Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
1-3
Old Dominion
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Paulsen, Bison Collect First Win in 83-82 Double-Overtime Thriller over Old Dominion
11/25/2008 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 25, 2008
Box Score | Photo Gallery 
| Bucknell-Old Dominion Highlights
LEWISBURG, Pa. -- The Bucknell men's basketball team was not having much luck in overtime this season, so on Tuesday night against Old Dominion the Bison tried their hand at double-overtime. This time it worked out, as Justin Castleberry scored a career-high 31 points, including an acrobatic go-ahead layup with 15 seconds to play in a wild 83-82 victory at Sojka Pavilion.
The first Bucknell victory for new head coach Dave Paulsen came on the heels of back-to-back overtime losses to Boston University and Saint Francis (Pa.). The Bison played a third straight overtime contest for the first time in school history.
Castleberry connected on 9 of 16 shots from the field, 5 of 11 from 3-point range and 8 of 9 from the foul line en route to his first career 30-point game. He also had five rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Point guard Darryl Shazier, a Newport News, Va., native who had played AAU ball with four Old Dominion players, just missed Bucknell's first-ever triple-double. Shazier finished with 14 points, nine rebounds and nine assists - all career highs. Patrick Behan chipped in 16 points and eight rebounds and Bryan Cohen added 21 points and nine boards for the Bison, who avenged a 10-point loss to the Monarchs in last season's BracketBusters matchup.
Center Gerald Lee led Old Dominion with 26 points, including two big 3-pointers in the second overtime period, his first two treys of the season. Frank Hassell added 20 points and 11 rebounds, while Kent Bazemore scored 10 off the bench for the Monarchs (1-2), who were picked third in the Colonial Athletic Association preseason poll.
For the second straight home game, the Bison had a great first half, shooting 51.9 percent from the floor on the way to a 37-29 halftime lead.
Castleberry's 3-pointer 1:22 into the second half gave the Bison their largest lead of 11 points at 42-31, but Old Dominion switched to a zone defense and eventually cooled Bucknell off. A 10-0 run keyed by three Hassell baskets cut the lead to one, and at the 11:05 mark Lee made a layup to give the Monarchs their first lead since the opening moments of the game. That would be one of 21 lead changes on the night.
Shazier's long right-corner jumper with 50 seconds left in regulation gave the Bison a 69-68 lead, but Hassell tied it with a free throw with 37 seconds left. Bucknell played for the final shot, but Hassell stripped Shazier in the lane with eight seconds left. At the other end Jonathan Adams missed a three and Hassell grabbed the offensive rebound at the rim, but Behan blocked his put-back attempt as time expired.
Cohen's 3-pointer gave Bucknell a 74-73 lead with 3:14 left in the first overtime, but those would be its final points of the period. Lee's free throw with 1:07 left tied it at 74. Behan missed a jumper with 49 seconds left, but James missed a three at the other end and Castleberry rebounded. Again playing for the last shot, Cohen was just long on a 3-point attempt just before the buzzer.
Bucknell led by two twice early in the second overtime, but both leads were answered by 3-pointers from Lee, who had attempted only one from the arc all season at that point. Hassell's free throws with 1:47 left gave Old Dominion an 82-79 lead, but those would prove to be the Monarchs' final points of the night.
Castleberry was fouled in the lane with 1:26 left and made both to pull Bucknell within one, then the Bison survived a missed jumper by James and two put-back attempts. Behan finally rebounded and passed to Castleberry, who flew all the way to the basket and spun in a hanging reverse layup before crashing to the floor.
Old Dominion called time out with 12 seconds left, but Adams missed a jumper and Castleberry corralled the long rebound as time expired.
Eight of the 21 lead changes came in the two overtime periods.
Old Dominion came into the game a +12 in rebounding margin on the season, but the Bison outrebounded them 45-42. Five different Bucknell players grabbed at least five rebounds, including Cohen, who hauled in all nine of his in the first half and just missed his first double-double.
The Bison had 15 assists against a season-low 11 turnovers, while Old Dominion had 15 helpers and only eight turnovers in well-played game by both sides.
The Bison shot 46.4 percent overall and made 12 of 15 free throws after struggling in that area in their first three games. Old Dominion was 21-for-29 from the line and shot 37 percent from the floor. Both teams were 7-for-21 from 3-point distance.
The victory was Bucknell's first in three tries against Old Dominion, and the Bison improved to 105-75 against teams that currently make up the CAA.
Bucknell will take a day off for the Thanksgiving holiday, then return to action on Saturday night at home against Wagner. Tip-off is 7 p.m. at Sojka Pavilion.
