Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
5-5
Xavier
8-4
Pat Flannery's 300th Win Comes in Bucknell's Thrilling 68-67 Victory over Xavier
12/20/2006 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 20, 2006
CINCINNATI, Ohio - Pat Flannery's 300th coaching win turned out to be one of the most satisfying of his 18-year career. In front of over 10,000 fans at the Cintas Center on Wednesday night, Bucknell got 16 points from John Griffin and another game-winning 3-pointer from Jason Vegotsky in a nailbiting 68-67 win over Atlantic-10 favorite Xavier.
The Bison have made headlines over the last two-plus seasons for knocking off some of the nation's top teams on the road, and they added another feather against a Xavier team that was ranked in the top 25 two weeks ago before falling out with losses to Creighton and Cincinnati. The Musketeers, who won the A-10 last season and were picked first again this preseason, came in with an 8-3 record, including wins over Villanova and Arizona State.
Before falling to the Bison, Xavier had won 17 straight non-conference home games, with its last such loss coming on Dec. 18, 2004 against then-No. 20 Mississippi State. Now in their seventh season in the sparkling Cintas Center, the Musketeers had been 82-14 there overall and 44-4 against non-league foes.
The victory was Bucknell's fifth in the last six games, giving it a 5-5 record on the season. Since losing at home to Northern Iowa on Dec. 2, the Bison have beaten George Mason at a neutral site and Cornell and Xavier on the road.
Bucknell won this one with effective ball movement that led to an awesome shooting display, and a defense that confused Xavier at the start of the first half, then after the Musketeers made a late run, came up with two critical stops in the final minute.
Xavier had allowed opponents to shoot only 27.8 percent from 3-point range and 40.1 percent overall coming into the game, but the Bison hit one big shot after another and finished 11-for-21 from the arc (.524) while shooting 54.3 percent overall. Griffin hit four 3-pointers, including a critical launch that tied the game at 65-all with 1:47 left. Justin Castleberry hit three bombs off the bench, two in the second half, and finished with nine points. Even Chris McNaughton, who scored all 11 of his points in the second half, swished his first trifecta of the season.
Bucknell finished with a season-high 21 assists on 25 made field goals, led by a career-high six assists from Donald Brown, who also had 12 points and six rebounds. Griffin and Abe Badmus had five assists and only one turnover apiece.
While every shot proved clutch in a one-point final, Vegotsky eventually played the role of hero for the second straight game. Last time out against Cornell, he drilled a 3-pointer from the left corner with 46 seconds left to beat the Big Red. This time, from the identical spot on the floor, he gathered a pretty baseline feed from Abe Badmus and hit a three to give Bucknell the 68-67 lead with 1:26 left.
The Bison had to come up with two stops to win it after Vegotsky's trey. First, Justin Cage missed a contested jumper and McNaughton rebounded in traffic with 45 seconds left. At the other end McNaughton took a pass at the free throw line and had a clear lane to the basket, but he was called for traveling.
With the shot clock off, Xavier called timeout with 17 seconds left trailing by one. They isolated senior Justin Doellman on Darren Mastropaolo on the right wing, and Mastropaolo helped force the hard-charging Doellmen into a wild, off-balance attempt. Donald Brown rebounded and was fouled with 4.1 seconds left.
Brown missed the front-end of a 1-and-1, and Cage's desperation catch-and-shoot from 20 feet out was not close at the buzzer.
Xavier missed nine of its first 10 shots on the night against Bucknell's tricky defense. Meanwhile, the Bison hit four of their first six and eight of their first 12 en route to an early double-digit lead. Vegotsky hit a 3-pointer on Bucknell's first possession of the night, Griffin scored off an inbounds play and hit a three, and Brown scored in the paint to help stake the Bison to a quick 12-2 lead.
At the second media timeout the Musketeers still had only one field goal, and they didn't pick up their second of the night until Stanley Burrell (game-high 21 points) finished a 3-point play 9:36 into the game. Bucknell twice led by 11 points, first after a Castleberry 3-pointer made it 19-8 with 9:01 left in the half.
After Xavier pulled within six, Griffin hit a trey and Brown made two free throws to make it 27-16. The Musketeers finished the half on a 12-6 run to close within five at 33-28.
After not attempting a shot in the first half, McNaughton came alive after the break. On the second possession of the half he bulled his way through a double-team for a layup, then pulled up as the trailer in transition and knocked down his first 3-pointer of the season and third of his career to make it 38-28.
Xavier pulled within three after a quick 7-0 run five minutes into the half, and with the crowd alive Castleberry and Griffin hit back-to-back 3-pointers to push the lead back to nine at 51-42.
Later, Burrell tried to take the game over for Xavier. He scored seven points in a 9-4 spurt, with his back-to-back floaters making it a two-point game at 57-55 with 6:50 left. Again the Bison answered, this time with a Castleberry trey.
Xavier finally pulled ahead for the first time inside three minutes to play. Trailing 62-59, Doellman hit a pair of free throws to make it a one-point game, and the Musketeers took their first lead all night when Derrick Brown plowed through McNaughton for a layup with 2:28 left.
After a Bison turnover, point guard Drew Lavender was fouled driving to the basket and made both free throws to make it 65-62 with 1:56 left.
But again the Bison had a retort. Brown spotted Griffin coming off a curl on the right side and Griffin canned his fourth of the night from behind the arc, tying the game at 65 with 1:47 left. Lavender, the Oklahoma transfer who had been quiet offensively all night, drove it hard again and made his only field goal of the night while drawing a foul.
He missed the free throw, however, leaving the Bison with a two-point deficit. Just 11 seconds later, Badmus drove hard along the right baseline and skipped a bounce pass to Vegotsky on the weak side, and the sophomore knocked down his first field goal since the opening possession of the game.
In the first-ever meeting between the two teams, Bucknell outrebounded Xavier 27-23 and outscored them 33-18 from the arc.
In addition to Burrell's 21 points, Josh Duncan scored 15 and Brown had 13 off the bench. Doellman, a 1,000-point scorer who had just scored 19 points in the Musketeers' 18-point win over Arizona State, was held to one field goal in six attempts and four points before he fouled out.
Of Flannery's 300 wins, 205 have come with the Bison. The 1980 Bucknell alum became the 51st active head coach to reach the 300-win milestone.
Bucknell continues its Midwestern road swing on Saturday at Texas Tech. The Bison will be looking to prevent Red Raiders' coach Bobby Knight from tying Dean Smith's all-time wins record in a game that will be televised live on ESPN2 at 4:30 p.m. EST.
