Temple guard David Hawkins helped ensure that his coach celebrated his birthday in style. The senior captain put up 26 points for the second straight game and tied a career high in assists with eight in the Owls' 73-69 win over Penn on John Chaney's 72nd birthday.
Before the opening tipoff, Penn coach Fran Dunphy walked the Palestra's sideline to hand a birthday cake to his friend.
"I'm very happy for him in any success that he gets," Dunphy said. "He's a Hall of Fame coach and he's a Hall of Fame guy as well."
Hawkins began the game getting his teammates involved in the offense. Seven minutes into the game, the nation's seventh-leading scorer did not have a point, but already had four assists as Temple (6-8, 1-1 Big 5) held a 11-10 advantage.
However, his last assist was perhaps the most critical. Up by five with a minute and a half to play, Hawkins hit guard Dustin Salisbery in the lane on a fastbreak and the freshman emphatically slammed the ball to push the lead to 68-61.
For the rest of game, Penn (7-6, 1-3 Big 5) was forced to foul, and made Temple hit their free throws in order to secure the victory.
After Temple went 3-for-6 from the charity stripe in the game's final 40 seconds, the Quakers found themselves within six points with 10 seconds to play.
Junior Tim Begley -- the Red and Blue's leading scorer with 22 points -- hit a jumper from the top of the key, but had his foot on the three-point line. The call was confirmed by the officials using television replay and Penn remained down by two possessions at 73-69 with less than 4 seconds remaining.
The Quakers got the ball back after senior guard Charlie Copp forced a held ball with Hawkins and the possession arrow in Penn's favor. However, fellow senior's attempt to draw a foul on his three-point attempt was unsuccessful and the final buzzer gave the Chaney his 699th career victory.
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