Temple 73, Lafayette 47

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) -- Temple easily won the matchup of matchup zones with a big assist from Pepe Sanchez. <br><br>Sanchez had a career-high 15 assists as the second-seeded Owls beat 15th-seeded Lafayette

Friday, March 17th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) -- Temple easily won the matchup of matchup zones with a big assist from Pepe Sanchez.

Sanchez had a career-high 15 assists as the second-seeded Owls beat 15th-seeded Lafayette 73-47 on Friday in the opening round of the East Regional of the NCAA tournament.

Temple (27-5) will play 10th-seeded Seton Hall, which beat seventh-seeded Oregon 72-71 in overtime, in Sunday's second round.

While Temple and Lafayette (24-7) both play the match up zone -- a 2-3 zone that involves a lot of man-to-man principles such as switching and helping -- the Owls played it a lot tougher with their superior size and quickness.
They took a 38-20 halftime lead and pulled away throughout the second half.

It was the eighth time this season Temple held an opponent to 20 or fewer points in the first half. The Owls are second in the nation in scoring defense at 55.4 points per game and third in field-goal percentage defense at 36.3.

They improved both numbers Friday as Lafayette shot 36 per cent(18-for-50).

Sanchez, whose previous best was 14 assists this season against George Washington, did not score, going 0-for-3 from the field. He made sure others scored, however, coming within one assist of the East Regional record set by Sam Crawford of New Mexico State in 1993 in the first round against Nebraska.

The NCAA tournament record is 18 by Mark Wade of UNLV in the 1987 national semifinal game against Indiana.

Sanchez came out of the game after getting his final assist with 4:09 to play and Temple leading 67-45.

Quincy Wadley led Temple with 17 points, while Mark Karcher had 15, Lynn Greer 13 and Kevin Lyde 12.

The victory was the 18th in the last 19 games for Temple, the Atlantic 10 regular-season and tournament champion.

This is Temple's 11th straight NCAA appearance and the 16th time it has made it in coach John Chaney's 18 seasons.

It was Temple's 23rd straight victory over Lafayette, with the Leopards' last win coming on Feb. 28, 1959.

Tyson Whitfield had 15 points and Brian Ehlers, the two-time conference player of the year, added 13 for Lafayette.

The Leopards, who won the Patriot League tournament and shared the regular-season title with Navy, had won nine straight games and 16 of 17. It was the second straight NCAA appearance for the Leopards, who ended a 42-year drought last season with a 75-54 first-round loss to Miami.

Temple is the last of the three Atlantic 10 teams remaining in the NCAA tournament. Dayton and St. Bonaventure lost Thursday.