AMHERST — In a game worthy of the old series, DeJon Jarreau put his stamp on the UMass-Temple rivalry.
With the Minutemen trailing by two in the final minute, Donte Clark drove into traffic and lost his balance. The junior wing alertly slung the ball to Zack Lewis in the corner, who quickly fed Jarreau on the right wing. The freshman jab-stepped hard and Quinton Rose retreated just a bit to cover the drive, giving Jarreau extra space.
Jarreau, who missed a late 3 Monday, didn’t hesitate to put up another one in a big spot and this time buried a 3-pointer that put UMass ahead by one.
“At first I was thinking drive, but when I jab-stepped, he was waiting for the drive so I just pulled up for the 3-pointer,” Jarreau said.
Daniel Dingle, the brother of former UMass star Dana Dingle, was almost a hero for Temple at the Mullins Center, but his 3-pointer was off the mark and 5-foot-11 Luwane Pipkins elevated in traffic to grab the rebound as Jarreau took off up the floor. Pipkins, a one-time high school quarterback, hit him with the touchdown pass as Jarreau finished the layup with 7 seconds left.
Rose missed a game-tying 3-point try as the Minutemen held on 70-67.
The win came three days after UMass failed to deliver in the final minutes at Ole Miss.
“I’m proud of the guys. After a heartbreaker at Ole Miss, they showed some fight and toughness against a really good team that I think is going to continue to get better,” Kellogg said. “The guys really took how we closed out the last game to heart. They just played. It was nice to see them come up with big rebounds at the end.”
Junior Seth Berger said the way UMass (2-1) won was important.
“We’ll be tested like that later in the season,” said Berger, who returned from a wrist injury after missing Monday’s game. “To prove we got the grit, the toughness and the wherewithal to win that game, is huge.”
Like a lot of games in the rivalry, Thursday was a low-scoring grind down to the wire as the Owls were able to keep the game at their tempo. Obi Enechionyia, who led the Owls with 26 points and six rebounds, hit two free throws with 2:54 remaining to tie the game 63-63 setting up the final sequence.
Enechionyia blocked Jarreau on a break at the other end, but Berger put back the rebound to put the Minutemen up 65-63.
UMass came up empty on three straight offensive possessions. Temple made one of two free throws on each of the first two, and Alani Moore II drained a jumper with 50 seconds left to put Temple ahead before Jarreau delivered.
“It felt good,” said Jarreau, who had 16 points, seven assists and four rebounds. “That was big. I always wanted to hit a game-winner or a go-ahead bucket. To do it in college, that’s fulfilling my dreams right there. I’m just happy I could take that shot and be confident.”
Clark added 14 points and eight rebounds for the Minutemen, who play Holy Cross at noon on Sunday in the DCU Center in Worcester.
“That was definitely a UMass-Temple game,” Kellogg said. “You could go to 1992 or 2006 and it’s pretty much the same script. It’s going to come down the wire. We were very fortunate to come away win the win.”
Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage