Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
7-21, 4-9PL
Lehigh
15-12, 5-8PL
Behan Stays Red Hot as Bucknell Men Rout Lehigh, 72-51
2/25/2009 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 25, 2009
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| Bucknell-Lehigh Highlights
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Patrick Behan recorded his fourth straight 20-point game, totaling 23 points and nine rebounds to lead Bucknell to a convincing 72-51 victory over visiting Lehigh Wednesday night at Sojka Pavilion. Bryan Cohen added 17 points on 4-for-5 3-point shooting for the Bison, who posted their largest victory margin in almost two years and moved within one game of fourth place in the Patriot League standings.
Justin Castleberry chipped in 13 points and fellow senior Jason Vegotsky came off the bench to score nine on 3-for-4 shooting from the 3-point arc. Cohen hit his first four 3-point attempts of the night and Vegotsky canned his first three, and all told the Bison made 10 of 17 for a season-high 58.8 percent.
The hot shooting was only half of the story for Bucknell (7-21, 4-9 Patriot League). At the defensive end the Bison forced Lehigh to miss 18 of its first 22 shots of the night. The Mountain Hawks (15-12, 5-8) went just 5-for-29 (.172) from the field in the first half while Bucknell stockpiled a 31-15 halftime lead. Lehigh finished the game at 31.7 percent and only crossed the 50-point barrier on an uncontested layup with less than a second left in the game.
Bucknell was coming off a disheartening 13-point non-conference loss to Delaware in which it gave up the final 25 points of the game, and this one started with Lehigh driving to the basket for layups on its first two possessions of the night. But Cohen got the Bison on the board with a 3-pointer, and Bucknell's defense completely shut down the Mountain Hawks for the next 10 minutes.
Trailing 6-3, the Bison took the lead for good with a 12-0 run, keyed by two layups from the scorching-hot Behan and two more trifectas from Cohen. Lehigh managed only two field goals in a 13-minute span while Bucknell stretched its lead into double digits. Six straight Behan points made it 23-13, then Vegotsky connected on his first long-range shot of the night from the top of the arc to make it 26-13. Another Vegostky three put Bucknell ahead 31-15 in the final minute of the half.
Bucknell was 5-for-7 from the arc in the half, with those 15 points matching Lehigh's total. Bison head coach switched the defensive stalwart Cohen onto Lehigh's top scorer, Marquis Hall, and the move paid dividends. Hall was scoreless at the half and finished with 11 points on 4-for-15 shooting.
Dave Buchberger opened the second half with a steal and breakaway layup as Lehigh tried to pick up the intensity, but a 9-2 run capped by a G.W. Boon 3-pointer at the 16:09 mark made it a 20-point game at 41-21.
The Mountain Hawks got as close as 14 on Matt Szalachowski's 3-pointer with 9:28 left, but Castleberry hit two 3-pointers just 19 seconds apart to push the lead back to 20.
Cohen, Castleberry and Behan all added traditional 3-point plays in the final 6:30, and the Bison led by as many as 23 points on four occasions down the stretch.
It was Bucknell's largest margin of victory since a 68-47 win over Army in the 2007 Patriot League Tournament semifinals. Every healthy Bison player saw action in the game, and only Darryl Shazier (two points, six rebounds, four assists) played more than 31 minutes.
Bucknell outrebounded Lehigh 40-33 and made 10 of 11 free throws (.909) in the game.
Zahir Carrington led Lehigh with 15 points and 12 rebounds, while Rob Keefer, coming off the bench for the first time this season, scored 10.
Elsewhere in Patriot League action, Holy Cross defeated Colgate 60-58, Army defeated Lafayette 79-55 and American topped Navy 64-59. American clinched the regular-season title with its victory, while Holy Cross and Navy are now locked into the second and third seeds, respectively. Lehigh, Colgate and Army are all tied for fourth place at 5-8, with Bucknell and Lafayette right behind at 4-9.
Bucknell hosts Army on Saturday night in the regular-season finale.
