Having confidence in his players’ ability and maturity, Johnson also knew they could handle any challenges Weatherford threw at them.
So even though TC had leads of 15 points in the first half and 13 in the second get erased, the 16th-ranked Leopards were resilient enough to deal the Coyotes their first conference defeat and stop their 16-game winning streak.
J.B. Conley scored 23 points and played strong defense on gifted scorer Edvinas Ruzgas late as Temple outplayed Weatherford down the stretch to seize a 101-96 victory Wednesday night at TC Gym, cutting the Coyotes’ conference lead to a single game.
“Our guys played hard tonight and this was a character-builder for us,” said Temple coach Kirby Johnson, whose team moved to 22-2 overall and 6-2 in the Northern Texas Junior College Athletic Conference.
“We had an early lead and let it get away, then we stretched it out and they came back again. But that’s what I’m pleased with - our team does a good job of playing through runs. They (Weatherford) are a good team, a playoff team.”
Lithuanian sharpshooter Ruzgas - who had 44 points in his previous game - and Oklahoma State transfer Roderick Flemings scored 29 and 27 points, respectively, and shot a combined 23-of-28 on free throws for Weatherford (19-4, 7-1).
However, Temple kept them without a basket in the final 7½ minutes as the Leopards closed with an 18-12 run for the win.
“We hit our free throws down the stretch and we played very good defense in the last part,” Johnson said. “We went straight man-to-man with about 5 minutes left and J.B. wasn’t in foul trouble, so I told him, ‘Just stay with him.’
“Wes Dipprey also played good defense and Sean Jones (11 points) made a big difference off the bench.”
Chris Ellis scored 14 points, Thomas Anguiano had 13, Ervin Johnson added 11 and C.J. Richards dished out nine assists as Temple avenged its 103-88 loss at Weatherford one month ago.
After Jones scored off an Anguiano steal to put TC up 16-14, Conley, Dipprey and Johnson led a big surge that made it 39-24 with 6:25 left before halftime. Technical fouls on Ellis and Kirby Johnson and the well-rounded scoring of the 6-6 Ruzgas helped the Coyotes come back to trail only 49-45 at the half.
Consecutive three-point plays by Ruzgas and Flemings created a 51-51 tie, but then an Ellis 3-point shot and three-point plays by Conley and Jones and an Anguiano 3 highlighted a 14-1 outburst for a 65-52 TC lead with 16:40 remaining.
But starting about 5 minutes later, Weatherford again stormed back.
The Coyotes answered an Ellis three-point play with an 11-2 run paced by Ruzgas to grab an 84-83 lead on John Lane’s 3 with 5:57 left.
Still, Temple came up with the goods when it mattered most.
Anguiano buried a 3, Conley made three free throws and Ellis swooped in for a layup to put TC up 91-84 at the 3:35 mark.
The Leopards’ lead was sliced to 91-89 with 2:21 left, but Dipprey and Conley responded with back-to-back inside baskets before Richards drove for a hoop to make it 97-91 at the 1-minute mark. Dipprey then came up with a key steal at midcourt and made two free throws, and Anguiano sealed the win with two more.
“We said three games ago that we needed to beat Grayson, Collin and Weatherford to have any chance to catch Weatherford, and we’ve done that,” said Kirby Johnson, whose club - undefeated at home - will play at Hill at 4 p.m. Saturday. “What we have to do now is not slip up and give Weatherford any more breathing room.”
gwille@temple-telegram.com
