Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
3-9
St. Bonaventure
8-4
| Team | 1 | 2 | OT 1 | OT 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Bonaventure | 34 | 31 | 13 | 12 | 90 |
| Bucknell | 20 | 45 | 13 | 4 | 82 |
Bucknell Drops Double-Overtime Heartbreaker to St. Bonaventure, 90-82
12/30/2008 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 30, 2008
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Down by 18 early and by 14 at the half, Bucknell staged a spirited second-half rally, only to go home frustrated after letting some late chances get away in a 90-82 double-overtime loss to St. Bonaventure on Tuesday night at Sojka Pavilion. Justin Castleberry scored a game-high 23 points and Bryan Cohen added 19, but the Bison fell to 3-9 on the season after having chances to win at the end of regulation and the first overtime.
Now 8-4, St. Bonaventure got 22 points, eight rebounds and nine blocked shots from freshman center Andrew Nicholson along with 18 points from Chris Matthews, 17 from Jonathan Hall and 16 from Ray Blackburn.
The Bison made only 6 of 27 (.222) first-half shots, fell behind 31-13 16:11 into the game and 34-20 at the half. But they hit 7 of 12 3-pointers after halftime and came all the way back, even taking the lead in the final minute.
G.W. Boon's 3-pointer three minutes into the half brought Bucknell within single digits at 38-30, and Cohen hit a 3-pointer at the 14:46 mark that capped a 12-2 run and made it 40-35. The Bonnies went back up by nine at 52-43 on Mathews' trey, but Castleberry and Boon both canned threes on consecutive possessions to cap a 12-4 run and bring the Bison within a point at 56-55.
St. Bonaventure stretched the lead back to five at the three minute mark on Hall's driving layup, but Bucknell had another charge left. Cohen's 3-pointer from the right corner off a nice diagonal feed from Castleberry made it 62-60. The Bison then played almost 70 seconds of defense as St. Bonaventure drained the shot clock, grabbed an offensive rebound of a missed 3-pointer then whittle the clock again. But point guard Darryl Shazier blocked Blackburn's jumper, and Boon drove the lane for a layup at the other end to knot the game at 62-all with 1:24 to play.
Cohen then poked the ball away from Hall for another defensive stop, and at the other end the Bison freshman buried a wide-open 3-pointer from the left corner to give Bucknell its first lead since it was 4-2.
Blackburn made 1 of 2 at the line to make it a 65-63 game, then Castleberry got trapped in the corner on the inbounds and was tied up, with the possession arrow favoring the Bonnies. Hall's layup with 23 seconds left tied it at 65, and Behan missed a running bank shot from the right side as time expired.
The Bison started hot in the first overtime, as Castleberry opened with a 3-pointer, then Cohen's steal turned into a Shazier breakaway layup and a 70-65 lead. Hall's jumper made it 70-67, then a frustrating play for Bucknell shifted the momentum. Boon drove the lane, scored and got fouled, but the basket was waved off as the foul was ruled on the floor. Boon then missed both free throws and Hall converted a 3-point play at the other end to tie the game at 70.
Bucknell led four more times in the final 2:36 of the first overtime, but each time St. Bonaventure answered. The Bison's last lead was at 78-76 on Castleberry's layup in traffic with 14 seconds left. At the other end, Blackburn ran over Shazier on the perimeter, but the call was a block, and Blackburn made two clutch free throws with nine seconds left to tie it again. In the waning seconds Behan missed a 3-pointer from the right side and Zach Evans, who had a big put-back earlier in overtime, had his tip attempt bounce off the rim and out as the buzzer sounded.
St. Bonaventure outscored Bucknell 12-4 in the second overtime, as the tiring Bison made only 2 of 10 shots. With the game tied at 80, Blackburn put the Bonnies up with a spinning shot in the lane, then the Bison missed their next four shots and the visitors took control from the free throw line. After making only 12 of 24 free throws in regulation, St. Bonaventure made 8 of 10 in the second overtime and 13 of 15 after the end of regulation.
Bucknell attempted 21 more shots (84-63) than St. Bonaventure, but the Bonnies made two more field goals and outscored Bucknell 25-14 from the foul line, where the Bison struggled. Bucknell was 29 of 84 from the field (.345), 10 of 30 (.333) from the 3-point arc and 14 of 26 (.538) from the line. Guards Cohen, Boon and Castleberry combined to go just 3-for-11 from the foul line.
Behan added 12 points for Bucknell and Boon had nine points, nine rebounds and four assists. The Bison had 15 assists and only 11 turnovers in the game, with only four turnovers in the 30 minutes following halftime.
St. Bonaventure had a 48-46 edge in rebounds and shot 49.2 percent for the game. Nicholson's nine blocks were a Sojka Pavilion record, as was St. Bonaventure's 90 points.
It was Bucknell's fourth overtime game of the season, two of which were double overtime contests. The Bison are 1-3 in those games and are now 3-3 at home this season.
Bucknell is back in action on Jan. 3 at Ohio University.
