Temple 78, Duquesne 73

Published Feb. 15, 2009 11:16 p.m. ET

foxsports

Juan Fernandez scored four of his career-high 19 points in the final minute and Temple overcame a nine-point deficit to defeat Duquesne 78-73 on Sunday. Dionte Christmas, the Atlantic 10's leading scorer, was held five points below his 20 points per game average, but the Owls (15-9, 7-4) still moved into a third-place tie with Saint Joseph's in the conference regular-season race. Despite Aaron Jackson's 21 points, Duquesne (15-9, 6-5) lost its second in a row since upsetting then-No. 9 Xavier on Feb. 7. Damian Saunders added 13 points, Bill Clark 12 and Melquan Bolding 10 for the Dukes, who led 32-23 in the first half. Ryan Brooks and Semaj Inge scored 11 points each for Temple, which took control by going on a 7-0 run started by five consecutive points from Lavoy Allen on a three-point play and a driving layup. Two free throws by Christmas made it 69-61 with 3:52 remaining. Fernandez, a freshman guard from Argentina, finished the Dukes off by driving the lane for a layup with 41 seconds remaining for a 73-67 lead and adding two free throws with 16 seconds to play. Fernandez came into the game averaging 5.8 points. His previous high was 15 points.