The Temple College men's basketball team traveled to Farmers Branch on Wednesday for a non-conference tilt with the Dallas College Brookhaven Bears.

TC's 13-2 run early in the game set in motion an intense fast-paced game that featured an 18-7 rally by Brookhaven by the middle of the first half. The Leopards took a five-point lead late in the first half that they did not relinquish as Temple downed the Bears, 82-73.

Joel Brown scored the first basketball for TC 50 seconds in to tie the game at 2-2.

Following a made free-throw by Julian Ortiz, the Leopards were set on setting the tempo. Harry Bates threw down a dunk and converted a free-throw that sparked the 13-2 run. Roy Gardner's three-pointer from the left corner and emphatic dunk, Jaymes Brown-Peterson's field goal and free-throw, and Bates' second field goal of the streak with 16:39 to go in the half gave the Leopards a 15-5 advantage.

The Bears answered with a 17-4 stretch over a period of 3:37 to take a 22-19 lead. Marlon Linton hit a pair of three-pointers, Brandon Webber and Jordan Jones popped a pair of field goals, and Jeremy Roman chipped in a basket during the stretch.

Temple trailed by six points with 9:13 to play in the first-half when they steadily put together a 22-11 run to end the first half. Gardner, Brown-Peterson, Bates, Jonty Kells, Josh Telfort, and Jason Ward combined in the rally, with Ward having drilled a three-pointer from the right corner with 1:58 to go in the half. The Leopards led at halftime, 45-40.

The Leopards extended their lead to 13 points with 9-0 run over a 2:02 span. Telfort, Ovie Agbigbe, and Byron Piper were the contributors in the run, as Temple led Brookhaven with 16:10 to play, 57-44.

The battling Bears continued to fight back, as Roman, Kaden Spoon, and Anshuman Deora hit baskets to keep Brookhaven close in the middle stretch of the second half.

Temple found another gear, as they used a 7-1 run over 3:40 to extend their lead to 14 points, 74-60, with 4:51 to play.

Brookhaven posted a final stretch run, with a 9-4 march over the final 3:02. However, it was too big a hole, as the Leopards claimed the nine-point win.

The Leopards shot 14-of-27 from the free-throw line and five three-pointers.

Gardner had 17 points to lead the Leopards. Ward and Telfort each scored 14 points, and Bates added 11.

Temple College will travel to Corsicana on Friday to take on Navarro College in non-conference battle, and returns home host Dallas College Cedar Valley on Monday (Nov. 10) at Kirby Johnson Court.