Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
1-4
Toledo
2-2
Toledo Rides Fast Start to 92-65 Win over Bucknell at Progressive Legends Classic
11/24/2014 9:22:00 PM | Men's Basketball
TOLEDO, Ohio – Julius Brown led five Toledo players in double figures with 20 points, and the Rockets ran out to a big early lead and never looked back in a 92-65 win over Bucknell on Monday night at Savage Arena. J.C. Show scored 10 points to lead the Bison, who will now play Maryland-Eastern Shore on Tuesday on day two of the Progressive Legends Classic subregional at Toledo.
Nothing went right for the Bison at the outset, as Toledo raced out to a 16-0 lead before the Bison got on the board on a Show jumper at the 13:41 mark. The Rockets were on fire, hitting at a 55.6 clip in the first half, and they stretched their lead out to 27 at 37-10 on a pair of free throws by Jordan Lauf with 2:50 left in the half.
The Bison got a jumper off an inbounds play from Zach Thomas, the first career 3-pointer from Stephen Brown and a short turnaround jumper by Ben Oberfeld in the final 2:37, but Toledo center Nathan Boothe hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to push the margin back to 27 at 44-17 at the half.
Bucknell shot 25.9 percent in the first 20 minutes, with the starting five limited to four points on 2-for-14 shooting. The Bison were much better offensively in the second half, scoring 48 points on 48.5 percent accuracy, but the margin was just too steep.
The Bison reserves accounted for 43 of the team's 65 points, led by Show's 10. Cory Starkey added nine points and five rebounds, Ben Oberfeld logged four points and five boards in nine minutes, and junior Matt Banas had a nice moment when he tipped in a missed layup in the final minute for his first collegiate points.
Top scorer Chris Hass, who was named the Patriot League Player of the Week earlier in the day, was held scoreless in the first half before hitting three second-half 3-pointers for nine points on his ledger.
Brown scored 12 of his 20 in the second half to lead all scorers, while the 6-9, 240-pound Boothe scored 13 of his 15 in the first half, mostly from around the perimeter. J.D. Witherspoon added 14 points, Justin Drummond 11 and Jonathan Williams 10 as all five Toledo starters hit double digits in the scoring column.
Toledo shot 51.7 percent overall and hit 6 of 12 from the arc. The Rockets, who went 27-7, won the Mid-America Conference West Division and played in the NIT last year, had a 43-28 edge on the glass and recorded 20 second-chance points.
Bucknell shot 40.3 percent overall and was 7-for-20 from long range. The Bison had 14 assists to only nine turnovers, but the Rockets had only seven miscues of their own.
Bucknell will play Maryland-Eastern Shore in another Progressive Legends Classic game on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. The Bison and Hawks will be meeting for the first time. UMES fell to Detroit 69-55 earlier on Monday.
