Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
1-4
Yale
1-3
Big Second Half Lifts Bison Men's Basketball to 72-57 Win at Yale
11/25/2006 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 25, 2006
NEW HAVEN, Conn. - In front of a decidedly pro-Bucknell crowd some 250 miles from home, the Bison men's basketball team received 16 points from Donald Brown and a big game from reserve guard Justin Castleberry in a 72-57 victory over Yale at the John J. Lee Amphitheater on Saturday afternoon. Bucknell pocketed its first victory of the season after opening with four straight tough losses, while Yale dropped its third straight and fell to 1-3.
John Griffin broke out of a 4-for-26 shooting slump by making all three of his 3-point tries and scored 14 points. Chris McNaughton had 13 points, and Castleberry, a sophomore who had six career points to his credit coming in, finished with 11 points in 18 productive bench minutes.
Bucknell's starting five went 21-for-31 from the field and the team shot 56.1 percent from the floor and 87.5 percent from the free-throw line. The Bison outscored Yale 21-3 from the stripe, including a 9-for-9 showing in the final 2:29 to put the contest away.
Bucknell broke this one open in the second half with an efficient offensive performance and the outstanding free throw shooting down the stretch. After leading by only two at halftime, the Bison outscored the Bulldogs 41-28 over the final 20 minutes, making 12 of 19 from the field and 15 of 16 from the charity stripe.
Bucknell repeatedly pounded the ball inside in the second half, scoring 10 of its 12 field goals in the paint and turning several other inside looks into free-throw chances. In the first eight minutes of the half the Bison outscored Yale 16-5. During that span they got two layups off inbounds plays under the basket, the second from McNaughton giving them a 39-34 lead and starting a run of 10 straight points.
The Bison went up by 13 at 47-34 when Castleberry sent a long look-ahead pass to Brown, who made a tough finish while drawing a foul for a 3-point play.
After Eric Flato's 3-pointer brought Yale within eight at 49-41, the Bison scored seven straight to go back up by 15. Griffin hit a three from the top of the key, then Badmus tracked down a loose ball and fed Brown for a breakaway jam, and Mastropaolo scored inside on yet another inbounds play to make it 56-41 with 6:46 left.
Brown had another dunk of a nice feed from Badmus to answer a 7-2 Yale run, and the Bulldogs got as close as nine on another Flato 3-pointer with 2:13 to play.
Griffin induced the final dagger moments later, though, when he connected on a long 3-pointer while getting knocked to the floor on the left wing. He converted the rare 4-point play to make it 66-53 with 1:37 left. Castelberry, Griffin and Badmus all made pairs of free throws in the final 1:22 to seal the 15-point win.
The first half featured a pair of runs from both teams before the Bison went to the locker room with a 31-29 lead. Yale utilized a 10-2 run, with all the points coming inside five feet, to take an early 12-7 lead. Bucknell took the opposite tact in responding with an 11-2 run. Three-pointers from Jason Vegotsky, Griffin and Castleberry helped the Bison go up 18-14 just inside the halfway mark of the first period.
After Castleberry's trey, which was the first of his career, Bucknell went nearly four minutes without a field goal while the Bulldogs went on an 8-1 spurt to go back in front 22-19. But Brown's hanging layup started a 10-0 Bison surge. Badmus converted an open-court layup after a Mastropaolo steal, and Castleberry sandwiched four free throws around McNaughton's tip-in of Patrick Behan's missed 3-pointer. That gave the Bison their largest lead of seven points at 29-22 with 1:59 left in the half, but Ed White's 22-foot 3-pointer in the final 30 seconds helped Yale close within two at the break.
Castleberry had scored all six of his career points during his freshman year, but he had seven points in the first half alone.
Bucknell outrebounded Yale 31-24 and had a positive assist-turnover ratio (18-17). Badmus, who had been experiencing some turnover problems early in the season, had four assists without a miscue. In fact, Badmus, Griffin and Castleberry, who handled the bulk of the ballhandling duties for the Bison, combined for eight assists and only two turnovers.
Flato, Yale's leading scorer, led the Bulldogs with 15 points, one below his season average. He was 6-for-17 from the field and 3-for-11 from 3-point range. Casey Hughes also reached double figures with 13 points.
Bucknell defeated Yale for the third straight season and won its fifth straight against Ivy League competition.
The announced holiday-weekend crowd of 1,821 featured large chunks of orange shirts scattered throughout the arena, and the Bison received a loud ovation as they left the court.
Bucknell plays its fourth straight road game on Wednesday at Saint Francis (Pa.).
