A late Temple run in the second half was too much for the Vikings to overcome in a hard fought 85-74 loss to Temple on Saturday, Feb. 14.
The Vikings battled for the entire game. Temple jumped out to an early 14-5 lead in the first half.
Farvens Ulysse was dominant all evening for the Vikings. He raced to scoop up the offensive rebound, laid it up and drew the foul. He sank the free throw to get the Viking offense going on an 11-3 run, as Gelonni Ervin finished at the rim to draw the Vikings within 17-16. The Vikings remained in striking distance, Judah Peña hit a three to draw within four, but Temple went on a 9-1 run to put the Vikings in a double digit deficit; trailing 36-24.
Jordan Williams came right back hitting a jumper and the Vikings hit some shots down the stretch of the first half, but faced a 48-37 halftime deficit.
The Vikings began the second half on a heater. Caleb Alcineus drove the lane and scored, Ulysse connected on some jump shots, Ervin hit a tough turnaround, Peña drove the lane and connected on a pull-up jumper to bring the Vikings within 56-49.
Grayson cut it to five on several different occasions in the second half. Alcineus had a nice catch and shoot jumper, Ulysse dominated on the glass, grabbing his own rebound and scoring to cut the lead to 70-65 with 5:46 to play. Alcineus's pull up jumper cut it to three, but Temple responded with a 12-4 run to ultimately put the game out of reach for Grayson.
Ulysse dominated for the Vikings, putting up a double-double with 23 points and 15 rebounds.  Alcineus had his third straight game with at least 20 points, finishing with 21 points. Peña finished with 11 points and eight rebounds. Ervin had 10 points and four assists for Grayson.
The Vikings will have a bye on Wednesday and will remain on the road this weekend taking on No. 19 McLennan. Tip-off from The Highlands is set for 4pm.