"Home court advantage" has always been a double-edged sword for the men's basketball team. It plays extremely well at Rec Hall, but take it to another team's home and hope for the best.

Unfortunately for Penn State, Temple has as strong a home-court tradition as any team in the country. When the Lions visited McGonigle Hall last night, that tradition held out as the Owls extended their home court record to 119-10 with a 61-53 win over Penn State.

The Lions (16-6, 9-4 in the Atlantic 10) dropped two and a half games out of first place while the Owls (14-8, 12-2) put more of a hammerlock on that position.

"We did a good job on the defensive boards tonight," Coach Bruce Parkhill said. "But we can't even think about tonight anymore. That's what I told the guys after the game. They've got to get ready for the upcoming games. Hopefully our guys can bounce back against Rutgers."

Temple controlled the opening tip and scored the first basket as Mark Strickland slam dunked off an offensive rebound. Two minutes later the Owls were up 8-3 and wouldn't let the Lions get close to the ball.

The picture began to change with 16:05 remaining in the half, when Ed Fogell got the rebound of Monroe Brown's missed 3-point shot. Fogell dropped the shot in off the glass and was fouled by Mik Kilgore at the same time. Fogell canned the free throw and made the score 8-6, Temple.

From there the Lions went on an 11-2 run keyed by two 3-point bombs from Freddie Barnes. With just under 12 minutes remaining in the half, Penn State was up 16-10. The Owls remained close in the scoring column, but couldn't get their shots to drop when they needed them most.

As an added bonus, the Owls committed seven fouls to the Lions' three in the half. The one that helped the Lions most came with eight minutes left in the half. Strickland was called for pushing off on an offensive board. Not agreeing with the call, he mouthed off at the referee and was rewarded with a technical.

The score was 20-18 as Barnes stepped to the line to shoot the two technicals. He dropped them both. Penn State retained possession, and Barnes then converted on a spin move around Kilgore. The score: 24-18 in favor of the Lions, who would remain ahead going into halftime, 32-28.

"Penn State's one of the best teams we'll play all year," Temple coach John Chaney said. "They're one of the best rebounding teams we've played all year. They work you to death on the boards and they do an excellent job of boxing you out. Bruce has done an excellent job of drilling (his players) and coaching them."

The Lions' tough man-to-man defense held the Owls' field goal percentage to a poor 22 and allowed them to make only 2-of-12 3-point attempts. Penn State also beat Temple on the boards in the first half, 22-19.

Going into the game, the Lions were 14-0 when leading at halftime. From that point, the picture looked rosy. But as the second half began, it soon became clear that the Owls had found a solution to their shooting problems during the intermission.

"We changed defensively," Mark Macon said of what went on in the Owls' locker room at the half. "We were more aggressive and we came out smarter . . . but I'm not going to give away our (defensive) secrets."

The Owls returned to the floor shooting the lights out. Kilgore hit two consecutive 3-point shots. The shots had the same effect as Barnes' two treys in the first half. They sparked Temple to a 10-2 run in the first few minutes of the second half and Penn State never fully recovered from the blow.

"I thought Temple played a great second half," Parkhill said. "They deserve a lot of credit. (Donald) Hodge was very impressive. But we flat out made some mental mistakes."

Hodge was the Owls' high scorer of the night and the fourth starter to post double digits, finishing with 17. The replacement for Duane Causwell, who was recently declared academically ineligible for play, Hodge showed up on the inside every time the Owls needed a big bucket, or every time a Penn State rally got too close for the Owls' comfort.

"By Hodge making some good judgements in working his way to five or six feet from the basket, we were able to get the ball in to him and he was able to kick it out for outside shots in the second half," Chaney said. "Tonight Donald showed us more an and more of what he can do. Right now, on the floor, he makes us a better team."

Also keying the Owls' second-half comeback was Macon, Temple's All-American guard, who was shut down in the first half but went on a shooting streak after intermission. He finished with 15 points. Strickland finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Kilgore also had 12 points.

"Temple has a great combination," Parkhill said. "They've got great mobility this year and then they have the two big men inside. Our guys gave the effort and played hard. I'd like to play Temple again in the finals (of the A-10 Tournament)."