AMHERST, Mass. - A huge second half propelled UMass past Atlantic 10 rival Temple, 88-77 on Saturday afternoon in the Mullins Center. The Minutemen had four players in double-figures led by senior center Rashaun Freeman (Schenectady, N.Y.) and senior forward Stephane Lasme (Libreville, Gabon) who combined for 42 points. After Temple led at halftime, UMass used a 23-to-10 run during the second half and led by as many as 17 points.

With the win UMass improves to 13-4 overall and 3-0 in the A-10, while Temple falls to 6-9 overall and 0-3 in the league. The win total for the Minutemen equals all of last season (13-15 overall) which was Travis Ford's first at UMass. It also made UMass 3-0 in the league for the first time since the 1997-98 season when the Minutemen started 8-0.

Freeman and Lasme each scored 21 points and pulled down 11 and 10 rebounds, respectively, to lead the Minutemen. Lasme had a monster second half with 17 points, six rebounds and six blocked shots.

Junior Gary Forbes (Brooklyn, N.Y.) scored 18 points on the strength of five three-pointers, posted seven rebounds and handed out four assists, while senior James Life (Fort Myers, Fla.) scored 16 points and handed out four assists as well. Point guard Chris Lowe (Mount Vernon, N.Y.) rounded out the day with nine points and six assists to just two turnovers.

The Owls were led by Dionte Christmas who scored a game-high 23 points. Mark Tyndale had 19 points, while Dustin Salisbery and Dion Dacons each finished with 14 and 11 points, respectively.

UMass held a significant size advantage over Temple which translated into a 40-to-26 advantage in the paint and a 23-to-8 edge in second chance points. The Minutemen held a 43-to-24 margin in rebounding for the game.

Temple led at halftime as Salisbery hit two three-pointers to bookend a 11-to-5 run in the final 3:51. His second trey went in with just three seconds remaining to give the Owls a 45-40 halftime lead.

UMass opened the second half with an 8-to-0 run to go up 48-45 just two minutes into the frame. Coming out of the intermission it was clear that UMass was going to pound the inside which led to Lasme's 17-point production. He finished the game shooting 9-for-10 from the floor.

The Owls pulled back even at 50 each with 17:08 to go on a three-pointer from Dacons. Forbes responded at the other end with a three-pointer to kick-off a 23-to-10 run which solidified the game for UMass.

Christmas hit a lay-up with 7:29 to play cutting the lead to nine points, 76-67, but the Minutemen went on another run highlighted by a Lowe three-pointer. UMass took its largest lead of the game, 17 points, on a Lasme put-back with 5:28 to go.

Temple rallied once again closing the gap to seven points, 84-77, with 1:34 remaining, but a Lasme dunk and two Life free throws prevented them from getting any closer.

UMass shot just over 51 percent from the floor for the game, while the Owls shot 46.6 percent. In the second half, the Minutemen shot 64.3 percent hitting 18-of-28 shots. Free throw shooting hurt UMass in the first half as they hit just 7-for-20 from the stripe compared to 13-for-15 for Temple. The Minutemen finished the game shooting 13-for-28 from the line.

The Minutemen head to Cincinnati this Thursday, Jan. 18, to face Xavier at 7 p.m. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN and also available in ESPN-HD. Xavier is the defending Atlantic 10 Championships after winning the league tournament last season.