Jan. 27, 2009
WHAT: Bucknell (5-14, 2-3 PL) vs. Lehigh (12-7, 2-3 PL)
WHERE: Stabler Arena, Bethlehem, Pa.
WHEN: Wednesday, January 28, 2009, 7 p.m.
RADIO: Eagle 107 and SportsJuice.com
TV: Service Electric (Lehigh Valley)
STREAMING VIDEO: Patriot League All-Access
COMPLETE PRESS NOTES 
***Online Auction: Autographed Pat Flannery Appreciation Night Commemorative Poster***
With a Victory over Lehigh, Bucknell Would ...
... win its third game in a row and improve to 3-3 in the Patriot League.
... win its first road game of the season and snap an 11-game road losing streak dating back to last season.
... snap a two-game losing streak to the Mountain Hawks.
About the Game
Two of the four teams locked up in a tie for fourth place in the Patriot League standings clash on Wednesday night in Bethlehem, Pa. The Bison are coming off back-to-back home wins over Lafayette and Colgate, and now they will try to do something they have not done all year: win on the road. To do so, they will have to get past a Lehigh team that is 6-3 at home and 12-7 overall. The Mountain Hawks began the season 10-3, but they have lost 4 of 6 since then and stand 2-3 in the league. Lehigh is coming off a narrow 60-57 win over arch-rival Lafayette on Saturday. Bucknell is led by red-hot sophomore G.W. Boon, who was named Patriot League Player of the Week on Monday after combining for 35 points in the two wins. Boon ranks third in the Patriot League in conference scoring at 16.0 points per game. Freshman Bryan Cohen, who had 14 points in those two contests, now leads the team in overall scoring at 11.8 ppg. Lehigh features one of the league's best big men in Zahir Carrington, who averages 14.4 points and a league-high 7.7 rebounds. Guard Marquis Hall scores 14.0 per night.
How to Get the Game
The Bucknell-Lehigh game will be televised by Service Electric throughout the Lehigh Valley. In addition, live streaming video is available through Patriot League All-Access. The game can be heard locally on the radio on Eagle 107 (WEGH 107.3 FM), with Doug Birdsong and Ed Sigl on the call. The pregame show begins 30 minutes before tip-off. The audio feed is available free of charge via BucknellBison.com and SportsJuice.com.
Bucknell vs. Lehigh Series Notes
Bucknell has played more games (148) and won more games (90) against Lehigh than any other school. The Bison have a 90-58 lead in a series that originated in 1902.
Since the start of Patriot League play in 1990-91, Bucknell holds a 31-11 advantage, including a 16-3 mark at home.
Bucknell had won three straight at Stabler Arena (including a 2005 loss that was later forfeited to the Bison) until falling there last season. Bucknell is 13-6 at Stabler during the Patriot League era.
Lehigh is responsible for snapping Bucknell's 35-game home winning streak against Patriot League foes. The Bison had not lost to a conference opponent at Sojka Pavilion in nearly five years, until the Mountain Hawks won 56-54 in Lewisburg last season.
Bucknell vs. Lehigh Last Season
Lehigh swept the season series from Bucknell last season:
On Jan. 30, 2008 in Lewisburg, Zahir Carrington scored 19 points and helped Lehigh become the first Patriot League team in almost five years to defeat Bucknell in Sojka Pavilion, 56-54. Bryan White had 13 points and 11 rebounds and Marquis Hall also scored 13 points for the Mountain Hawks. Rob Thomas scored a season-high 11 points on 5-for-5 shooting and John Griffin added 10 points for the Bison, who endured a cold shooting night. The game was tied at 42 midway through the second half, but Bucknell went scoreless for 5:26 while Lehigh scored five straight points to take the lead for good. The Mountain Hawks made 7 of 10 free throws in the final 50 seconds to prevent the Bison from getting a possession to tie or take the lead, other than a desperation 70-foot attempt at the buzzer.
On Feb. 27, 2008 at Stabler Arena, Bucknell endured its worst offensive performance in more than nine years in a 50-39 loss. Rob Keefer scored a career-high 17 points, Hall had 12 and Carrington 11 for Lehigh, which held the Bison to their smallest point total since a 68-27 loss to Princeton on Dec. 9, 1998. Darren Mastropaolo scored eight points for Bucknell, which shot only 33.3% from the field and made 3 of 16 3-point tries. The Bison also missed their first seven free throws and finished 6-for-14 from the line. Lehigh shot only 32.6% but made 17 of 24 free throws and had only 11 turnovers compared to Bucknells' 17.
Numbers to Watch
Some relevent stats involving Bucknell and Lehigh:
Bucknell has had a difficult time solving Lehigh's defense in recent years. Since 2003 Bucknell has averaged only 58.5 points in 14 games against the Mountain Hawks. And in their last six games at Stabler Arena, the Bison have scored only 56.7 ppg. Lehigh has been tough to score on again this season, as it leads the league in field-goal percentage defense (.375).
Bucknell and Lehigh are the only two Patriot League teams shooting under 40% from the field on the season (Bucknell .378, Lehigh .394). With all of the missed shots, it is no surprise that these two teams also rank 1-2 in the PL in total rebounds (Bucknell 38.5, Lehigh 41.0).
The contest should feature an interesting battle of point guards. Bucknell's Darryl Shazier leads the Patriot League in assists (5.05), while Lehigh's Marquis Hall is No. 2 (4.53).
Lehigh has defended the 3-point shot effectively this season, holding opponents to 30.2% efficiency from long distance. Bucknell has not shot well from 3-point range in its last four games. The Bison are just 24 of 80 (.300) over that span, even though G.W. Boon is personally 13-for-27. The rest of the team is just 11-for-53 (.208).
Bucknell and Lehigh played one common non-league opponent this season. On Nov. 22, the Bison lost at Saint Francis (Pa.) in overtime, 69-59. Two days later, Lehigh beat the Red Flash at home, 61-56.
Last Time Out
Darryl Shazier's 3-pointer with two seconds left in overtime gave the Bison a dramatic 64-62 win over Colgate on Saturday night at Sojka Pavilion. Bucknell spotted the Raiders an early 19-5 lead, but rallied to go up 22-21 at the half. The Bison trailed 62-58 with a minute left in overtime before scoring the game's final six points. G.W. Boon hit a long 3-pointer, then blocked a shot at the other end to get Bucknell the ball back, setting up Shazier's game-winner.
Inside the Colgate Boxscore
A key stretch of the game was the final 11:53 of the first half. After Yaw Gyawu's breakaway dunk gave Colgate a 19-5 lead, Bucknell held the Raiders to only two more points the rest of the half. Bucknell outscored Colgate 17-2 in the final 11:53, and the run stretched to 20-2 when G.W. Boon hit a 3-pointer 10 seconds into the second half.
Boon led the Bison in scoring for the second straight game with 15 points. He was scoreless on 0-for-5 shooting in the first half, then scored 12 in the second half and hit the big 3-pointer in overtime.
Darryl Shazier's game-winning shot was his only field goal of the night. But the sophomore point guard contributed in other areas. He had six assists, five rebounds and two steals, and he played terrific defense on Colgate's leading scorer, Mike Venezia, who finished with seven points on 3-for-10 shooting.
While Shazier will be remembered for his dramatic shot, Bucknell's unsung hero was freshman Enoch Andoh, who turned in the best performance of his young career. With the Bison scuffling on offense and getting dominated on the glass early in the game, Andoh came in and had nine points and seven rebounds in eight minutes in the first half. He finished the game with his first career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds in 25 minutes.
Bryan Cohen finished with 14 points on 5-for-10 shooting after scoring only two points in the first half.
Bucknell was outrebounded 42-38, but the Bison did parlay 13 offensive rebounds into an 18-9 advantage in second-chance points. Colgate outrebounded the Bison 12-3 in the first eight minutes of the game.
Bucknell made 15 of 20 free throws, including 8 of 9 in the second half and overtime.
Shazier Has Flair for Dramatic
Point guard Darryl Shazier is only part of the way through his sophomore year, but he has already won or tied three games in the waning seconds with dramatic 3-pointers. Two of those shots have come against Colgate.
Last season at Colgate, Shazier hit a hanging, game-tying 3-pointer with a defender draped all over him as the final buzzer of regulation sounded. That sent the contest to overtime, where the Bison eventually won 91-85. Shazier's big shot was just his second field goal of the night.
Just two weeks after he hit the tying shot against Colgate, Shazier hit another game-tying trey with 13 seconds left to force overtime against the Lafayette at Sojka Pavilion. Again the Bison won in OT, 77-75. That was Shazier's only field goal of the game.
On Saturday night against Colgate at Sojka Pavilion, Shazier hit a right-corner 3-pointer with 0:02 left in overtime to defeat Colgate 64-62. That was Shazier's only field goal of the night.
The Long Road
Bucknell's last road victory came in the 2008 Patriot League Tournament quarterfinals, when John Griffin's memorable half-court shot gave the Bison an 87-86 triple-overtime win over Navy at Alumni Hall. Since then the Bison have dropped 11 in a row on the road, including all 10 road games this season. It is Bucknell's longest road losing streak since the 1953-54 and 1954-55 seasons, when the team lost 15 straight on the road.
Home vs. Road Splits
Bucknell has been better statistically in almost every area in its home games this season: Home Category Away 71.9 Scoring Offense 60.1 72.4 Scoring Defense 76.7 .405 Field Goal Pct. .356 .398 Field Goal Pct. Defense .442 .363 3-Pt. Field Goal Pct. .321 .286 3-Pt. Field Goal Pct. Defense .356 .684 Free-Throw Pct. .583 13.1 Turnovers Per Game 14.4
Ball Protection a Key
Bucknell has more assists than turnovers (61-60) in its victories this season, but in the losses has a 176-202 assist-to-turnover ratio.
40 Not Enough
Bucknell has now tied the program record for most overtime games (5) and overtime periods (7) in a season. Bucknell is 2-3 in those overtime games after Saturday's win over Colgate.
During the 1994-95 season -- Charlie Woollum's last as Bison head coach -- the team went to overtime five times in a span of eight games, including two double-overtime games for a total of seven OT periods.
Never before in its 114-year history had Bucknell played three consecutive overtime games until it did so earlier this season against Boston University, Saint Francis (Pa.) and Old Dominion.
Had the Bison rallied to force overtime against Wagner, they would have tied the national record. Jacksonville (1982), Illinois State (1985) and Dayton (1988) all played four straight overtime games to share the NCAA mark.
On a trivial note, the Bucknell men's soccer team also set a school record for most consecutive overtime games this season. The Bison played five in a row and eight total, also a record.
Team Scoring Race Heats Up
Bucknell has quite the race going for the team scoring lead, with four players separated by only 18 points at the top of the list. Freshman Bryan Cohen has taken over the No. 1 spot at 11.8 ppg, followed by G.W. Boon at 11.3, Justin Castleberry at 11.2 and Patrick Behan at 10.9.
There are 16 players in the Patriot League with double-digit scoring averages, and Bucknell has a quarter of them.
Bucknell has not finished a season with four players scoring in double figures since 1994-95. That year, Brian Anderson (12.2), Sekou Hamer (11.7), Dave Steigerwald (10.6) and Kihlon Golden (10.2) all scored 10+ per night.
Starting Lineup Change Pays Off
Bison head coach Dave Paulsen utilized his fifth different starting lineup of the season last Wednesday, inserting forward G.W. Boon into the lead five and going with a smaller lineup. The move resulted in back-to-back wins over Lafayette and Colgate. Despite the occasional lineup shift this season, Bucknell still has three players -- Bryan Cohen, Justin Castleberry and Patrick Behan -- who have started every game.
Shazier Regains League Lead in Assists
With 41 assists (and only nine turnovers) in his last seven games, sophomore point guard Darryl Shazier has regained the Patriot League lead in assists. He is now averaging 5.05 per game, just ahead of Lehigh's Marquis Hall (4.53). Shazier is one of only two regulars in the league with at least twice as many asssists as turnovers. Shazier leads the PL in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.23), ahead of Lehigh's Prentice Small (2.16).
A Boon for the Bison
Sophomore wing G.W. Boon missed a large portion of preseason practice with a shoulder injury, and his offensive production has recently begun to flourish. After totaling 14 points in the first four games of the year, Boon has 201 points in his last 15 games (a 13.4 ppg average). That includes a career-best 24-point showing against Wagner on Nov. 29, two 20-point games, two 15-point efforts and four 14-point games. Boon leads the Bison and ranks fourth in the Patriot League in points per minute (.464) this season.
Who's Got Next?
Game two of this three-game road swing takes place on Saturday at West Point, when the Bison take on Army at 4 p.m. at Christl Arena. The Black Knights, who swept the Bison last season, defeated arch-rival Navy on Sunday and host Lafayette on Wednesday night before playing Bucknell.
