Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
9-10, 4-2PL
Army
11-6, 2-4PL
Hass' Four-Point Play Keys Bucknell's 81-75 Win over Army
1/17/2015 10:43:00 PM | Men's Basketball
LEWISBURG, Pa. – Chris Hass scored a game-high 23 points, none bigger than his 4-point play that stretched a one-point lead up to five with 53 seconds remaining, leading Bucknell to an 81-75 victory over Army on Saturday night at Sojka Pavilion. Freshman center Nana Foulland added 17 points and nine rebounds, and Steven Kaspar tallied 11 points and six assists to help the Bison improve to 4-2 in Patriot League play and remain one game behind league-leading Colgate.
Tanner Plomb led four Army players in double figures with 18 points. Patriot League Preseason Player of the Year Kyle Wilson added 17, Dylan Cox scored 12 and Larry Toomey 11 for Army, which fell to 11-6 overall and 2-4 in the Patriot League.
It was a physical, but well-played affair between two teams that have engaged in some tight contests in recent years. There were bodies all over the floor throughout the night, but both teams shot over 50 percent in the second half of a close game and both teams committed only 10 turnovers each.
The Bison, now 9-10 overall, received a much-needed big game from Hass, who broke out of a shooting slump with four 3-pointers in eight attempts as part of a 9-for-17 night. The play of the game occurred just after the clock flipped under a minute and Bucknell clinging to a 71-70 lead. Hass curled off a staggered screen on the right wing, took a pass in stride from Ryan Frazier and swished a deep three while absorbing contact from Mo Williams.
Hass made the free throw after a timeout, and then Army turned the ball over on a handoff exchange at the other end. Frazier made 1 of 2 at the free-throw line to make it a six-point game, and Kaspar went 4-for-4 at the line in the final 30 seconds to help Bucknell win its sixth straight home game.
“This was a total team victory,” said head coach Dave Paulsen, who used 12 players and received 26 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists from his reserves. “Every guy who played for us did some really great things. Army is a tough team to play with their fast-paced tempo, and that is really hard for us to replicate in practice. We really competed, and that is the most efficient we have been offensively even though they pressed us full-court the entire game. We made a big step forward in terms of our guys being connected on the offensive end.”
Hass drained three treys in the first 5:14 of the game, and back-to-back baskets by D.J. MacLeay gave the Bison an early 18-11 lead. Zach Thomas – who is now 6-for-6 from the arc in his young career – and John Azzinaro swapped 3-pointers with Army's Luke Morrison and Wilson in the final 4:23 of the half, and despite missing two front ends of 1-and-1s in the final minute the Bison took a 38-30 lead into the locker room.
Plomb took over for Army in the opening minutes of the second half. The junior, who was coming off a 28-point performance in a win at Holy Cross on Wednesday, scored eight straight Army points in one two-minute stretch, and the Black Knights regained the lead at 51-50 on Wilson's banked-in 3-pointer from the top of the key with 12:50 to go.
Thomas drove the lane for a layup on the next possession, and even though the Bison would never trail again the margin was paper thin until the very end. After the Thomas bucket, Azzinaro made a sweet dish to Foulland for a dunk, and then Kaspar hit his second 3-pointer of the half to give Bucknell a 57-51 lead.
Army immediately responded with five straight points by Plomb to cut the margin to one, before Hass drained a tough jumper from the left wing. At the seven-minute mark Hass split two defenders for a layup, and then freshman point guard Stephen Brown made a nice spin move in the lane to get Bucknell's lead back to six at 63-57.
Again, the Black Knights would not go away. Cox hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead to two at 66-64, and then Kevin Ferguson made both ends of a 1-and-1 after being fouled on a defensive rebound, tying the game at 66-all with 4:06 to play.
The Bison came right back with Kaspar drawing a defender and slipping a pass to Foulland for a layup. Toomey scored while drawing a foul the other way, but after the under-4 media timeout he missed the free throw that would have given Army the lead back.
Kaspar made 1 of 2 at the line, and then the two teams traded missed shots for the next two minutes. Cory Starkey ended the drought with a reverse layup, Cox answered with his own layup to make it 71-70 with 1:22 to play, and that set up Hass' game-changing shot.
The Bison shot 50.9 percent for the game and hit 9 of 15 from 3-point distance and 14 of 25 from the foul line. Army shot 47.4 percent overall, 5 of 17 from the arc and 16 of 25 from the line. The Black Knights game in averaging just under 10 made threes in Patriot League play. They had also been 6-1 on the road this season, with the only loss coming at Duke on Nov. 30.
Colgate came from behind to beat Navy earlier in the day, and the Raiders maintained sole possession of first place in the Patriot League at 5-1. Bucknell and American are just a game back at 4-2 in a tightly bunched race.
The Bison will now head on the road for two games, starting Wednesday at Loyola Maryland. That is an 8 p.m. game and will be televised by the American Sports Network. Fans in the local area can tune in on My Network TV (WQMY) out of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
