Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
2-6
Binghamton
4-3
Bucknell Men's Basketball Holds off Binghamton
12/9/2008 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 9, 2008
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Freshman Brian Cohen had 16 points and six rebounds, but it was his defensive play on Binghamton scoring whiz D.J. Rivera in the game's waning seconds that punctuated Bucknell's 63-60 victory on Tuesday night at Sojka Pavilion in the final game before final exams for both teams. The Bison forced Binghamton into 0-for-16 shooting from 3-point range and snapped a three-game losing streak heading into an 11-day layoff.
Patrick Behan added 15 points, six rebounds and three assists, and point guard Darryl Shazier had 11 points, six rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals in 36 minutes despite playing with a tender hamstring. G.W. Boon pitched in nine points and a career-high nine rebounds for the Bison, who never trailed in the game and led for the final 35:03 of the game, despite some nervous moments at the end of both halves.
The Bison (2-6) won despite getting only one field goal and five points from leading scorer Justin Castleberry, but the senior did knock down two critical free throws to make it a 3-point game with 3.9 seconds left.
The Bearcats (4-3), who came in with a three-game winning streak that included a 10-point road win over Rutgers on Saturday, were led by Rivera's 21 points, one more than his America East-leading average. Reggie Fuller added 17 points and Malik Alvin had 12.
The Bison started the game 6-for-8 from 3-point range, with Cohen going 3-for-3 in that stretch, but Binghamton reduced their 14-point lead down to two (35-33) by halftime.
Bucknell never relinquished its lead, though. Behan had six points and two assists in the first 6:20 of the second half, his jumper extending the lead back to 10 at 47-37. But those would be Bucknell's last points for more than five minutes, with Fuller's layup bringing Binghamton within a single point at 47-46 with 9:13 to play.
Cohen made two free throws to end the drought, igniting a 7-0 run. Castleberry followed with his only bucket of the night, a short jumper after Boon's offensive rebound and dish. Then at the 7:27 mark Shazier canned Bucknell's only 3-pointer of the second half to make it 54-46.
Inside five minutes to play Shazier found Enoch Andoh cutting to the basket, then Shazier grabbed a long rebound off a Cohen missed 3-pointer and drove to the basket to make it an eight-point game once again at 58-50.
The Bison had a possession to go back up by double digits, but Andoh was stripped on the low block, leading to a fastbreak layup by Rivera. Alvin's driving layup made it 58-54 with 2:00 to play, then Rivera intercepted Shazier's pass, drove the length of the floor and missed a contested layup. But Fuller was there for the put-back while drawing a foul. He missed the free throw, but it was a 58-56 game with 1:21 to play.
Castleberry made 1 of 2 from the line with 1:10 left, but Dwayne Jackson made a jumper in the lane to make it 59-58 with 54 seconds left.
Bucknell ran about 28 seconds off the shot clock before Shazier missed a 17-foot jumper at the top of the key, and Binghamton grabbed the rebound and called timeout with 23 seconds left.
The Bearcats went to their best player, Rivera, who tried to drive down the left side of the lane. He pulled up and tried to lean into Cohen, who got a piece of his well-contested shot. The ball went out of bounds off a Binghamton player, and the Bearcats fouled Cohen on the inbounds.
The freshman came into the game shooting only 46.2 percent from the foul line, but this time he made both shots with 12 seconds left to make it 61-58. Bucknell gave Jackson a layup at the other end, then Castleberry made two more from the line to restore the 3-point margin.
Needing their first 3-pointer of the night to extend the game, Alvin came up empty from deep on the right side as time expired.
Shazier, Behan and Boon all hit 3-pointers in a 16-4 first-half run that put the Bison in front 33-19. The lead might have been larger had it not been for a 5-for-13 showing from the free-throw line in the first half. Binghamton scored 12 straight in one four-minute stretch and finished the half on a 14-2 run to get within two at the break. Cohen's drive to the basket with 1:16 left was Bucknell's only field goal in the final 6:14 of the half.
After the shaky first-half free-throw shooting, the Bison came back to hit 11 of 12 from the line in the second half. Bucknell had been outscored 29-9 from the line in its last two games, but in this one they got to the line 25 times compared to 10 for Binghamton and outscored the Bearcats 16-6 from the stripe.
Bucknell shot 42.6 percent from the field, compared to 39.7 percent for Binghamton. The Bearcats had a slim 38-36 edge on the glass.
The Bucknell victory came in the first-ever meeting between the two teams, and the Bison won their last game heading into final exams for the eighth time in the last nine years.
Bucknell returns to action on Saturday, Dec. 20 against Drexel at 5 p.m. The Dirk Sojka Slam Dunk with Bison Basketball event will be held that night, and the game will be televised by SPORTSFever and aired live on Fox 56 in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, WHP digital channel 21.2 (Comcast 249) in Harrisburg-Lancaster-York; and WTVE in Philadelphia/Lehigh Valley.
