The Temple College basketball team had their sights set on Saturday's game with Weatherford College at Kirby Johnson Court with visions of clinching a North Texas Junior College Athletic Conference playoff spot and staying above the charging pack of teams behind them.
In a rollercoaster ride of a game, Temple bounced back from an early Weatherford run, held a 20-point lead in the second half, was caught with 5:49 to go, and outlasted the Coyotes with a 9-5 finish to hold on for a 79-75 win.
The victory lifted Temple to 8-4 in conference play, having opened a two-and-a-half game lead over Ranger College in fourth place and three-and-a-half game lead over fifth-place Grayson. The Leopards trail Grayson by one-half game for second and two-and-half games behind MCC for the top spot.
Temple started the game with a 5-2 lead inside the game's first 2:40.
The Coyotes scored 14 unanswered points over the next 3:18 to take a 16-5 lead with 13:22 remaining in the first half.
The Leopards responded with a 17-6 run of their own to tie the game at 22-22 with 4:57 to go in the half. Temple then outscored the Coyotes 14-7 down the stretch to take a seven-point lead into the locker room, 36-29.
Temple opened the second half on a 10-0 run over the first 5:06 of the half, and opened a 20-point lead, 55-35, with 13:20 to play in regulation.
Over a stretch of 5:05, the Coyotes went on a 29-9 run to tie the game at 64-64 with 5:49 to go.
With the score tied 72-72, Ovie Agbigbe's three-pointer gave Temple the lead for good, and Jaymes Brown-Peterson and Jason Ward each hit a pair of free-throws to clinch to game.
Temple shot an impressive 26-of-31 from the free-throw line, and eight different players made three-pointers.
Harry Bates led the Leopards with 15 points, Agbigbe chipped in 13, and Brown-Peterson added ten.
Weatherford converted 14-of-19 foul shots and hit two three-pointers.
Jel Malek led all scorers with 20 points, and Josiah Coleman added 14 points for the Coyotes.
Temple will travel to Terrell for their last road trip of the regular season as they take on Southwestern Christian College.