Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
0-13-12 / PL
Navy
1-012-4 / PL
Late Threes Lift Navy Past Bucknell Men, 71-67, in Patriot League Opener
1/10/2009 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 10, 2009
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Kaleo Kina scored 25 points and hit one of Navy's three critical 3-pointers down the stretch, leading the Midshipmen to a 71-67 victory over Bucknell Saturday evening in the Patriot League openers for both teams. G.W. Boon scored 20 points and Darryl Shazier had a career-high 18 points along with seven assists for the Bison.
The Midshipmen (12-4, 1-0) were an uncharacteristic 3-for-22 from 3-point range in the first 36-plus minutes of the game and had missed 11 straight, but they canned three in a row - two from Adam Teague and one from Kina - in the final 3:16, each one stretching a one or two point game to two possessions.
The blazing hot left hand of Boon and a layup by Shazier helped Bucknell (3-12, 0-1) cut a nine-point deficit at the 5:49 mark to just one with 3:47 left. After a defensive stop, Bucknell had a chance to take the lead, but Shazier missed a 17-foot jumper, and Teague hit a transition 3-pointer from the right side to extend the lead back to four.
Patrick Behan hit two free throws with 2:48 left to make it 58-56, but Kina hit a contested 3-pointer at the other end. Then Boon hit his third straight 3-pointer, all in a 3-minute span to cut it to 61-59. Boon's follow-up jam with 1:27 to play kept it a two-point game, but 16 seconds later Teague hit another dagger 3-pointer to put Navy back up five, then Chris Harris stripped Behan in the paint and hit two free throws with 43 seconds left to make it 68-61.
Bucknell cut it to three twice more, the last on Justin Castleberry's short jumper with six seconds left. Kina was fouled and missed the first free throw but made the second with five seconds remaining, sealing it for the Mids.
Bucknell trailed 31-30 at the half, and Behan gave the Bison the lead with a bucket to open the second half, but Navy made five straight layups as it began to drive the ball inside in the wake of its frosty outside shooting. Bucknell went 1-for-4 with three turnovers to start the half, and Navy went up by eight on Harris' layup.
Later in the half the Bison held Navy without a point for 4:37 with the score 47-40, but Bucknell could not make a dent as it went cold at the same time. Kina's jumper gave Navy a nine-point edge at 55-46 with 5:49 to play, but the Boon and the Bison scored eight straight points to get back into it.
Bucknell played tough defense early, holding Navy to 3-for-16 shooting to start the game, but the Bison could only manage a 10-8 lead eight minutes in as they started 4-for-12.
Boon hit 4 of 6 3-pointers and 6 of 9 shots from the floor en route to his second-career 20-point game. Shazier also shot the ball well, making 3 of 6 from the arc and another with a toe on the stripe. His previous career high was 14 points earlier in the season. Behan and Castleberry added eight points apiece. Ryan Ebner added two points and six rebounds in his first career start.
Navy had four players score in double figures. In addition to Kina's 25, Harris scored 14, Clif Colbert had 12 and nine rebounds, and Teague tallied 11 and nine boards. Colbert gave the Bison fits on the offensive glass, where he corralled six of his nine caroms.
Both teams collected 44 rebounds on a fairly even stat sheet. The only significant statistical differential was at the free-throw line, where Navy outscored Bucknell 17-9.
The Bison fell to 0-9 on the road this season, while Navy improved to 8-0 at home. Bucknell had won four straight Patriot League openers before Saturday.
Bucknell concludes its four-game road trip on Wednesday at American at 7:30 p.m.
