Bison Cagers Go for Two in a Row Wednesday at Lafayette

Feb. 17, 2009

WHAT: Bucknell (6-19, 3-8 PL) vs. Lafayette (6-19, 2-8 PL)
WHERE: Kirby Sports Center, Easton, Pa.
WHEN: Wednesday, February 18, 2009, 7 p.m.
RADIO: Eagle 107 and SportsJuice.com
TV: Lafayette Sports Network (RCN-4, WBPH-60)
STREAMING VIDEO: Patriot League All-Access
LIVE STATISTICS: GameTracker
COMPLETE PRESS NOTES

With a Victory over Lafayette, Bucknell Would ...

... win its second game in a row and improve to 4-8 in the Patriot League.

... sweep the season series from the Leopards.

... defeat the Leopards for the 11th time in the last 12 meetings.

... win in Easton for the first time in two years.

About the Game
Bucknell plays its 250th Patriot League men's basketball game on Wednesday night against Lafayette at the Kirby Sports Center. Bucknell picked up a much-needed victory, and a road win at that, with a 72-66 triumph at Patriot League co-leader Holy Cross on Saturday. The Bison had not won on the road all year and had lost five games in a row overall before snapping the Crusaders' five-game winning streak. The victory moved Bucknell past Lafayette into seventh place in the league standings, and despite a 3-8 PL record the Bison still have a chance to move up as high as fourth place by the end of the regular season. The Leopards hold out similar hopes, but in order to do so they will have to shake an eight-game losing streak. When Lafayette came to Lewisburg on Jan. 21 it had won two games in a row over Colgate and Navy, but the Leopards have not won since. Bucknell's 71-61 home victory started the streak, with three of those losses coming by three points or less. Lafayette's most recent outing was a 90-67 road loss at Navy on Saturday.

How to Get the Game
The Bucknell-Lafayette game will be televised throughout much of Eastern Pennsylvania on the Lafayette Sports Network (RCN-4 and WBPH-60), and live streaming video is available on the Internet 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. Live statistics are available at goleopards.com.

Bucknell vs. Lafayette Series Notes

Bucknell and Lafayette have met 142 times previously, making the Leopards Bucknell's second most-played opponent (the Bison have played Lehigh 149 times). Since the series began in 1915, Lafayette leads 83-59.

Since the start of Patriot League play in 1990-91, however, Bucknell has won 30 of 41 meetings.

The Bison had won eight straight against the Leopards until Lafayette won last season 80-68 in Easton.

Bucknell has won all eight matchups in Sojka Pavilion and is 17-3 against the Leopards in Lewisburg going back to the Patriot League's first season. Lafayette is actually 0-9 all-time in Sojka, including a neutral-site loss to American in the 2006 PL Tournament quarterfinals.

Bucknell has won three of the last four meetings in Easton but is just 23-47 there all-time.

Bucknell vs. Lafayette Earlier this Season
New starter G.W. Boon scored 20 points and three other Bison scored in double figures in a 71-61 win over Lafayette on Jan. 21 at Sojka Pavilion. Bucknell got out to a quick start and led by 11 at halftime. The Leopards used a 16-4 run to tie the game by the 11-minute mark of the second half, but the Bison never allowed them to take the lead. Bucknell turned a 1-point lead with 3:25 to play into a 10-point win with solid play down the stretch.

Inside the First Lafayette Boxscore

Bryan Cohen had a big game, despite a 5-for-14 shooting night. Cohen finished with 14 points and 10 assists for his first career double-double. He added three assists, two of them coming on critical Patrick Behan baskets in the final minutes of the game.

Behan was on the bench with four fouls for almost 10 straight minutes in the second half, but he was a difference-maker in crunch time. His 3-point play with 3:25 left stretched a one-point lead to four. He made another free throw to make it a five-point game, and with 1:27 left finished a layup to put Bucknell up by seven. Behan finished with 14 points and five rebounds in 20 minutes of action.

Darryl Shazier scored 10 points, including three big free throws down the stretch. After committing only four turnovers in his previous five games, he had three in the first half. But in the second half he registered three of his five assists and did not turn the ball over.

Ryan Ebner, who had started the previous three games before heading back to a reserve role in this one, gave the Bison a huge lift off the bench in some key spots in the game. Ebner had a career-high six points along with four rebounds in 14 minutes. He was 3-for-3 from the field, including two tip-ins. He scored on a inbounds play to break a tie with 8:26 left, and his second tip came with the Bison up just two with 7:35 left.

Bucknell turned 14 offensive rebounds into a 17-4 advantage in second-chance points. The Bison finished with a 44-36 edge on the glass.

Bucknell shot 48.3% from the field in the second half after a 37.5% mark in the first half.

Lafayette came into the game shooting a league-best 75.7% from the free-throw line (85.3% in league play), but the Leopards made only 9 of 16 (.563) against Bucknell.

Bucknell vs. Lafayette Last Season
Last season Bucknell and Lafayette split two games, with the home team winning each time.

On Jan. 23, 2008 at Kirby Sports Center, Lafayette jumped out to a 27-8 lead and won 80-68 in a battle of 3-0 teams. Andrew Brown hit seven of the Leopards' 14 3-pointers and scored 28 points. John Griffin led four Bison in double figures with 13 points. It was Bucknell's first loss to a Patriot League team other than Holy Cross since Jan. 30, 2005, at Navy.

On Feb. 20, 2008 at Sojka Pavilion, Bucknell prevailed 77-75 in overtime thanks to the heroics of a freshman and a sophomore on Senior Night. Rookie Darryl Shazier hit a game-tying 3-pointer with 13 seconds left in regulation to send it to OT, and sophomore Stephen Tyree won it with a drive to the basket with 2.9 seconds left in the extra period. Five Bison scored in double figures, led by 16 from Patrick Behan and 13 from Griffin. Brown scored 17 for the Leopards, who also had five players score in double figures.

Last Time Out
On Saturday afternoon at the Hart Center Bucknell used excellent 3-point shooting and poised play down the stretch to turn back Holy Cross, 72-66. Bucknell had lost five straight coming in, while the Crusaders had won five in a row, but the Bison got 23 points and eight rebounds from Patrick Behan and a combined nine 3-pointers from Darryl Shazier (5-7) and G.W. Boon (4-7) to win in Worcester for the second year in a row. The Bison trailed 32-30 at the half but scored the first 14 points of the second half. Bucknell held off two late charges by Holy Cross, thanks in large part to a big bucket by freshman Bryan Cohen that made it a six-point game with 0:56 left and eight consecutive free throws by Behan in the final 45 seconds.

Inside the Holy Cross Boxscore

Bucknell's first five possessions of the half went like this: Behan layup, Shazier 3-pointer, Boon 3-pointer, Boon 3-pointer, Boon 3-pointer. The 14-0 run in a span of only 3:37 flipped a two-point deficit into a 12-point lead.

Darryl Shazier tied a career high with his five 3-pointers, coming in only seven attempts. The last of the five gave the Bison an 11-point lead with 6:14 to play. Just as important, Shazier was excellent against Holy Cross' swarming full-court press. He had six assists and only one turnover in 38 minutes of action.

Patrick Behan went 7-for-13 from the field and made his first nine free throws of the night before missing two meaningless ones with three seconds left in the game. Behan topped the 20-point barrier for the fourth time this season.

Bryan Cohen reached double figures in the points column for the 18th time this season, and he also added five rebounds, four assists and a career-high three steals. Cohen also spent much of the game defending Holy Cross scoring leader R.J. Evans, who shot 3-for-11 from the floor in the game.

Freshman Enoch Andoh played a key role in the game, even though the boxscore says he was 0-for-1 from the field in 12 minutes. Andoh made three trips to the foul line and went 5-for-6, all in the middle part of the second half with Bucknell trying to protect the lead. Andoh also played good post defense on a couple of sequences when Holy Cross tried to go inside.

Bucknell held Holy Cross to 27.6% shooting in the second half and 37.3% overall. That seemed improbable after the Crusaders made 10 of their first 14 shots of the day. But they made only 12 of 45 (.267) from that point on.

Holy Cross outrebounded Bucknell 35-32, a much closer margin than its 43-28 edge in the first meeting of the year.

Bucknell shot 50% from 3-point range for the second time this season. It was 7-for-14 in a December win over Drexel.

Behan, Cohen Honored
Following the victory over Holy Cross, Patrick Behan earned Patriot League Player of the Week honors and Bryan Cohen was named the Patriot League Rookie of the Week. It was Behan's second weekly award of the season and the third rookie citation for Cohen.

Defending the Arc
Bucknell has done an outstanding job defending the 3-point arc this season.

Bison opponents are now shooting only 30.8% from 3-point distance this season after Holy Cross' 4-for-18 showing on Saturday (that included two desperation threes that banked in in the final minute).

That figure ranks second in the Patriot League (behind Navy's 30.5%) and 24th nationally.

In Patriot League play, Bucknell opponents are shooting only 26.0% from the arc.

At Sojka Pavilion, Bison foes are making only 27.4% of their threes.

On Dec. 9, Bucknell held Binghamton to 0-for-16 shooting from long range in a 63-60 victory.

Bison Lead Patriot League in Home Attendance
Despite its record, Bucknell leads the Patriot League in home attendance in 2008-09 and is looking for its fourth straight PL attendance title. The Bison have drawn an average of 2,494 fans to Sojka Pavilion this season, just ahead of Holy Cross (2,396).

A Hidden Game
The official results say that Bucknell has played 25 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.

Bucknell ranks No. 1 nationally in most overtime games this season. Liberty and Long Beach state have both played five overtime games. Both of those teams have played four double-overtime games, giving them each a national-high nine OT periods.

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.

A Quadruple Double
There are 17 players in the Patriot League with double-digit scoring averages, and Bucknell has a quarter of them. Patrick Behan (12.4), Bryan Cohen (11.8), Justin Castleberry (11.3) and G.W. Boon (10.2) are all scoring at least 10 points per game. 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.

Cohen Tough on D
Perhaps overlooked in Bryan Cohen's terrific rookie year is that he has quickly developed into one of the team's top defenders. The 6'5” guard frequently marks the opposition's best scorer. Cohen has defended many of the league's stars, from the diminutive Garrison Carr of American to Navy's Kaleo Kina to Holy Cross' R.J. Evans. In Bucknell's last three games, those three high-scoring guards have combined to shoot 13-for-45 (.289) from the field.

Rave Rookie Reviews
Bison freshman guard Bryan Cohen has been one of the Patriot League's top newcomers so far in 2008-09. Cohen has scored in double figures in 15 of the last 18 games and 18 total. His 11.8 ppg average ranks 11th overall in the Patriot League and second among freshmen to Holy Cross' R.J. Evans (12.9). Cohen leads PL freshmen in 3-pointers (43) and minutes played (33.2). He is the only freshman in the league to have started all of his team's games so far this season.

The Long Road Bucknell's victory over Holy Cross on Saturday snapped a 14-game road losing streak dating back to 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. It was Bucknell's longest road losing streak since the 1953-54 and 1954-55 seasons, when the team lost 15 straight on the road. The school record is 17 straight road losses spanning the 1933-34 and 1934-35 seasons.

Shazier's Shooting Improved
Darryl Shazier has been much-improved from long range in 2008-09. The sophomore is 34-for-84 (.405) from the arc this season, third-best in the Patriot League. As a freshman Shazier made just 10 triples all season in 48 attempts (.238). He has hit five 3-pointers in a game twice this season, against Army and Holy Cross.

A Pat on the Back for Behan
Bison junior Patrick Behan is having his best season, averaging 12.4 points and 6.3 rebounds per game so far, both team highs. More comfortable setting up outside the paint, Behan has been asked to play quite a bit at the “5” spot this season due to Bucknell's depth concerns in the low post. He has responded well and ranks third in the conference in rebounding. Over his last six games, Behan is averaging 17.3 ppg and 8.2 rpg and is shooting 54.5% FG.

Who's Got Next?
Bucknell steps away from Patriot League play momentarily when it takes on Delaware on Saturday at 2 p.m. in a BracketBusters matchup at Sojka Pavilion. That will be game one of a doubleheader with the Bison women, who host Colgate immediately after.

Bucknell University Athletics

Bison Cagers Go for Two in a Row Wednesday at Lafayette

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