Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
3-10
Ohio
7-6
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bucknell | 31 | 36 | 67 |
| Ohio University | 37 | 48 | 85 |
Bucknell Men's Basketball Drops 85-67 Decision at Ohio
1/3/2009 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 3, 2009
ATHENS, Ohio - Jerome Tillman had 28 points and 15 rebounds to help Ohio University to an 85-67 victory over visiting Bucknell Saturday afternoon at the Convocation Center. Justin Castleberry hit 5 of 8 3-point attempts and scored 17 points to lead the Bison, who dropped their fourth straight game and fell to 3-10 with just one more non-conference game left prior to the start of Patriot League play next week.
Ohio (7-6) also received 17 points from Steven Coleman and 10 from Justin Orr, and the Bobcats used some good 3-point shooting in the first half and plenty of inside baskets in the second half to build its lead.
G.W. Boon scored 12 points, Bryan Cohen added 10 and Darryl Shazier had eight points, six assist and no turnovers for the Bison, who made 10 3-pointers in 26 attempts and shot 36.5 percent overall.
Ohio broke open a six-point game at the half with a 12-3 run to start the second period. Tillman scored seven of those points, including a 3-point play that gave the Bobcats a 49-34 lead. A Coleman 3-pointer and two more driving layups built the lead to 18 at 56-38, and Ohio led by at least 11 the rest of the way.
Bucknell drew within 11 twice in the final eight minutes, but both times Ohio answered. At the 4:45 mark Shazier finished a fastbreak layup off a nice feed from Castleberry to bring the Bison within 72-61. Ohio struck back with a 10-1 run, keyed by a Tommy Freeman 3-pointer and a 3-point play by Coleman. Tillman's layup capped the run and put Ohio up by 20 at 82-62.
There was twice as much scoring in the first half of this one compared to last year's Bucknell-Ohio matchup, when the two teams were tied at 16 after 20 minutes. This time, the Bobcats hit seven first-half 3-pointers and went to the locker room with a 37-31 edge, although Bucknell did well to cut into an 11-point deficit with a strong finish to the half.
Trailing 28-22, Ohio took that double-digit lead thanks to a five-point sequence. Freeman hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key, and as the ball swished through the hoop Bucknell's Zach Evans was called for a foul jostling with Tillman for position under the basket. Tillman hit both ends of a 1-and-1 to give the Bobcats a 33-22 lead.
The Bison closed the half on a 7-2 run, keyed by a Shazier 3-pointer, a Ryan Ebner layup and two free throws from Boon.
Bucknell had 17 assists and only eight turnovers in the game, its second straight solid showing in that area. The Bison were outrebounded 41-38 and dropped their eighth straight road game dating back to last season.
Bucknell returns to action on Tuesday night at Cornell at 7 p.m., then opens league play at Navy next Saturday at 5 p.m. in an ESPNU-televised game.
