Bucknell University
7-7
Loyola (Md.)
4-8
Bucknell Caps Strong Road Trip with 70-59 win at Loyola (Md.)
12/28/2010 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 28, 2010
BALTIMORE, Md. - Bucknell's power-forward combination of Joe Willman and G.W. Boon combined for 32 points to lead the Bison to their fifth win in their last six outings, 70-59 over Loyola (Md.) on Wednesday night at Reitz Arena. Bucknell went 3-1 on a difficult road trip to La Salle, Cornell, Boston College and Loyola, and are back to level on the season at 7-7.
With Willman in foul trouble, Boon subbed in and scored 14 of his 16 points in the first half, then Willman came back and scored all 16 of his in the second half. Bryson Johnson continued his hot 3-point shooting with a 3-for-3 first half and finished with 13 points. Leading scorer Mike Muscala was held without a field goal, but he did go 7-for-8 from the line along with 10 rebounds, three assists and two blocks.
Shane Walker led Loyola (4-8) with 14 points and nine rebounds, while Jamal Barney scored 10 points.
After falling behind 12-2, Johnson made a trey for Bucknell's first field goal 6:18 into the game, but that kicked off a 14-3 run that got the Bison the lead for the first time at 16-15. Johnson, Boon and Bryan Cohen all hit threes in the surge as the Bison continued their hot outside shooting.
After a handful of lead changes, Bucknell flipped a four-point deficit into a 36-27 halftime lead with a 15-2 run over the final 6:11 of the half. Boon had the first seven points of the run and scored 14 of Bucknell's first 28 points of the night. Johnson hit two more treys in the final three minutes. He was 3-for-3 from the arc in the first half after his 7-for-12 performance at Boston College last time out.
In the first five minutes of the second half, the Bison stretched the run to 27-6 and the lead to 16 at 47-31. Willman, who played only four minutes in the first half after collecting two quick fouls, scored six points in the run.
Loyola made a run, though, scoring eight straight points in just over two minutes, with four of the points coming from Erik Etherly.
But Willman was the difference in the second half for Bucknell. Three sophomore answered Loyola points with a bucket. With the lead trimmed to eight, Willman scored inside twice, first off a great wraparound feed from Cameron Ayers and then off a high-low pass from Muscala. Ayers then put back a rare missed 3-pointer by Johnson to make it 55-41 with 8:30 left.
The Greyhounds missed two straight front ends of 1-and-1s trailing by 12, then Willman scored again on a jumper to restore the 14-point cushion.
A 3-pointer by Pierson Williams and a fastbreak layup by Barney pulled Loyola back within eight at 59-51, but then Muscala drained both ends of a 1-and-1 and Shazier fed Willman for a baseline jumper to make it 63-51 with 3:49 left.
Bucknell led by at least 11 the rest of the way thanks to excellent free-throw shooting. At the line the Bison went 9-for-10 in the last five minutes and 19-for-21 in the game, while Loyola struggled at the line. The Greyhounds were just 13-for-20, with five of the misses coming in a key stretch inside eight minutes to play.
Shazier, who entered the game leading the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio, had four assists with only one miscue to go with five points and three rebounds. Ayers had a strong game off the bench with seven points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals in 30 minutes.
Bucknell shot 52.4 percent in the first half and 44.9 percent for the game. They just missed their fourth straight game shooting over 50 percent from the 3-point arc. They missed their last five attempts after a 7-for-10 start and finished 7-for-15 (.467) on the night.
Bucknell went 6-for-9 from the arc in the first half, then essentially put the outside game away for the second half and pounded the ball inside with great success.
The Bison committed an uncharacteristic 14 turnovers and had a negative assist-to-turnover ratio for only the second time all season. The other was against Marquette in game No. 2.
Bucknell had a very strong defensive night, holding Loyola to 32.8 percent shooting from the floor and 28.6 percent accuracy from 3-point range.
The Bison, who avenged a loss to Loyola at Sojka Pavilion last season, are now 5-1 all-time against the Greyhounds.
Bucknell closes out the 2010 calendar year on Thursday at home against Dartmouth. Game time for Community Night at Sojka Pavilion in 7 p.m.
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