Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
0-3
Saint Francis (PA)
1-3
Bucknell Men's Basketball Drops Second Straight in Overtime, 69-59 at Saint Francis (Pa.)
11/22/2008 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 22, 2008
LORETTO, Pa. - For the second time in four days the Bucknell men's basketball team fell in overtime, this time by a 69-59 margin at Saint Francis (Pa.). Freshman Bryan Cohen scored a career-high 22 points, but the Red Flash outscored the Bison 34-9 from the free-throw line, including a 19-for-22 showing from the line in overtime.
Bucknell rallied from a 10-point second-half deficit to force overtime, but four missed free throws in the final five minutes may have prevented a winning result. The Bison (0-3) were 9-for-17 from the line, while Saint Francis was 34-for-39.
Mislav Jukic scored 19 points on 8-for-10 shooting to lead Saint Francis (1-3). Jukic has seven big points and a steal in the overtime period. Devin Sweetney added 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Cale Nelson added 14, all from the free-throw line.
Bucknell's early season offensive struggles continued, as the Bison shot only 33.3 percent from the field in the game. The offense was not helped by some foul trouble on leading scorer Justin Castleberry, who played sparingly in the second half after picking up his fourth foul, then he fouled out with 2:40 left in regulation and the Bison trailing by four. Castleberry finished with 10 points in 22 minutes.
The Bison missed four shots and turned the ball over twice on their first six possessions of overtime, and the Red Flash opened the extra period with nine straight points. Jukic tallied seven of those, and Nelson's free throws at the 1:33 mark gave the hosts a 57-48 lead.
Zach Evans made his first career 3-pointer to end the drought and bring Bucknell back to 57-51, but Kyle Jackson answered with two free throws and the Red Flash cleaned things up at the free-throw line to hand former Bucknell assistant Don Friday his first win as Saint Francis' head coach.
Down eight with 6:45 left in regulation, Cohen hit a 3-pointer to trigger the Bucknell comeback. Cohen hit another trey with 3:20 left to make it a 44-42 game. Steve Profeta made two free throws at the 2:58 mark to make it 46-42, but the Bison scored five straight to take the lead.
Patrick Behan had two steals and a go-ahead jumper with a minute to play, and the Bison had a 47-46 lead. Sweetney was fouled trying to make a baseline spin at the other end, and he made both at the line to give the Red Flash a 48-47 lead with 45 seconds left. After a Bison timeout, Cohen drove the lane and was fouled, with his shot just falling off the rim with 19 seconds left. But Cohen made only 1 of 2 from the stripe, and Saint Francis missed two contested shots in the closing seconds to set up overtime.
Bucknell trailed 21-20 at the half but missed its first 11 field-goal attempts of the second half, and Saint Francis took advantage. The Red Flash outscored the Bison 11-1 in the first seven minutes of the half, with Sweetney's wild spinning shot in the lane giving them a 31-21 lead.
Bucknell finally got going when Cohen scored four seven points in a 10-2 run. Cohen made a baseline 19-footer, a pull-up in the lane and finally a 3-pointer at the 9:49 mark to make it a 33-31 game.
Nelson stopped the run by hitting three free throws after being fouled on a long jumper, and later Jukic hit his fourth inside bucket of the half to push the Saint Francis edge back to eight at 42-34 with 6:45 left, setting the stage for Bucknell's rally.
There were nine lead changes and three ties in a tightly contested first half that saw frosty shooting from both sides. Bucknell was 8-for-27 (.296) from the field and Saint Francis was 7 for-24 (.292) in the opening half, and neither team was able to muster a lead of more than four points.
Bucknell managed just two field goals in the final 10 minutes of the half but trailed by only one at 21-20 because the Red Flash made only two buckets in the final 13 minutes.
Eleven of Bucknell's first 15 field goal attempts came from 3-point range before the Bison began looking inside later in the half. They didn't get to the free-throw line in the opening 20 minutes, however, and made only 4 of 14 shots inside the arc.
Saint Francis shot 35.6 percent from the field and outrebounded the Bison 42-37.
Bucknell is back in action on Tuesday night at home against Old Dominion. Tip-off is 7 p.m. at Sojka Pavilion.
