Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
3-13, 0-2
American
10-6, 2-0
American Deals Bison Men 69-55 Setback in Nation's Capital
1/14/2009 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 14, 2009
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Garrison Carr scored 25 points, 12 coming at the free-throw line in the second half, leading American to a 69-55 victory over the Bison at Bender Arena on Wednesday night. Justin Castleberry tallied 15 points and G.W. Boon and Bryan Cohen had 14 each for the Bison, who endured a cold shooting night en route to their seventh straight loss.
Darryl Shazier handed out eight assists, Patrick Behan had 10 rebounds and Boon had nine boards for the Bison (3-13, 0-2 Patriot League), who finished with a 49-37 rebounding advantage but could not overcome a 28.8 percent shooting night.
Jordan Nichols scored 10 points and Derrick Mercer had seven points and 12 assists for American (10-6, 2-0), which won its fifth in a row.
American opened up its first double-digit lead at the 7:24 mark of the first half when Bryce Simon hit a 3-pointer that hit the rim and the top edge of the backboard before falling in. That capped a 10-2 run and gave the Eagles a 24-14 lead.
Later in the half Carr hit consecutive 3-pointers to make it 30-17. After the Bison pulled within eight on a Darryl Shazier 3-pointer, American closed the half with seven straight points, with Mercer sandwiching an assist and a coast-to-coast drive around a Gilmore 3-pointer.
American shot 56.7 percent (17-30) in the opening half, held Bucknell to 34.6 percent (9-26), and led 40-24 at the break.
It took more than five minutes for either team to make a field goal in the second period. Carr broke the ice with a layup, and Simon's jumper a few minutes later gave American an 18-point lead at 46-28. Bucknell drew within 13 but struggled to get closer after missing six of its first seven free-throw tries of the second half while going ice cold from the field at the same time.
The Bison made only three field goals in the first 15:28 of the second half. Meanwhile, Simon's 3-pointer and a Hendra jumper made it 53-33 at the 9:37 mark, and the Eagles led comfortably the rest of the way, even though they struggled to put the game away at the free-throw line. AU was 8-for-23 at the line in the second half until Carr made six straight to make it 66-50 with 57 seconds left.
Bucknell held American to only five field goals in 15 attempts in the second half, but the Bison shot 10-for-40 after halftime.
Bucknell returns home for the first time in 19 days when it hosts Holy Cross on Saturday at Sojka Pavilion. The noon contest will be televised live on ESPNU.
