Feb. 10, 2009
WHAT: Bucknell (5-18, 2-7 PL) vs. American (15-7, 7-1 PL)
WHERE: Sojka Pavilion, Lewisburg, Pa.
WHEN: Wednesday, February 11, 2009, 7 p.m.
RADIO: Eagle 107 and SportsJuice.com
TV: None
STREAMING VIDEO: Bison Vision
LIVE STATISTICS: GameTracker
COMPLETE PRESS NOTES 
With a Victory over American, Bucknell Would ...
... snap a four-game losing streak and improve to 3-7 in the Patriot League.
... improve to 6-5 at home this season and 3-2 at home against Patriot League foes.
... improve to 8-0 against American at Sojka Pavilion and defeat the Eagles in Lewisburg for the ninth straight time.
... split the season series with the Eagles.
About the Game
Bucknell looks to shake a four-game losing streak Wednesday night when first-place American comes to Sojka Pavilion in search of its first win over the Bison in Lewisburg since 2002. Bucknell went to overtime yet again on Saturday night and fell to Navy 62-60, despite a big night from Patrick Behan (20 points, 14 rebounds). The loss kept the Bison in the No. 8 spot in the Patriot League standings, a half-game behind seventh-place Lafayette. While Bucknell has lost four in a row, defending PL champion American comes in riding a four-game winning streak. The Eagles are coming off a 66-58 win at Lehigh on Saturday, paced by 15 points from Derrick Mercer. American and Holy Cross are tied atop the standings at 7-1, although the Crusaders won the first meeting of the season between the two teams, 71-62.
How to Get the Game
The Bucknell-American game will not be televised, however live streaming video is available on the Internet through Bison Vision and 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. Live statistics can be accessed via GameTracker at BucknellBison.com.
Bucknell vs. American Series Notes
Bucknell has an overall 25-19 lead in an all-time series with American that includes some historic dates. The very first meeting on Jan. 14, 1939 also happened to be the first game ever played in Davis Gym (AU won 38-33). Coincidentally, American was also the opponent for the very last game ever played in Davis Gym on Jan. 11, 2003 (a 63-52 Bison win).
Bucknell has won 15 of 20 series meetings in Lewisburg, including all seven at Sojka Pavilion, but the Bison are just 2-6 at Bender Arena since American joined the Patriot League in 2001-02.
As Patriot League rivals, Bucknell leads 10-7. The Bison defeated American eight straight times before falling in Washington last season. That winning streak included victories in the 2005 and 2006 PL Tournament semifinals.
Bucknell vs. American Earlier This Season
Bucknell was plagued by ice-cold shooting in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 14 and fell 69-55 at American. The Eagles shot 56.7% in the first half and raced to a 40-24 halftime lead. In the second half the Bison tightened up their defense, holding the Eagles to five field goals in 15 attempts, but even though they cut a 25-point deficit down to 12, Bucknell just could not make enough shots to complete the comeback. The Bison were 10-for-40 from the field in the second half and shot 28.8% in the game. Justin Castleberry led Bucknell with 15 points, while Garrison Carr tallied 25 for American.
Inside the First American Boxscore
Both teams struggled from the free-throw line. The Bison made only 8 of 17 from the line in the second half and were 11-for-21 (.524) overall. American let Bucknell get back into the game thanks to poor free-throw shooting. The Eagles made 18 of 36 (.500) in the game, and they missed 8 of 9 in one stretch before Garrison Carr made six in a row to put the game away.
Bucknell's 49 rebounds and +12 rebound margin were season highs. Pat Behan led the team with 10 rebounds, his second career double-digit rebounding effort. G.W. Boon added nine rebounds and Josh Linthicum had seven boards in nine minutes.
Boon hit 3 of 6 3-point tries and finished with 14 points off the bench, his fourth straight double-digit scoring effort and sixth in the last seven games.
Bryan Cohen had a tough shooting night (4-15 FG, 2-8 3FG) but still finished with 14 points.
Darryl Shazier played 39 minutes, his most of the season in a non-overtime game, and had five points, eight assists and only one turnover.
Jason Vegotsky did not dress due to a hamstring injury.
Even though the boxscore shows Patriot League Preseason Player of the Year Garrison Carr scored 25 points, Cohen and the Bison defense did a decent job defending him. Carr was held to five field goals in 12 attempts (3-9 3FG), but he went 12-for-17 from the free-throw line, with eight of those points coming after Bucknell began fouling intentionally in the final three minutes.
Bucknell had a 15-3 edge in second-chance points, as it held AU to only three offensive rebounds all night.
American point guard Derrick Mercer had 10 of his career-high 12 assists in the first half. Of the Eagles' 17 first-half baskets, Mercer scored three of them and assisted on 10.
Bucknell vs. American Last Season
Last season both teams earned four-point victories on their home floors.
On Jan. 16, 2008 at Sojka Pavilion, Jason Vegotsky hit the go-ahead jumper with 1:04 to play and Justin Castleberry made it hold up with six clutch free throws in the final 25 seconds, helping Bucknell rally all the way back from an 11-point halftime deficit to defeat American 66-62. Castleberry scored a team-high 15 points and John Griffin added 11 for the Bison. Against American and hot-shooting guard Garrison Carr, the Bison fell behind 36-25 at halftime but outscored the Eagles 41-26 in the second half. Carr scored 18 of his then-career-high 30 points in the first half, 12 of them coming on 3-pointers. Carr drained 6 of 12 from the arc and 10 of 20 overall from the floor.
On Feb. 13, 2008 at Bender Arena, Griffin scored 24 points and hit two major milestones, but it wasn't enough as Bucknell fell 68-64. Griffin scored his 1,000th point and made his 200th 3-pointer in the game. In fact he canned a career-high eight 3-pointers, trying to keep Bucknell in it late. His high-arcing trey from the right corner pulled the Bison within 65-62 with 17 seconds left. Brian Gilmore hit 1 of 2 free throws, then Bucknell turned it over on its next possession and could not get closer. Carr scored 24 points for AU, while Derrick Mercer had 12. Stephen Tyree added 11 points, seven rebounds and six assists for the Bison.
Last Time Out
On a night when the rims seemed too small for both sides, Navy had just enough to turn back Bucknell 62-60 in overtime Saturday at Sojka Pavilion. Navy extended a one-point halftime lead to 12 early in the second half, but the Bison held the Midshipmen without a field goal over the final eight minutes of regulation. Bucknell finally tied it on a Bryan Cohen layup with 51 seconds left, but after a defensive stop Cohen missed a potential game-winning jumper in the final five seconds. Neither team led by more than one possession in overtime. Kaleo Kina broke a 58-all tie with 54 seconds left, and Justin Castleberry missed a 3-pointer as the final buzzer sounded.
Inside the Navy Boxscore
Both teams shot under 32% from the floor. Navy was 19-for-60 (.317), while the Bison were 23-for-73 (.315). Bucknell missed 13 straight shots in one stretch late in the first half.
Midway through the first period, Bryan Cohen and G.W. Boon hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Bison an 18-10 lead. But those would be the team's only treys of the night. Bucknell finished 2-for-17 from the arc. Navy was only slightly better at 5-for-22.
Patrick Behan had one of the best games of his career in the loss. Behan tallied 20 points and a career-high 14 rebounds, seven of those coming on the offensive glass. Behan was 9-for-17 from the field, and he scored Bucknell's first eight points of the second half.
Bucknell set a Sojka Pavilion record with 55 rebounds, its most since collecting 51 caroms against Haverford in 2005. In addition to Behan's 14, Justin Castleberry grabbed a career-high nine boards and Cohen had seven from their guard spots. Bucknell outrebounded Navy 55-42, one game after going -13 on the glass at Colgate.
Bucknell's starters played 187 of the 225 minutes. The bench combined to go 0-for-7 from the field and score two points. Zach Evans did block a career-high three shots while grabbing four rebounds.
Bucknell had only six assists on its 23 field goals, while turning the ball over 15 times. Patriot League assist leader Darryl Shazier did have four of those six helpers.
Defensively, Cohen did a solid job on Patriot League scoring leader Kaleo Kina, who finished 4-for-19 from the floor.
A Hidden Game
The official results say that Bucknell has played 23 games so far this season. But a closer look reveals that the Bison have played a total of eight overtime periods. That adds up to an extra 40 minutes of action, or the equivalent of one extra game.
40 not Enough
Bucknell has now broken the program record for most overtime games (6) and overtime periods (8) in a season. Bucknell is 2-4 in those overtime games.
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.
Who's Got Next?
The Bison are back on the road on Saturday at Holy Cross at 3:30 p.m. Bucknell won its regular-season meeting at the Hart Center last season, but the Crusaders have since returned the favor by beating Bucknell twice in a row at Sojka Pavilion. Back on Jan. 17, Holy Cross prevailed 68-56.
