The Temple College Leopards men's basketball team looked to stay atop the North Texas Junior College Athletic Conference standings on Wednesday, as they hosted the Grayson College Vikings at Kirby Johnson Court.

Grayson held a 14-point lead prior to the halfway point of the first half before the Leopards ratcheted up their defense and forced an abundance of turnovers to take a 16-point of their own and held on to down the Vikings, 74-66.

The Vikings shot out to an 11-2 advantage 3:24 into the game, and extended the lead 14 points, 24-10, with under 11 minutes remaining in the opening half.

Temple (14-5, 3-0 NTJCAC) began to pressure the Vikings in the backcourt, and the Leopards cashed in on the turnover. The Leopards took their first lead near the four-minute mark, 31-30. Temple led Grayson at halftime, 39-36.

The full-court pressure continued into the second half for the Leopards, as they held the Vikings without a basket for the opening 5:33 of the half.

Temple led 58-42 with 10:59 to go when the Vikings a push that the Leopards endured over the final 11 minutes to secure the eight-point win.

The Leopards went 13-of-22 from the free-throw line and had just three baskets from beyond the arc.

Josh Telfort led all scorers with 22 points, which included 4-of-6 from the charity stripe. Jonty Kells scored a career-high 14 points, and Camren Roper added nine.

Temple will travel to Hillsboro on Saturday to take on Hill College at 4 pm.