Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
10-12, 5-3PL
Colgate
11-11, 3-5PL
Bucknell Rallies for Dramatic 91-85 Overtime Win at Colgate
2/6/2008 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 6, 2008
HAMILTON, N.Y. - John Griffin scored a career-high 31 points, Stephen Tyree had a career-high 16 points and nine rebounds, all after halftime, and Bucknell parlayed freshman Darryl Shazier's buzzer-beater at the end of regulation to a dramatic 91-85 victory over Colgate Wednesday night at Cotterell Court.
The Bison trailed by as many as 11 points in the second half and by eight with 3:15 to play, but rallied in crunch time to snap a two-game losing streak. Bucknell is now 10-12 overall, 5-3 in the Patriot League, and moved back within a half-game of first-place Lafayette in the league standings.
Justin Castleberry and Darren Mastropaolo scored 10 points each, and Bucknell got big lifts from freshmen Shazier and G.W. Boon. Shazier had seven points, including the dramatic shot at the end of regulation and another go-ahead jumper in overtime. Boon hit two big 3-pointers and scored eight points.
Bucknell went 6-for-7 from the floor in overtime and shot 52.6 percent overall. Griffin had eight of his points in overtime and became the first Bison to score 30 points in a game since Kevin Bettencourt had 42 at Saint Francis on Dec. 6, 2003.
Colgate (11-11, 3-5), which had its two-game winning streak snapped, had six players score in double figures, led by Daniel Waddy's 16 points. Tim Pounds scored 14 points, Kendall Chones and Mike Venezia had 13 each, and Alex Woodhouse and Kyle Roemer had 10 each.
The lead changed hands on the first 10 baskets of the overtime period, starting with Roemer's baseline layup. The Bison trailed 82-80 when Griffin hit a 3-pointer, but Boon was called for a hold on a loose ball in the corner on a defensive rebound. Woodhouse hit two free throws to give Colgate an 84-83 lead, but Griffin answered yet again, swishing a jumper with a toe on the 3-point line while being fouled. His 3-point play put Bucknell ahead for good at 86-84.
Waddy, who earlier missed two free throws that set up Shazier's dramatic 3-pointer, made only 1 of 2 from the line to keep Bucknell in the lead 86-85 with 25.8 seconds left. Griffin was fouled on the inbounds and made both free throws to push the lead to three. Waddy then missed a reverse layup, and Griffin found Tyree for a breakaway 3-point play with 6.6 seconds left to ice the win.
Bucknell trailed by only two at 42-40 after Mastropaolo's short hook shot 3:48 into the second half, and the Bison had the ball with a chance to tie but Shazier tripped driving to the basket. That resulted in a fastbreak 3-point play for Waddy at the other end, the first of nine straight Colgate points. Roemer's jumper in the paint capped the run, giving the Raiders their first double-digit lead at 53-42 with 11:56 to play.
Treys by Griffin and Boon helped the Bison get back within six at 57-51, but Chones scored three straight points for Colgate. Waddy's free throw with 3:43 left kept Colgate's lead at nine. Griffin hit a 3-pointer and a short bank shot for Bucknell, but both were answered by Pounds at the other end.
Griffin missed a 3-pointer that could have cut it to three, and Woodhouse made 1 of 2 from the line after being fouled on the rebound. Griffin was then fouled trying to shoot a 3-pointer and made all three from the stripe to make it 71-67 with 1:27 to play.
Bucknell got another defensive stop, but Boon missed a long jumper that could have cut it to one. Woodhouse again made 1 of 2 to make it 72-67, then Stephen Tyree was fouled on a loose-ball scramble and made both from the line with 23 seconds left.
The Bison fouled Waddy on the inbounds with 22.2 ticks left, but he missed both free throws. Griffin missed an off-balance 3-pointer with eight seconds left, but Tyree grabbed the offensive rebound and Bucknell called timeout with five seconds left.
The inbounds went to Griffin, but he was double teamed up top and passed to Shazier in the left corner. Shazier took one dribble and let it fly with Willie Morse in his face, and the ball found nothing but net.
Bucknell made five of its first six shots from the field and led by five points early at 11-6. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Roemer and Waddy put Colgate back in front, one of 10 first-half lead changes.
Boon's foul-line jumper tied the game at 26, then Mike Venezia and Boon traded 3-pointers to make it 29-all with 5:07 left in the half. Colgate then went on a 9-1 run, with another Venezia trey starting the surge. Tim Pounds' runner in the lane gave the Raiders a 38-30 lead with 2:21 left.
Griffin hit a free throw and Mastropaolo made two from the line to make it a 38-33 contest, then Griffin came up with a steal but had his buzzer beating 3-point try rim out, leaving the Bison with a five-point halftime deficit.
Bucknell head coach Pat Flannery was not with the team as he continues to recover from an illness. Assistant coach Nathan Davis served as acting head coach. The Bison were also without juniors Josh Linthicum and Jason Vegotsky, both out with injury.
It was Bucknell's first overtime win since a 73-65 win at Yale on Dec. 4, 2004, and it was their first 90-point game since a 98-86 double-overtime win over George Mason on Jan. 23, 1999.
Bucknell swept the season series for Colgate, and it was Bucknell's eighth straight win over the Raiders and fourth straight at Cotterell Court.
The Bison outrebounded Colgate 39-29 after trailing 44-25 in that column in the first meeting of the season, a 65-61 win over the Raiders nine days ago. Rob Thomas had a career-high six rebounds for Bucknell, along with Tyree's nine and six from Darren Mastropaolo.
Bucknell's three-game road trip continues on Saturday at Navy. Tip-off is 7 p.m. at Alumni Hall.
