Bucknell University
Lafayette
Johnson, Andoh Lead Bucknell Men to 74-69 Overtime Win at Lafayette
2/16/2011 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 16, 2011
EASTON, Pa. - On a night when Bryson Johnson scored a career-high 30 points and broke the Bucknell single-season 3-point record, it was Enoch Andoh who came off the bench to contribute two big shots and a defensive stand in overtime to lift the foul-saddled Bison to a 74-69 win at Lafayette on Wednesday night. The Bison won their fourth in a row and 17th in their last 19, and at 10-1 in the Patriot League maintained a two-game lead over American with three games to play.
Jim Mower scored 19 points and Jared Mintz and Ryan Willen had 13 apiece for Lafayette (10-16, 5-6), who scored the final 11 points of regulation to force overtime.
It was a game of wild momentum swings, as the Bison fell behind by six points early, then sandwiched a big run around the halftime break to open up a 13-point lead. But the Leopards made two big second-half rallies to send Bucknell to overtime for the first time this season.
Johnson made his first six shots and his first five 3-pointers. He finished 7-for-10 overall, 5-for-7 from the arc and 11-for-11 from the foul line en route to his first career 30-point game. His previous high was 25 points at Boston College in December. Johnson also became the first Bucknell player to reach 80 3-pointers in a season. The previous mark was 79, set by Kevin Bettencourt in 2005-06 and John Griffin in 2007-08.
Johnson entered the game ranked sixth in the nation in 3-point shooting at 46.9 percent. He upped that mark to 47.9 percent after his performance on Wednesday.
Tied at 61 at the end of regulation, Lafayette extended its run to 14 straight points with a Levi Giese 3-pointer to open the overtime session. Bucknell equalized when Johnson was fouled on a three attempt and knocked down all three free throws.
Andoh, in the game with Joe Willman and G.W. Boon both having fouled out in regulation, hit a little jump hook in the lane to give the Bison the lead. After Giese made 1 of 2 at the line, Muscala canned a lefty jump hook to make it 68-65.
Bucknell got a stop, but then Mower jumped a passing lane and turned it into a breakaway dunk. Andoh, who was averaging 2.5 minutes in his previous 12 appearances, scored again with a low-post move on Mintz. Willen made two at the line to bring the Leopards within 70-69 with 39 seconds left.
Lafayette fouled Darryl Shazier with 31 seconds left, but he missed both free throws. On the defensive end Andoh stripped Mintz at the top of the key, and after a long scramble and bodies flying everywhere, there was a held ball with 10 seconds left. The Bison had the arrow and called timeout.
Shazier then earned some redemption by canning two at the line, followed by a strip of Tony Johnson before he could launch a potential tying 3-pointer. Shazier again made both free throws with one second left to ice the win.
Johnson canned 3-pointers on the final possession of the first half and the first play of the second half to spark a 15-0 Bison run. Leading 31-26 at the break, Johnson hit a left-wing trey 15 seconds into the second period, then the Bison followed with a Joe Willman jumper and a tough baseline fadeaway by Johnson to go up 38-26.
After a Willen 3-pointer, Johnson converted a 4-point play to give the Bison a 13-point lead, 42-29.
Bucknell's lead was 12 at 46-34 when the Leopards made a big run. Rob Delaney's layup started a 10-0 surge. Mintz had five points in the middle of the run, and Mower capped it with a transition 3-pointer to make it a 46-44 game with 8:58 to play.
Cameron Ayers ended Bucknell's drought with a couple of free throws. After a few point exchanges, the Bison got the lead back up 11 with a 7-0 run. Muscala had the key sequence, first hitting an 18-foot jumper, then taking a charge on the defensive end to set the stage for a drive to the basket by Johnson that he turned into a 3-point play. The free throw gave Johnson a career-high 27 points and the Bison a 59-48 lead with 4:56 to play.
Inside the four-minute mark the Bison lost Willman and Boon - both of their power forwards - to fouls. Mintz hit four straight free throws, then after a Bucknell turnover, Johnson drive the lane for a layup. Another Bison giveaway led to two free throws by Ryan Willen to make it a 61-58 game.
Bucknell ran the shot clock all the way down and Ayers had a 3-point try rim out. At the other end a cutting Mower finished a reverse layup while drawing a foul, and his free throw tied the game at 61 with 1:09 to play.
After a Bucknell timeout, Muscala was grabbed away from the ball and went to the line for two. The Bison had been 17-for-17 from the line as a team, but Muscala, an 83-percent free-throw shooter himself, missed both with 48 seconds left.
Muscala made up for it by contesting a spinning shot by Mintz and forcing a miss, and the Bison rebounded with the shot clock off. Bucknell played for the final shot and got Johnson a good look at a three from the left side, but it drew only back iron as time expired.
Buckets were hard to come by for both teams in the first half, as Bucknell shot just 38.5 percent and Lafayette 34.6 percent. Bucknell fell behind 8-2 early but stayed in it thanks to Johnson's hot hand. His 3-pointer tied it for the first time at 17, then Muscala gave the Bison their first lead at 19-17 with 7:01 left.
Bucknell held Lafayette to just three field goals in the final 11 minutes of the first half. A Levi Giese 3-pointer gave the Leopards a 26-23 lead, but then the Bison scored the final eight of the half on two Johnson free throws, an Ayers 3-pointer, and finally a tough fadeaway from about 23 feet by Johnson just before the buzzer.
Shazier finished with eight points, six assists and a career-high 10 rebounds. Muscala had an off night by his standards, finishing with 10 points and eight rebounds, but he was 4-for-12 from the field and had seven turnovers.
As a team the Bison shot just 39.3 percent and turned it over 16 times, but they went 24-for-28 from the foul line and 6-for-13 from the arc.
Defensively, Bucknell limited high-scoring Lafayette to 38.5 percent shooting, including a 7-for-22 mark from 3-point range.
The Bison snapped a three-game losing streak in Easton and swept the season series from the Leopards for the first time since 2006-07. Bucknell has reached the 19-win mark for the 11th time in program history.
Bucknell wraps up this three-game road trip on Sunday at Colgate at 2 p.m. The Bison can clinch the Patriot League regular-season title with a win.
