Bucknell University
9-7
Richmond
11-4
Muscala's Buzzer-Beater Gives Bison Men Thrilling 62-61 Win at Richmond
1/2/2011 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 2, 2011
Box Score | Video of Winning Shot (courtesy UR Athletics) 
RICHMOND, Va. - Bison sophomore center Mike Muscala was just nine months old when Christian Laettner hit his famous shot to beat Kentucky in the 1992 NCAA Tournament, but Sunday afternoon at the Robins Center he did his best Laettner impersonation, taking a long inbounds pass from Joe Willman and hitting a turnaround jumper at the buzzer to give the Bison a thrilling 62-61 win over Atlantic-10 power Richmond.
Muscala and Bryson Johnson both scored 17 points for the Bison, who have won seven of their last eight games and now take a 9-7 record into Patriot League play, which starts Saturday at Navy.
Richmond fell to 11-4 and saw their 11-game home winning streak come to an end. The Spiders were coming off a 16-point rout of Wake Forest and had also beaten No. 8 Purdue, Arizona State and Seton Hall this season. It was Bucknell's first win in four all-time games against the Spiders.
Justin Harper led Richmond with 19 points, but the Bison kept all-star guard Kevin Anderson in check, holding him to 13 points and five turnovers. Anderson kept Bucknell alive by missing two free throws with 2.3 seconds left, and then the Bison converted on their second chance at a Hail Mary play.
The Bison trailed 29-28 at the half after scoring the final five points of the first half, and then they came out of the locker room with eight straight points to stretch the run to 13-0. Muscala hit a short bank shot, then back-to-back 3-pointers by Johnson and Shazier gave the Bison their largest lead to that point, 36-29.
Harper ended the run with a 3-pointer just before going to the bench with his third foul. The Bison went back up by seven later in the half on a 3-point play by Muscala, but the Bison center picked up his third foul on a slight bump going for an offensive rebound with 8:28 left.
Richmond rallied with Muscala on the bench, pulling within two on a short bank shot by Josh Duinker, who was filling in for the foul-laden Harper, and then the Spiders tied it at 47 on a layup by Francis-Cedric Martel with 7:02 left. After Joe Willman made 1 of 2 at the line, Cedrick Lindsay drive the lane for a 3-point play to give Richmond the lead back at 50-48.
That would not be the last lead change, however. Buckets by Willman and Johnson gave the Bison the lead back, but then Martel hit a 3-pointer and Anderson picked Cohen's pocket in the back court and walked in for a layup to give Richmond at 55-52 lead.
At the end of the shot clock Shazier drove the lane for an acrobatic layup, but he could not finish the 3-point play. Then with 3:18 left Bucknell went back in front 56-55 on a short bank shot by Boon.
After both teams' centers missed in the lane, Muscala got fouled on the low block and made both ends of a 1-and-1. Anderson then threw the ball into his own bench on a kick-out attempt, and Shazier put the Bison up 60-55 when his drive to the hoop was goaltended with 1:33 left.
Harper pulled Richmond within 60-58 on a left-wing 3-pointer. Bucknell milked the clock under a minute before Boon's 3-pointer rimmed out, and Muscala was called for a foul on the rebound.
Martel missed both free throws, but Richmond rebounded the second miss. The Spiders went to Anderson, the reigning Atlantic 10 Player of the Year, and he drove the lane for a hanging layup around Muscala to tie it at 60 with 35 seconds left.
Shazier had his drive to the rim blocked, and Brothers grabbed the rebound with about five seconds left and made a mad dash to the other end. At the top of the key he ran into Johnson, but the Bison guard was called for the blocking foul with 2.6 seconds left. Brothers missed the first but made the second to give Richmond the 61-60 lead.
On the inbounds Bucknell tried a long pass but it went too far for Muscala out of bounds. The Bison fouled Anderson on the inbounds and he missed both free throws, and Bucknell used their final timeout with 1.7 seconds left.
Getting a second chance at a winner, Muscala caught Willman's pass near the left elbow, spun and knocked down the fadeaway jumper as the Bucknell bench chased him to the opposite foul line for a wild celebration.
Bucknell jumped out to a 10-4 lead while holding Richmond to 2-for-10 shooting at the start. Muscala scored Bucknell's first four points, then Johnson and Boon canned 3-pointers.
The Bison still led 15-13 when the Spiders turned up the defense and scored nine straight points to take the lead for the first time. Anderson was the catalyst, scoring on a tough up-and-under layup to snap a 15-all tie, followed by a 3-pointer from the top of the key. Harper's layup completed the run and gave Richmond a 22-15 lead.
In the final minute of the half the Bison trailed 29-23, but Johnson hit his third 3-pointer, then Boon grabbed the offensive rebound on a blocked shot and put it back to pull Bucknell within 29-28. Freshman Ben Brackney made a good defensive challenge to force Brothers into an air ball at the buzzer, and the Bison trailed by one at the half.
Shazier finished with nine points and seven assists, while Willman had seven points and nine rebounds in addition to the biggest assist of his career. Shazier also became the fourth player in school history to eclipse the 400-assist mark, joining Mike Joseph (565), Chris Seneca (553) and Pat Flannery (505).
The Bison shot 46.2 percent from the field and went 8-for-16 from the 3-point arc. Johnson continued his red-hot shooting with a 5-for-7 day from long distance. Boon had seven points and six rebounds off the bench as the Bison outrebounded Richmond 36-31.
Now 7-1 since the start of December, Bucknell opens up Patriot League play next Saturday, Jan. 8 at Navy at 8 p.m. The contest will be televised live on CBS College Sports.
