Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
8-10, 3-2PL
Navy
7-10, 3-2PL
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| NAVY | 27 | 36 | 63 |
| Bucknell | 29 | 36 | 65 |
Azzinaro Shoots Bucknell Men Past Navy, 65-63
1/14/2015 11:11:00 PM | Men's Basketball
LEWISBURG, Pa. – Bucknell head coach Dave Paulsen has always preached that it is more important who finishes games than who starts. Tonight sophomore John Azzinaro, taken out of the lead five after 13 straight starts, hit three consecutive 3-pointers in the final 2:11, including the tiebreaking shot with 11 seconds remaining, to lift the Bison to a dramatic 65-63 victory over first-place Navy at Sojka Pavilion.
Azzinaro also had a key steal in the final minute to set up his winning three, and he finished with a career-high 19 points. Nana Foulland, one of three freshman starters for Bucknell, logged 12 points and seven rebounds to help the Bison improve to 8-10 overall and 3-2 in the Patriot League.
“This was a gratifying win,” said Paulsen, whose team trailed 61-56 before Azzinaro began his 3-point barrage. “Navy out-played us for about 36-and-a-half minutes, but to our guys' credit we didn't panic. Obviously Johnny carried us down the stretch. We made a change in the starting lineup tonight, and he handled it like a champ.”
Azzinaro had a near-perfect shooting night, making 6 of 7 from the field, including all five of his 3-point attempts, along with a 2-for-2 showing at the foul line. His previous career best was 18 points against Penn State earlier this season.
Steven Kaspar, who is also coming off the bench now after starting at the point earlier this season, was another important factor for the Bison late in the game. Kaspar did not score from the field, but he hit two big free throws with 3:24 remaining and finished with six assists, four rebounds, two steals and no turnovers in 29 reserve minutes.
Kaspar also did a solid job defending Navy sharpshooter Brandon Venturini, who was limited to eight points on 3-for-10 shooting. Venturini, who had 40 3-pointers entering the game, was held to one, and the Midshipmen were just 2-for-10 from the arc on the night.
Worth Smith scored 14 points and Edward Alade had 12 for Navy, which had won four of its last five and was part of a three-way tie for first place in the Patriot League at 3-1. Now, Bucknell, Navy, Boston University, Lafayette and American are all 3-2 and sit in a five-way tie for second place behind 4-1 Colgate.
There were eight lead changes and four ties in a tightly contested first half, and a Chris Hass jumper gave the Bison a 29-27 lead at the half. The advantage swayed three more times in the opening minutes of the second period before Navy slowly built a six-point lead with a 13-6 run over a four-minute span.
Kaspar's free throws pulled Bucknell within 59-55 with 3:24 left. The Bison thought they had a defensive rebound at the other end, but Smith reached in at the last second and slapped the loose ball right back to Alade under the basket for a dunk, and Navy's six-point cushion was restored at 61-55 with 2:42 to play.
Then Azzinaro got hot. With 2:11 to go, Foulland passed out of a double team in the low block, and Azzinaro rattled in a trey from deep in the right corner. On Navy's next possession, Kaspar momentarily stripped the ball away from Venturini, who regathered it in the right corner, drove baseline and then had his shot simultaneously blocked by Kaspar and Foulland.
Azzinaro then curled off a screen on the right wing, and Kaspar found him for the tying 3-pointer with 1:17 remaining. Kaspar and Azzinaro then teamed up for another critical defensive play. Venturini picked up his dribble with his back to the basket just inside the free throw line, and Kaspar reached in from behind to poke the ball loose all the way out to mid-court. Tilman Dunbar was first to it for Navy, but Azzinaro dove in to force the held ball, and Bucknell had the possession arrow with 43 seconds left.
After a timeout, Bucknell drained most of the shot clock. Azzinaro dribbled to the top of the key and handed the ball off to Kaspar. Both Navy defenders stayed with Kaspar momentarily, and that left Azzinaro open on the right wing for the go-ahead triple with 11 seconds left.
Leading by three, Bucknell elected to foul and put Navy at the line. Dunbar made 1 of 2, then the Bison got the ball inbounded to Hass with 6.4 seconds left. Hass left the door open by missing the second of his two free throws, but again they went with the strategy to commit a foul with a three-point lead, this time with just 2.3 seconds left.
Venturini hit the first free throw, then tried to miss the second intentionally, but his attempt was a violation as it did not hit the rim. Bucknell inbounded to Ryan Frazier, who dodged a foul attempt and was able to run out the clock.
The Bison shot 41.2 percent for the game but was 9-for-15 from 3-point range. They also hit 14 of 19 from the foul line and committed only eight turnovers. Navy also had eight turnovers while shooting 44.9 percent from the field and 17-for-21 from the foul line.
Freshman Stephen Brown made his first collegiate start and tallied four points, three rebounds, an assist, a blocked shot an no turnovers in 23 minutes. He was joined by Foulland and J.C. Show in the lineup, giving Bucknell three freshman starters in a game for the first time in 11 years. The last time that happened was In the final game of the 2003-04 season, when Chris McNaughton, Abe Badmus and John Clark all started as rookies.
Bucknell is now 6-2 at home this season (3-0 in league play), and the Bison won their seventh straight against the Midshipmen at Sojka Pavilion. The all-time series between the two teams is now tied at 35-35.
Bucknell has another home game against a service academy team on Saturday, when Army visits Sojka Pavilion at 7 p.m.
