No. 2 Duke Wins Preseason NIT

Every time No. 2 Duke huddled on the sidelines in Friday night's Preseason NIT championship game against Temple, coach Mike Krzyzewski couldn't help but notice Carlos Boozer.

"Carlos was animated in the timeouts," Krzyzewski said. "He wanted the ball."

Jason Williams made sure Boozer got it.

The two sophomores refused to let Duke lose, as the Blue Devils pulled out a 63-61 victory over a hardscrabble Temple team.

Williams hit the 3-pointer that put Duke in front for good with 2:05 to play, then scrambled to recover a loose ball for a crucial possession in the final minute. Boozer, who had 13 of his 26 points down the stretch and was named the tournament MVP, then scored the clinching basket with 17 seconds to play.

"We connected out there," said Boozer, who hit 10 of 14 shots. "We made great plays, played good defense. We got jump balls and we got loose balls. Those were key plays for us. Six points down with 2:40 to play, a lot of teams fold. Not us."

Temple's last gasp came as Lynn Greer went to the foul line with 1.6 seconds left. He made the first shot, then deliberately missed the second. The ball squirted out of bounds. That gave Temple another chance, but Kevin Lyde's wild shot was not close.

"We take pride in our defense," Williams said. "The D in Duke stands for defense."

Duke (4-0) won its first Preseason NIT championship since the inaugural event in 1985-86. Temple (4-1) was making its first appearance in the tourney's title game.

Texas/A> defeated Indiana 70-58 in the consolation game for third place.

Temple stayed with Duke through the first 20 minutes, fighting off the Blue Devils' pressure and applying plenty of its own with a tough matchup zone.

Duke's solution to the zone was to shoot from outside. Mike Dunleavy opened the game with a 3-pointer and reserve Chris Duhon nailed a pair of them.

Shane Battier hit a 3-pointer at the end of the half to give Duke a 31-29 lead and then connected with another at the start of the second half. Then Dunleavy hit one to break a 34-34 tie.

Shortly after that, Temple's 6-foot-10 Ron Rollerson was forced out of the game with his fourth personal foul, costing the Owls under the boards. Rollerson had three personals in the first eight minutes and sat out the rest of the first half.

Temple hung on, though, with Lyde taking over the heavy work inside. When Duke opened a seven-point lead at 41-34, Lyde scored four straight points, and a 3-pointer by Alex Wesby tied the score again. Then a goaltending call against Casey Sanders gave Temple the lead with just over 11 minutes to play.

Again, Duke went outside for a 3-pointer by Williams that put the Blue Devils back on top. Greer and Ronn Blackshear responded with 3-pointers that gave Temple the lead, one the Owls held through most of the last 10 minutes.

Williams had nine points and 10 assists for Duke. Greer led Temple with 15 points, while Lyde had 12 points and 10 rebounds.

"We feel very fortunate to win, not that we didn't earn it," Krzyzewski said. "I thought we earned it, but it was such an evenly matched game. You can look at the stats for everything and they are about the same for both teams. I think basically that is how the game went. Sometimes we played a little better than them and then they played a little better."

Now the two teams get to do it again in eight days at Philadelphia. Temple coach John Chaney rolled his eyes at the prospect of a rematch.

"I'm gonna get me a box of Tylenol next time," he said.

©2000 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed