Villanova Takes City Opener

Temple’s defending champions lost the opening Big Five game to Villanova 91-69, at the Palestra last night.

Temple tried desperately to defend its championship and break a four-game losing streak but was no match for the taller Wildcats. The Owls were a shadow of the team which breezed past all Big Five competitors last year. The closest any local team got was La Salle, which bowed, 71-61, to the Owls.

The Mainliners (5-0) jumped off to a 10-2 lead in the first four minutes of the contest and were never headed. After equalizing two-pointers by Villanova’s Jim Kenny and Temple’s Bernie Ivens, the Wildcats scored eight straight points to take the lead as John Driscoll, Kenny, Joe Ryan, and George Raveling hit for two-pointers.

The Owls couldn’t get closer during the game as both teams traded bucket after bucket to make the first half score, 44-34, in favor of the Wildcats. Temple’s All-American candidate Bill Kennedy was held to one field goal in the first half as Villanova’s Jimmy Huggard pickled “Pickles.”

With 15 minutes left to play in the game, Villanova outscored Temple 15-17 in the next five minutes to take a 71-51 lead and ice the game.

Ryan and Kenny paced the Mainliners with 23 counters apiece while Raveling, Driscoll, and Huggard added 13, 12, and 11 points respectively.