Bucknell University
2-3
Presbyterian (CBE Classic)
1-3
Dominant First Half Carries Bison Men's Basketball Past Presbyterian, 71-47
11/22/2010 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 22, 2010
HARRISONBURG, Va. -- Darryl Shazier scored 16 points and Bucknell dominated in all phases of the game en route to a 71-47 victory over Presbyterian Monday afternoon in the first of three games in three days at the O'Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic. The Bison raced to a 20-point halftime lead behind terrific defense and 3-point shooting, and after the starters earned a much-deserved early rest, the bench sealed the win with strong play down the stretch.
The Bison (2-3) received contributions from all over the floor in the opening half, but it was Shazier who set the tone with two early moves in the lane and a nice drive and dish to G.W. Boon. Shazier finished with a season-high 16 points and also chipped in five assists and five rebounds with only one turnover in 21 minutes. In his last three games, Shazier has 15 assists and one turnover.
Bryan Cohen scored all 10 of his points in the first half while adding seven rebounds and three assists. Boon, Mike Muscala and Cameron Ayers chipped in eight points each. All 12 healthy Bison played in the game, none for more than 28 minutes. The big early lead allowed coach Dave Paulsen to limit Shazier to 21 minutes, Muscala to 19 and the hobbled Joe Willman to just five.
Bucknell led 40-20 at halftime and by as many as 27 midway through the second half. For a 10-minute stretch in the second half the Bison used a lineup with all three freshmen - Ryan Hill at the point and Ayers and Ben Brackney on the wings - along with two sophomores. The young group acquitted itself well. Ayers had eight points, three rebounds and two steals in 23 minutes. Hill had two points, four assists, a steal and only one turnover in 15 minutes. Brackney, in his first extended action, went 3-for-5 from the floor and finished with six points and three rebounds in 10 minutes.
The Bison were hampered by a slow start in their last outing at Saint Francis on Saturday, but it was the exact opposite against a Presbyterian team that was coming off a road win against Eastern Kentucky and had nearly upset No. 3 Kansas State a week earlier. Boon, making his first start of the season in place of Willman, hit a 3-pointer on the game's opening possession, and two buckets in the lane by Shazier and a Muscala layup staked Bucknell to a quick 9-0 lead.
The Blue Hose (1-3) crept back within 12-8, but then the Bison started raining 3-pointers. They hit five in a row during one stretch and 8 of 15 in the first half. Colin Klebon's conventional 3-point play stopped Presbyterian's 8-3 run, and then Cohen and Ayers connected on 3-pointers to make it 21-8.
Later in the half the Bison had an eight-point lead at 24-16, but then they outscored the Blue Hose 16-4 over the final 8:18. Treys by Cohen and Boon sparked a 9-0 run, and Cohen hit his third 3-pointer of the half at the 3:05 mark to make it 36-18.
In the final minute, Muscala scored the last four points of the half, including a baseline buzzer-beater that gave Bucknell a commanding 40-20 lead at intermission.
Khalid Mutakabbir, who led Presbyterian with 13 points, hit a 3-pointer to start the second half, but an 8-2 run capped by two straight Shazier buckets stretched the lead to 48-25, and Bucknell never led by less than 20 the rest of the way.
Klebon had two nice low-post moves in the paint, and Brackney's first career bucket came on a jumper with a toe on the 3-point stripe with 9:38 to play. That gave the Bison their largest lead of the day, 27 points at 59-32.
The Bison shot 50.9 percent overall and 50.0 percent (9-18) from 3-point range. After making 8 of 15 treys, mostly against Presbyterian's zone defense, in the first half, Bucknell attempted only three 3-pointers in the second half and finished with a 20-8 edge in points in the paint.
Bucknell was terrific on the glass, outrebounding the Blue Hose 41-28 while conceding only two offensive rebounds in the entire first half. The Bison were able to stifle Presbyterian's top inside threat, Al'Lonzo Coleman, who came in averaging 16.7 points and 9.3 rebounds per game. Coleman finished with five points on 2-for-8 shooting. In fact, none of Presbyterian's three double-figure scorers came up with more than five points in the game.
The Blue Hose came in shooting 46.4 percent as a team, including 48.8 percent from the arc, but the Bison held them to 32.7 percent from the floor and 26.1 percent (6-23) from long distance.
Bucknell continues play at the CBE Classic on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. against Princeton.
