Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
6-8, 1-0PL
American
7-6, 0-1PL
Bison Ride Strong Defense, Rebounding to 57-47 Win over American in PL Opener
12/31/2014 5:39:00 PM | Men's Basketball
LEWISBURG, Pa. – Chris Hass registered 17 points, six rebounds, four assists and no turnovers to lead Bucknell to a 57-47 victory over defending Patriot League champion American in the conference opener for both teams on Wednesday afternoon at Sojka Pavilion. The Bison shot 52.4 percent from the field in the second half to break open a tie game, and they used stellar defense and rebounding to win a low-scoring affair that featured long possessions from both sides.
Bucknell (6-8, 1-0) received 24 points and 15 rebounds from its bench, including an eight-point, eight-rebound performance from D.J. MacLeay and 10 big points from freshman J.C. Show. Freshman center Nana Foulland added nine points and five rebounds despite being held to 19 points due to foul trouble.
American (7-6, 0-1) runs a methodical, Princeton-style offense, but the Bison remained disciplined defensively. The Eagles were unable to score on their backdoor cuts, finished with only 18 points in the paint and were held to 38.1 percent shooting for the game. Charlie Jones scored a career-high 17 points to lead American, while Jesse Reed tallied 12 points and seven rebounds.
Bucknell finished with a 35-23 edge on the glass and allowed American to get only two offensive rebounds all day.
“Our second team did a terrific job the last two days replicating their offense,” said coach Dave Paulsen. “Joshea Singleton, Zach Thomas, Matt Banas, Ben Oberfeld and Stephen Brown had as big a piece of this victory as anyone. American is so difficult to guard, but I thought we also did a good job making them have to guard us as well.”
American led by as many as five points in a slow-paced first half, but Show's 3-pointer – Bucknell's first of the day -- in the final minute of the half tied it at 22-22 at the break. John Azzinaro canned another trey on the opening possession of the second half, and the Bison never trailed again.
The Eagles tied it once more at 25 on a Pee Wee Gardner layup, but a tip-in from Hass and a lefty runner off the glass by Show ignited a 9-2 run and sent the Bison on their way. Later in the half, consecutive layups by Steven Kaspar, MacLeay and Foulland stretched a 3-point lead up to nine, and Hass supplied the dagger with a deep, shot-clock-beating 3-pointer to make it a 50-40 game with 1:32 to play.
Bucknell shot 40.4 percent from the field overall and hit 4 of 15 tries from 3-point range. The Bison had some struggles at the foul line, making 15 of 25, but they still outscored the Eagles 15-9 at the foul line.
Bucknell committed only eight turnovers and parlayed 12 offensive rebounds into 12 second-chance points.
The Bison head on the road Saturday to face Colgate at 2 p.m., before returning home to play Lafayette next Wednesday night.
