Feb. 3, 2009
WHAT: Bucknell (5-16, 2-5 PL) vs. Colgate (6-14, 2-5 PL)
WHERE: Cotterell Court, Hamilton, N.Y.
WHEN: Wednesday, February 4, 2009, 7 p.m.
RADIO: Eagle 107 and SportsJuice.com
TV: None
STREAMING VIDEO: Patriot League All-Access
LIVE STATISTICS: gocolgateraiders.com
COMPLETE PRESS NOTES 
Interview with Stephen Tyree
With a Victory over Colgate, Bucknell Would ...
... snap a two-game losing streak and improve to 3-5 in the Patriot League.
... win its first road game of the season and snap a 13-game road losing streak dating back to last season.
... defeat the Raiders for the 10th time in the last 11 meetings.
... win at Cotterell Court and sweep the regular-season series with the Raiders for the fifth straight year.
About the Game
Bucknell and Colgate get together for the second time in 11 days on Wednesday night at Cotterell Court. Bucknell won that one 64-62 in overtime on Darryl Shazier's 3-pointer with two seconds remaning, but neither team has won a game since then. The Bison went on the road and lost back-to-back games at Lehigh and Army, while Colgate has dropped three straight to Bucknell, Holy Cross and Navy. Both teams hit the halfway mark of Patriot League play at 2-5, putting them in a three-way tie with Lafayette for sixth place in the standings.
How to Get the Game
The Bucknell-Colgate game will not be televised, however 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 can be accessed via gocolgateraiders.com.
Bucknell to Host Blue Hens in BracketBusters
The pairings for the 2009 ESPNU BracketBusters showcase were announced on Monday night, and Bucknell was matched up with former Middle Atlantic Conference and East Coast Conference rival Delaware. The non-televised game will be played on Feb. 21 at 2 p.m. at Sojka Pavilion. Bucknell is the lone Patriot League representative in the BracketBusters. The Bison drew a team from the Colonial Athletic Association for the third straight year in the event. Bucknell played Towson in 2007 and Old Dominion last year.
Bucknell vs. Colgate Series Notes
This will be the 92nd all-time meeting between Bucknell and Colgate in a series that dates back to 1920. The Bison have a 52-39 series lead.
Bucknell had beaten the Raiders eight straight times until Colgate snapped the streak in the 2008 Patriot League Tournament semifinals.
As Patriot League rivals, Bucknell has won 31 of the 43 meetings, including 16 of 19 in Lewisburg.
Bucknell is 8-3 in its last 11 games in Hamilton. The Bison had won four straight at Cotterell Court before falling there in the 2008 postseason.
Colgate is responsible for one of Bucknell's seven league losses in Sojka Pavilion. The Raiders defeated the Bison 64-56 to close out the 2003 regular season, which was Bucknell's first in Sojka. Bucknell then won 35 straight home games against league foes before Lehigh broke the streak last season.
Bucknell vs. Colgate Earlier this Season
Darryl Shazier's 3-pointer with two seconds left in overtime gave the Bison a dramatic 64-62 win over Colgate on Jan. 24 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.
Bucknell vs. Colgate Last Season
Last season Bucknell took two out of three meetings with Colgate, but the Raiders got the one that mattered the most.
On Jan. 26, 2008 at Sojka Pavilion, Bucknell scored the first 23 points of the game, then held off a Colgate charge and won 65-61. Justin Castleberry led all scorers with 22 points, while John Griffin had 10 for the Bison. Colgate pulled within two with 11 minutes to play, then Bucknell scored 11 straight to seemingly take control, but a 2-for-7 stretch at the free-throw line kept it close at the end. Willie Morse led Colgate with 19 points.
On Feb. 6, 2008 at Cotterell Court, John Griffin scored a career-high 31 points, Stephen Tyree had 16 points and nine rebounds, all after halftime, and Darryl Shazier hit a 3-point buzzer-beater at the end of regulation to propel the Bison to a wild 91-85 overtime win. The Bison trailed by as many as 11 in the second half and by eight with 2:29 to play before rallying. Bucknell went 6-for-7 from the field in overtime, with Griffin's 3-point play putting the Bison up for good. Colgate had five players score in double figures, led by 16 points from Daniel Waddy.
On March 9, 2008, Bucknell's season came to an end in Hamilton, N.Y., as the Bison fell 54-40 in the Patriot League Tournament semifinals. After rallying from 17 down in the second half to defeat Navy earlier in the tournament, Bucknell again fell behind by 17 against Colgate, but this time they could not get the margin closer than four. Kyle Roemer, who had 25 of Colgate's 54 points, hit three clutch baskets to answer the Bison charge, and the Raiders put the game away at the free-throw line. Bucknell managed only three field goals and 10 points in the first half. Castleberry led the Bison with 12 points, while Darren Mastropaolo had 11 in his final game in a Bucknell uniform.
Numbers to Watch
Some relevent stats involving Bucknell and Colgate:
This game is a battle of the league's lowest scoring team (Colgate, 55.9 ppg) against the team that allows the most points in the league (Bucknell, 74.1 ppg against).
Bucknell has attempted significantly more shots than Colgate this season. The Bison are averaging 60.1 shots per game, while the Raiders launch only 49.1. As a result, Bucknell scores 9.4 more points per game (65.3 to 55.9) than Colgate.
On the flip side, Colgate's opponents take about seven fewer shots per game than Bucknell's opponents. The Raiders allow only 63.8 points per game.
The vast majority of Colgate's production in the first meeting of the season came from its frontcourt tandem of Alex Woodhouse (11 points, 8 rebounds, 6 blocks) and Yaw Gyawu (18 points, 5 rebounds). That Bison freshman Enoch Andoh countered some of that with his best career game (13 points, 10 rebounds) was a major factor in the victory.
Bucknell and Colgate did not play any common non-league opponents this season.
Last Time Out
Cleveland Richard scored a career-high 28 points to help Army defend its home court in a 76-65 win over Bucknell on Saturday at Christl Arena. The Black Knights broke open a close game with a 10-0 run late in the first half and led by as many as 16 in the second before Bucknell mounted a comeback. The Bison drew within four, but precise foul shooting down the stretch by Army stifled the rally. Darryl Shazier scored a career-high 21 points to lead the Bison.
Inside the Army Boxscore
Darryl Shazier scored 18 of his career-high 21 points in the second half. Shazier also set a personal best with five 3-pointers and was 6-for-9 from the field. The Patriot League assists leader was credited with only one in the game, however, his second-lowest total of the year (0 at Wake Forest).
Justin Castleberry finished with 15 points despite a tough shooting night from the field. He was 3-for-13 overall and 0-for-6 from the 3-point arc, but he did go 9-for-9 from the foul line.
Patrick Behan also scored in double figures again with 12 points and also added nine rebounds.
G.W. Boon, the reigning Patriot League Player of the Week, was hit with two early fouls on charging calls and never got on track. He attempted only one shot in the game and went scoreless in only 19 minutes.
Bucknell had its best day of the year at the free-throw line, hitting 19 of 22 (.864). Unfortunately, so did Army. The Black Knights went 24-for-30 (.800) overall, hit 10 of 12 in the last 1:18 and connected on 17 of their last 20.
Bucknell committed 10 of its 16 turnovers in the first half, five of them coming on traveling violations and three others on charges.
The Bison finished with a 33-28 rebounding edge and outscored Army 10-3 in second-chance points.
100th Game for Castleberry
Senior guard Justin Castleberry will play in his 100th career game on Wednesday night.
20-20-20-20-20 Vision
Darryl Shazier's 21-point game at Army on Saturday made him the fifth different Bucknell player to score 20 or more in a game this season. Bryan Cohen, Justin Castleberry, Patrick Behan and G.W. Boon have all topped 20 multiple times this year. The last time five different Bison had 20-point games in a season was all the way back in 1994-95, when Brian Anderson, Kihlon Golden, Sekou Hamer, Dave Steigerwald and Kevin Wenk all did it.
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 Jan. 24 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.
Who's Got Next?
Bucknell begins the home stretch with five of its last seven games at Sojka Pavilion, beginning Saturday night against Navy at 7 p.m. Saturday will be Young Alumni Night at Sojka, and at halftime members of the 1988-89 Bucknell team will be recognized as we approach the 20th anniversary of its East Coast Conference championship and NCAA Tournament appearance. The current Bison will be looking to avenge a 71-67 loss at Navy last month.
