Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
11-10, 6-2PL
Boston University
8-11, 4-4PL
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bucknell | 42 | 50 | 92 |
| Boston University | 40 | 37 | 77 |
Hass, Bison Continue Offensive Surge in 92-77 Win at Boston University
1/24/2015 4:47:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BOSTON, Mass. – Chris Hass hit his first six 3-pointers and scored 18 of his 28 points in the second half to lead Bucknell to a 92-77 win at Boston University on Saturday afternoon in snowy Boston. Seven Bison scored at least eight points, and Bucknell set season highs for field-goal percentage (.561), 3-point percentage (.650) and free-throw percentage (.938) while remaining in a tie for first place in the Patriot League.
The victory was Bucknell's fourth in a row and second straight on the road this week, and the Bison moved over .500 at 11-10 for the first time since opening the season with a victory over Marist. At 6-2 in the Patriot League, Bucknell and Colgate are tied for first, and they moved two games clear of Boston University, which fell to 4-4. American is a game and a half back at 4-3 and will play Army on Monday.
While Hass played a starring role, draining three after three during Bucknell's decisive second-half surge, the Bison got quality production up and down the lineup. Freshman point guard Stephen Brown had his best game to date, scoring a career-high 15 points on near-perfect shooting: 4-for-5 from the floor, 2-for-2 from the 3-point arc and 5-for-5 from the foul line. He also logged three assists and three rebounds in 25 minutes.
Steven Kaspar continued his recent run of fine form with nine points, four assists and two steals off the bench. John Azzinaro, J.C. Show, Cory Starkey and Nana Foulland all scored eight points, and Ryan Frazier added five points and had a major impact defensively down the stretch.
Hass was coming off a 10-for-15 shooting performance in a 26-point effort in Wednesday's win at Loyola. He was 10-for-16 in this one, scoring on an array of drives, pull-ups and long-range bombs, most of them coming with defenders draped all over him. Hass hit his first six 3-point attempts, including a double-clutch leaner that gave the Bison a 10-point lead with 8:47 to play. He finished the night 6-for-7 from the arc, missing only on his final try when he got bumped in the air and came up well short.
The Bison had a 42-40 lead after a wild first half. The Terriers tied it on two Justin Alston free throws to start the half, but then Foulland's dunk ignited an 18-5 Bucknell run. Brown fueled the surge with a pair of 3-pointers, and two free throws by Hass put the Bison up 60-47.
Bucknell also had a 13-point lead in the first half, only to see Boston University rally back. This time the Terriers exploded for 10 straight points in just over two minutes, crawling within 60-57 on a transition three by John Papale. ¬¬
But every time the Terriers thought they had momentum, the Bison had an answer. Just after Papale's three, Frazier pump-faked his man off the floor and swished a 3-pointer. Hass followed with a layup to stretch the lead back to eight. Boston University scored four straight points, but then Hass hit a three and Frazier made two free throws.
Foulland scored in the paint with his left hand to make it a 12-point game at 75-63 with 8:16 left. The Terriers maintained a glimmer of hope after John Papale drained a 28-foot trey at the end of the shot clock, but at the other end Starkey connected with Kaspar for a backdoor layup. After Nathan Dieudonne missed the front end of a 1-and-1, Hass hit 3-pointer No. 6 and Brown answered two Terriers free throws with a driving 3-point play to give Bucknell a comfortable 83-68 lead. The margin swelled to as many as 19 after a Starkey layup with 2:00 to play.
The Bison hit 13 of 20 from the 3-point arc and 15 of 16 from the foul line while shooting better than 50 percent from the floor for the fourth time in the last five games. Defensively, they held Boston University to 42.1 percent shooting. The Terriers were averaging 8.9 made threes per game in league play, but they were 4-for-15 in this one. Boston University did most of its damage at the foul line, where it went 25-for-30.
Cedric Hankerson, the Patriot League's No. 2 scorer at 17.8 points per game, went 11-for-14 at the foul line but just 2-for-12 from the floor to finish with 15 points. Papale led the Terriers with 22, and Dieudonne came off the bench to score 15.
“Boston University is a very hard team to defend, and we had a hard time guarding them at times,” said head coach Dave Paulsen. “But what we did do well was defend the 3-point arc. Ryan Frazier really gave us a lift defensively in the second half and I thought we fed off of his intensity. Stephen Brown did a great job at the point, and of course Chris Hass was phenomenal hitting big shot after big shot. In order to win on the road you need to hit shots, make your free throws and get enough stops down the stretch, and we did that today.”
After both teams traded big runs to start the game, there were seven lead changes in the final four minutes of the first half. The Terriers grabbed their first lead of the day at 31-29 on Dieudonne's dunk with 3:49 left. Hass knocked down two late 3-pointers for the Bison, the last with 0:03 on the clock to give Bucknell a 42-40 lead at the break.
The Bison started the game 10-for-14 from the field, capped by two Show 3-pointers, and they led 25-12 just over nine minutes into the game. Bucknell followed that hot start with a 2-for-16 stretch, however, and that led to a 19-4 Boston University run.
Bucknell finished with a slim 31-30 rebounding edge, with Foulland leading the way with seven boards. The Bison had 19 assists on 32 field goals and turned the ball over only seven times. Earlier this week, Hankerson had a school-record nine steals and Boston University forced 13 turnovers against normally sure-handed American.
Hass now has seven 20-point games this season and three in a row. In his last three contests he is 29-for-48 from the field and 14-for-22 from 3-point range.
Bucknell will be back home on Wednesday to face Lehigh at 8 p.m. in a game that will be televised on the American Sports Network.
