Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
8-14, 3-3PL
Lehigh
13-8, 4-2PL
Bison Men Rally Again, Defeat Lehigh 81-76 in Overtime
1/27/2010 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 27, 2010
| Video Highlights
LEWISBURG, Pa. - G.W. Boon scored 12 of his 18 points in the final 1:39 of regulation and overtime and Bucknell scored the final 10 points of regulation in an 81-76 overtime win over Lehigh Wednesday night at Sojka Pavilion. Freshman Mike Muscala, who tied the game with two free throws with 30 seconds left in regulation, recorded his first career double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds as the Bison rallied from a double-figure deficit to win for the second straight game.
Patrick Behan scored 14 points on 6-for-8 shooting, and point guard Darryl Shazier had two critical defensive plays in the closing seconds of both regulation and overtime while recording 13 points and seven assists with no turnovers in 43 minutes of action.
The Bison have now won consecutive games for the first time since late November and are now 8-14 overall and 3-3 in the Patriot League.
Lehigh received 21 points from Marquis Hall and 20 from freshman C.J. McCollum, but the Mountain Hawks managed only one field goal and three points over the final seven minutes of regulation. Lehigh, which had won three straight and nine of its last 10 coming in, fell to 13-8, 4-2, and fell out of a first-place tie in the Patriot League standings.
Bucknell led 34-33 at the half, and neither team could shake loose for the first nine minutes of the second half. The Bison and Mountain Hawks alternated points 11 straight times during one five-minute stretch. Behan's spinning shot in the lane put Bucknell in front 51-49 with 11:13 to play, but then Lehigh made the first major run of the game.
Sparked by two 3-pointers and a set of three free throws while being fouled on a trey attempt by Hall, Lehigh rattled off 13 straight points in a span of only 3:33. When Dave Buchberger banked in a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 7:32 left, the Mountain Hawks led 62-51 and it seemed like it would not be Bucknell's night.
The Bison, who came from 13 down to win at Colgate on Saturday, had plenty of fight left, however. Shazier's jumper in the lane ended a 5:12 scoring drought, and later Bucknell pulled within 63-57 when Boon put back his own miss. But Hall and McCollum wrapped two short jumpers around a missed front end of a 1-and-1 by the Bison, and Lehigh had its 10-point lead back at 67-57 with 3:22 left.
Muscala and Boon keyed Bucknell's improbable comeback. Muscala, who hit the game-winning shot against Colgate, hit both ends of a 1-and-1 after being fouled on a defensive rebound with 2:45 left. Boon then drove the lane for a conventional 3-point play to make it 67-62 with 1:39 remaining.
On the ensuing inbounds Lehigh was called for a 5-second violation, then there was a lengthy delay as the officials had to sort things out after both teams tried to substitute players back in the game when no time ran off the clock. Bison head coach Dave Paulsen had initially diagrammed a play to get Bryson Johnson a shot, but Johnson was not allowed back in the game, so he ran a similar play for Boon.
The Bison had been a frigid 1-for-16 from 3-point range to that point, but this time Boon canned one from deep on the right wing off the inbounds play, making it a 67-65 game with 1:37 to go.
As it had for much of the latter stages of the game, Bucknell amped up the defensive pressure, and McCollum threw the ball away with a minute to go. After a timeout the Bison put the ball back in Boon's hands, but this time he back-rimmed a 3-pointer. Muscala came soaring in for the offensive rebound, missed a put-back attempt, then got fouled while grabbing a second offensive rebound.
With 30 ticks left, the freshman made the first free throw, waited out a Lehigh timeout, then came back and swished the second to knot the contest at 67-apiece.
On the final possession Lehigh went to Hall, but Shazier cut off his penetration and forced him into a tough, contested 3-point try. The shot nearly banked in, but it curled around the rim as time expired.
Gabe Knutson hit two free throws to start the overtime period, but after a couple of empty possessions both ways, Boon put the Bison ahead to stay with a 3-pointer with 2:58 left. At the other end Cohen, by now locked in on McCollum after the terrific-looking rookie torched Bucknell for 14 of his team's points in a row to end the first half, blocked his foul-line jumper and Stephen Tyree grabbed the rebound.
Boon missed a 3-pointer, but somehow Hall double-dribbled in open space while bringing the ball back up the floor. This time the Bison took advantage, with Boon draining his third 3-pointer of the night tom make it 73-69 with 1:29 to play.
After a timeout Lehigh went inside to Zahir Carrington for a bucket, but Shazier answered with a pull-up jumper outside the right elbow. Hall made two free throws with 34 seconds left to bring Lehigh within 75-73, but Shazier made two big free throws to make it a four-point game again.
Inside 20 seconds remaining McCollum was stripped of the ball while trying to penetrate, but somehow he kept possession and flipped it out to Hall for a 3-pointer, and it was a 77-76 game with 19.7 seconds left. Bucknell had trouble inbounding but found Shazier at the last second, and again the junior co-captain hit a pair of critical free throws, the first of which bounced high off the back iron and through the net.
Down 79-76 Lehigh had a chance to tie. Shazier harassed Hall way out on the right side, and finally with about five seconds left he stripped him of the ball. Shazier then hustled to save the ball from going out on the baseline, passing it over to Muscala under the hoop. Muscala was fouled with 2.9 seconds left and sealed the game with two more free throws.
Muscala was 8-for-8 from the foul line and the Bison were 21 of 25 in the game.
Rebounding was a major factor, as the Bison finished with a 37-27 edge against a Lehigh team that came in with a plus rebounding margin. Carrington, the league's No. 4 rebounder, was held to just two boards in 38 minutes, none on the offensive end. In fact, Lehigh managed only five offensive rebounds all night as the Bison had a 12-2 edge in second-chance points.
Despite going just 4-for-21 from the 3-point arc, Bucknell shot 46.7 percent from the field. The Bison committed 11 turnovers, most of which came during Lehigh's second-half run.
Behan did not start for the first time this season, but was a major force off the bench, producing 14 points and four rebounds in 23 minutes. Bucknell used only three reserves, but they outscored Lehigh's six-man bench 34-3.
Lehigh shot 48.1 percent from the field and made 8 of 16 from 3-point distance and 16 of 22 from the foul line.
This was Bucknell's fourth overtime of the season, all at home, and it is now 3-1 in those games. It was the team's 10 overtime contest since the start of last season, nine of which have come at home.
Bucknell has now surpassed its win total from last season while improving to 47-11 against Patriot League foes in Sojka Pavilion.
The Bison play at home again on Saturday, hosting Army at 7 p.m.
