Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
4-14, 1-3PL
Lafayette
6-12, 2-2PL
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lafayette | 24 | 37 | 61 |
| Bucknell | 35 | 36 | 71 |
Bucknell Men Back in Victory Column, 71-61 over Lafayette
1/21/2009 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 21, 2009
Box Score |
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| Bucknell-Lafayette Highlights
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Sophomore G.W. Boon joined the Bucknell starting lineup and scored a game-high 20 points to lead the Bison to a 71-61 victory over Lafayette on Wednesday night at Sojka Pavilion. Freshman Bryan Cohen added 14 points and 10 rebounds for his first career double-double, helping Bucknell snap an eight-game losing streak while handing first-year head coach Dave Paulsen his first Patriot League victory.
Patrick Behan added 14 points, including six big ones in a tight game down the stretch after being saddled with foul trouble for most of the second half, and Darryl Shazier added 10 points and five assists for the Bison, who are now 4-14 overall and 1-3 in the Patriot League.
Bucknell also got a huge lift from freshman Ryan Ebner off the bench. Ebner, who ceded his spot in the starting lineup to Boon, had six points, four rebounds, and assist and a blocked shot in 14 minutes.
Andrew Brown was the lone Lafayette (6-12, 2-2) player in double figures with 19 points.
Bucknell led by 11 points at the half, but the Leopards used a 16-4 run to draw even by the 11-minute mark of the second half. The Bison never allowed Lafayette to take the league, however, and they turned a 1-point lead with 3:25 to play into a 10-point victory with solid play down the stretch.
On the bench for about 10 straight minutes after picking up his fourth foul, Behan turned in perhaps the game's most pivotal play when he turned a nice bounce pass from Cohen into a 3-point play, giving the Bison a 58-54 lead. Behan drew a foul on the next possession and made 1 of 2 at the line, then after Lafayette missed a 3-pointer, Shazier came away with the ball after a scramble near mid-court and fed Boon for a layup that made it 61-54 with 2:23 to play.
Boon answered a Brown jumper with a tip-in, then after Brown hit two free throws, Bucknell beat the press with a Behan layup off another Cohen bounce pass. The Bison got two more defensive stops, resulting in three Shazier free throws in four attempts, the latter giving Bucknell a 68-58 lead with 57 seconds left.
Brown's 3-point play cut it to seven with 42 ticks remaining, but Cohen iced it with three free throws in the final 40 seconds.
The Bison seemed to be in good shape, leading 39-27 after Shazier's driving layup with 16:41 to play, but they managed only two more buckets over the next six minutes, and Lafayette climbed all the way back.
Ryan Willen, Michael Gruner and Brown all hit 3-pointers in Lafayette's 16-4 run, which was capped by Darion Benbow's tying layup with 11:08 to play.
Cohen's baseline drive ended the Bucknell drought, but Lafayette would tie it twice more before Bucknell took the lead for good on Cohen's 17-foot jumper with 7:49 remaining. Ebner had a tip-in and Boon and Cohen both scored on layups in an 8-1 run that gave the Bison a 55-48 lead with 6:23 left.
Lafayette rallied again, with Ben Wheeler's 3-pointer sparking a 6-0 run that cut Bucknell's lead to 55-54 with 3:49 left, setting up the Bison's strong finish.
Boon was piping hot in the first half, when he hit 4 of 6 3-point tried and scored 14 points to help stake the Bison to a 35-24 halftime lead. Bucknell trailed only once at 5-4, and it turned a 12-12 tie into a 23-13 lead with an 11-1 run. The Bison kept Lafayette without a field goal for a span of 7:16, and they led by as many as 13 points on a couple of occasions late in the half.
Boon had been performing very well in the role of sixth man for Bucknell. He was averaging almost 13 points over his last 13 games, and he ranked fifth in the Patriot League in points-per-minute coming into the game. A starter in this one, he posted his third 20-point game of the year.
After getting manhandled on the boards in Saturday's loss to Holy Cross, Bucknell finished with a 44-36 edge on Lafayette, including 14-8 on the offensive glass. That led to a 17-4 margin in second-chance points.
Offensively, Bucknell shot 42.6 percent overall, including 48.3 percent in the second half. The improved shooting all came inside, as the Bison were 0-for-5 from 3-point distance in the second half after hitting 5 of 13 in the opening period. They also committed only 10 turnovers on the night, tied for their second-lowest total of the season.
Lafayette shot 40.4 percent from the field and was an uncharacteristic 9-for-16 (.563) from the foul line. The Leopards came in shooting 75.7 percent from the line as a team, 85.3 percent in Patriot League play.
Bucknell has now won 10 of its last 11 against Lafayette and is 8-0 against the Leopards at Sojka Pavilion.
The Bison will close out this three-game homestand on Saturday at 7 p.m. against Colgate.
The annual alumni game will take place at 1 p.m. in Sojka Pavilion. The event is free and open to the public. Then at halftime of the Colgate game, former Bison head coach and point guard Pat Flannery will be honored.
