Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell's Patrick Behan Earns Second-Team All-Patriot League Nod, Cohen All-Rookie
3/2/2009 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 2, 2009
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Bucknell junior forward Patrick Behan (Leesburg, Va./Notre Dame Academy) parlayed a torrid 10-game stretch at the end of the regular season into his first all-conference citation, as he was named to the All-Patriot League Second Team on Monday. Also honored was Bison freshman guard Bryan Cohen (Huntingdon Valley, Pa./Abington Friends), who made the Patriot League All-Rookie Team.
Behan is enjoying his best season yet in 2008-09, and he heads into the postseason ranked sixth in the Patriot League in scoring at 13.8 points per game, second in rebounding at 6.7 per game and ninth in field goal accuracy at 44.8 percent. In Patriot League games, he averaged 15.2 points per game to rank fifth in the league and 7.6 rebounds to rank third.
Behan has posted eight 20-point games this season, the most by a Bucknell player since Kevin Bettencourt had eight in 2003-04. Behan finished the regular season with five straight 20-point games, which is the longest such streak in the Patriot League this season, and the longest by a Bison player since Bryan Bailey finished the 2001-02 regular season with five 20-point games in a row.
Early in the season Behan recorded a career-high 27 points against Wagner, and he logged his first career double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds at Richmond.
Normally a "4" man, Behan was asked to play quite a bit at the center position in the second half of the season, and over the last 10 games he has been on a tear. During that 10-game span he topped the 20-point plateau six times and had 18 or more points eight times. He averaged 19.3 points and 8.4 rebounds while shooting 53.8% from the field and 78.0% from the free-throw line during that stretch.
Cohen quickly emerged as a key player for the Bison even as a rookie. He became the first freshman to start on opening night since John Griffin in 2004-05, and he has not missed a start since. His 11.7 scoring average is second among Patriot League freshmen, and he leads all rookies in 3-pointers (51) and minutes played (33.5). Among all players, he ranks 11th in the league in scoring and eighth in 3-pointers made.
A three-time Patriot League Rookie of the Week, Cohen has scored in double figures in 21 of 29 games so far, including a 22-point game against Saint Francis (Pa.) and a 20-point showing against Cornell.
Just as important as those offensive statistics, Cohen developed into Bucknell's top defensive player this season. He was asked to defend the opposition's best player on most nights, and he forced many of the league's top guards into below-average offensive performances.
Cohen is Bucknell's 10th all-rookie selection since joining the Patriot League in 1990-91, and the Bison have now had an all-rookie pick in seven of the last eight years.
Dating back to Bucknell's days in the East Coast Conference, this is just the second year in the last 26 that the Bison have not landed at least one first-team all-league selection.
This year's first team included Patriot League Player of the Year Derrick Mercer of American, Garrison Carr of American, Navy's Kaleo Kina, Holy Cross' Andrew Keister and Lehigh's Marquis Hall.
Joining Behan on the second team were Lehigh's Zahir Carrington, Navy's Chris Harris, American's Brian Gilmore and Army's Cleveland Richard.
The All-Rookie Team consisted of Cohen, Rookie of the Year R.J. Evans of Holy Cross, Yaw Gyawu of Colgate, Ryan Willen of Lafayette and Army's Julian Simmons.
Jeff Jones was named Patriot League Coach of the Year after leading American to a 13-1 league record and the No. 1 seed in this week's Patriot League Tournament, while Army's Marcus Nelson was named Defensive Player of the Year.
Bucknell is the No. 7 seed in the tournament and will travel to No. 2 Holy Cross on Wednesday night at the Hart Center in Worcester, Mass.
