huggins was assessed his first technical of season.