Feb. 6, 2009
WHAT: Bucknell (5-17, 2-6 PL) vs. Navy (15-7, 4-3 PL)
WHERE: Sojka Pavilion, Lewisburg, Pa.
WHEN: Saturday, February 7, 2009, 7 p.m.
RADIO: Eagle 107 and SportsJuice.com
TV: None
PROMOTIONS: Young Alumni Night, 20th Anniversary Recognition of 1989 ECC Championship Team
STREAMING VIDEO: Bison Vision
LIVE STATISTICS: GameTracker
COMPLETE PRESS NOTES 
Bucknell Basketball Luncheon Video
With a Victory over Navy, Bucknell Would ...
... snap a three-game losing streak and improve to 3-6 in the Patriot League.
... improve to 6-4 at home this season and 3-1 at home against Patriot League foes.
... improve to 8-0 against Navy at Sojka Pavilion and defeat the Midshipmen in Lewisburg for the ninth straight time.
... split the season series with the Mids.
About the Game
After dropping all three games on its just-completed three-game road trip, Bucknell now has a run of five home games out of seven leading up to the Patriot League Tournament next month. All five Bison wins have come at Sojka Pavilion, and they will need a few more in order to climb out of the PL cellar. Bucknell enters the weekend in eighth place, a half-game behind Lafayette, which hosts Holy Cross on Saturday. Navy comes to Lewisburg with a 4-3 Patriot League mark, good for sole possession of third place, two full games behind Holy Cross and American. The Midshipmen defeated Bucknell 71-67 in Annapolis on Jan. 10, and they are also the only league team with a win over Holy Cross. Navy did lose three out of four, however, before winning 75-64 at Colgate last Saturday.
How to Get the Game
The Bucknell-Navy 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 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.
1989 Champs Honored
Saturday evening at halftime Bucknell will be paying tribute to the 1988-89 Bison squad that captured the East Coast Conference championship and earned the second NCAA Tournament berth in program history. Hall-of-Famers Mike Butts and Mike Joseph are among the players from that team expected to be back on campus for the 20th-anniversary celebration.
Bucknell vs. Navy Series Notes
This will be the 57th all-time meeting between the Bison and Midshipmen, with Navy owning a 31-25 series lead.
The Bison have won eight of the last 10 and 11 of the last 14 meetings with Navy.
The Mids won 12 of 16 from the Bison prior to joining the Patriot League in 1991-92.
As conference rivals Bucknell holds a slim 21-19 advantage, with the home team winning most of the time. Since Navy joined the league, Bucknell is 15-3 against the Mids at home but is only 6-16 against Navy in Alumni Hall during that time.
Navy is 0-7 against Bucknell at Sojka Pavilion and also has a neutral-site loss there in a Patriot League Tournament quarterfinal game against American in 2005. Bucknell has won eight straight at home against Navy dating back to the Davis Gym days. The Mids' last win in Lewisburg was a 71-58 decision on Feb. 3, 2001 in Davis.
Bucknell vs. Navy Earlier this Season
The Bison cut a nine-point second-half deficit down to one with a late flurry, but Navy hit three critical 3-pointers after it had struggled all night from the arc, and the Midshipmen prevailed 71-67 in the Patriot League opener for both teams on Jan. 10 at Alumni Hall. G.W. Boon led Bucknell with 20 points and was the ringleader of the comeback. He had three 3-pointers and a follow jam in the final 5:14, but in the closing minutes Adam Teague hit two 3-pointers and Kaleo Kina one for Navy. All three of those treys pushed a one or two-point Navy lead back to a multi-possession game. Even more frustrating for Bucknell, Navy had been 3-for-22 from the arc and had missed 11 in a row before finishing 3-for-3. Kina led all scorers with 25 points, while Chris Harris had 14 for the Mids. Darryl Shazier had a big night for the Bison. The sophomore point guard scored a then-career-high 18 points and also handed out seven assists.
Inside the First Navy Boxscore
Bucknell forced a normally high-scoring Navy team into several prolonged droughts, but the Bison could not take advantage. Both teams shot under 38% for the game.
Both teams executed well in crunch time, however. In the final 3:16 Navy was 4-for-4 from the field, 3-for-3 from the 3-point arc and 5-for-7 from the foul line. Bucknell in the final 6:15 went 8-for-12 from the field, and three of those misses resulted in put-back baskets.
G.W. Boon went 4-for-6 from 3-point range.
The difference in the game may have been the first four minutes of the second half, when Navy made five straight layups in a 10-1 run, turning a one-point deficit into an eight-point lead.
Not counting the Wagner game when he was stricken with the flu, freshman Bryan Cohen had his quietest offensive night of the year with only four points. Cohen was 2-for-6 from the field and committed four turnovers in 30 minutes.
Justin Castleberry hit a couple of early jumpers but could not get one to go from long range. He finished the night 0-for-5 from the arc, 4-for-12 overall and scored eight points.
Freshman Ryan Ebner made his first collegiate start, replacing Josh Linthicum in the lineup. Ebner had two points and six rebounds in 21 minutes.
Both teams had 14 offensive rebounds and 44 total rebounds in the game. The stat sheet was fairly even across the board, with the exception being at the free-throw line, where Navy outscored Bucknell 17-9.
Bucknell vs. Navy Last Season
On Jan. 11, 2008, Justin Castleberry scored 19 points to lead four Bucknell players in double figures, and the Bison came back from a seven-point halftime deficit to defeat Navy 85-77 at sold-out Sojka Pavilion in the first game of the 2008 Patriot League schedule. Greg Sprink scored 26 points and Kaleo Kina tied his career high with 24 for Navy.
On Feb. 9, 2008 at Alumni Hall, Kina set a new career high with 27 points, and Sprink and Chris Harris both hit back-breaking 3-pointers in a close game in the final minutes, leading Navy to a 78-72 win. John Griffin hit five 3-pointers and scored 19 points to lead the Bison, while Castleberry, Darren Mastropaolo and Stephen Tyree scored a dozen each.
On March 5, 2008 at Alumni Hall, Griffin banked in a 40-foot prayer at the final buzzer to lift Bucknell to an 87-86 triple-overtime win in the Patriot League Tournament quarterfinals. The finish seemed improbable when the Bison trailed by 17 points with 15:42 to play in regulation, but they staged a furious rally and ended up winning the longest game in Patriot League postseason history. Both teams made dozens of clutch, pressure shots in the overtimes. Just in the final minute of triple OT, Griffin hit a tying 3-pointer for Bucknell, Harris countered with a go-ahead trey, G.W. Boon tied it again with a three, T.J. Topercer put back a missed shot to give Navy an 86-84 lead with three seconds left, and finally Griffin won it for Bucknell with a running bank shot from just inside half court. Griffin finished with 21 points to lead Bucknell, while Greg Sprink had 37 for Navy.
Numbers to Watch
Some relevent stats involving Bucknell and Navy:
This one could be a high-scoring affair, as Bucknell and Navy rank 1-2 in the Patriot League in shot attempts. The Bison average 59.8 attempts per game, while Navy launches 58.2. Both teams allow better than 70 points per game.
Bucknell has been solid defending the 3-point arc this season. Bison opponents are making 5.9 threes per game while shooting just 31.9% from long range. They will have to be at their best against one of the Patriot League's top 3-point shooting teams. Navy boasts the second- and third-leading 3-point shooters in the league in Chris Harris (65 3FGs) and Adam Teague (56), and Kaleo Kina (28) also has plenty of range. In the first meeting between the two teams this season, Navy missed 19 of its first 22 3-point shots, then made three in a row in crunch time to win the game.
Bucknell is coming off one of its worst rebounding nights of the year against Colgate. The Bison were outdone 44-29 on the glass and gave up 16 offensive rebounds. Defensive rebounding was an issue for Bucknell in the first matchup with Navy as well. The Midshipmen grabbed 14 offensive rebounds in that game, including six by energetic resevere Clif Colbert, whose 12 points and nine total rebounds were a big factor in Navy's win.
Bucknell and Navy did not face any common non-conference opponents this season.
Last Time Out
Bucknell jumped out to a 17-4 lead at Colgate on Wednesday, but the Raiders quickly erased that margin, then took control with 13-0 run early in the second half and prevailed 68-57. Patrick Behan scored 18 points for the Bison, who shot 50.0% in the first half but only 39.4% in the second. Meanwhile, Colgate was just 6-for-27 (.222) in the first half, then shot 46.2% after halftime. Anthony Hill hit two big 3-pointers to up Colgate's lead from three to nine midway through the second half, then he made six straight free throws in the closing minutes to seal the win. Hill led Colgate with 14 points, while Alex Woodhouse had 13 points, eight rebounds and five blocks.
Inside the Colgate Boxscore
Bucknell was outscored 28-4 from the free-throw line. Colgate was 28-for-35 (11-14 after Bucknell began fouling intentionally with 1:35 left in the game), while the Bison were just 4-for-10.
Justin Castleberry and Bryan Cohen also scored in double figures for the Bison with 13 and 11 points, respectively.
Patrick Behan finished 9-for-15 from the field and scored 18 points for the second time on the three-game road trip. Behan also led Bucknell with seven rebounds.
Bucknell lost two key players for part of the first half after it had taken the early lead. For the third straight game G.W. Boon picked up two early fouls and had to head to the bench. Boon finished with eight points in 26 minutes. Point guard Darryl Shazier turned an ankle in the first half and missed some time before returning later in the half. Shazier finished with three points after scoring a career-high 21 in the previous outing against Army.
Colgate finished with a commanding 42-29 edge on the glass, including 16 offensive boards.
The Bison received only one field goal and four points from its bench. Enoch Andoh, who had 13 points and 10 rebounds in the first meeting of the season against Colgate, was held scoreless with two rebounds in this one.
20-20-20-20-20 Vision
Darryl Shazier's 21-point game at Army last 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.
Team Scoring Race Heats Up
Bucknell has quite the race going for the team scoring lead, with three players separated by only three points at the top of the list. Justin Castleberry has the top spot with 258 points (11.7 ppg), followed by Bryan Cohen (255, 11.6) and Patrick Behan (255, 11.6). G.W. Boon (229, 10.5) also scores in double figures.
There are 16 players in the Patriot League with double-digit scoring averages, and Bucknell has a quarter of them.
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.
Who's Got Next?
Bucknell plays at home again on Wednesday night, taking on first-place American at 7 p.m. at Sojka Pavilion. The Eagles defeated the Bison 69-55 at Bender Arena earlier this year.
