Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
12-11, 7-3PL
Colgate
10-13, 7-3PL
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colgate | 27 | 44 | 71 |
| Bucknell | 35 | 34 | 69 |
Colgate Scores Final Seven to Stun Bison 71-69, Two Teams Tied Again for PL Lead
1/31/2015 10:17:00 PM | Men's Basketball
The game was tied at 64 inside three minutes remaining when Hass drained his fifth 3-pointer of the night. Steven Kaspar then came up with a steal and fed Ryan Frazier for a fastbreak layup and a 69-64 Bucknell lead with 2:13 remaining.
After an offensive foul on Colgate, Kaspar layup through contact fell off the rim, and Tillotson scored on a drive the other way. Hass, who was 5-for-5 from the arc at that point, missed his first 3-point attempt of the night, and with 30 seconds to go Tillotson drained a three to tie the game at 69.
After a timeout, the Bison turned it over on a rarely seen call. Kaspar delivered a bounce pass to Frazier out near the top of the key, but the official underneath the basket blew the play dead and ruled that Frazier had stepped out of bounds on his cut along the baseline. That gave Colgate the ball back with 12.5 seconds left, and Tillotson swished a jumper from the right elbow to put the Raiders ahead with 1.1 seconds left. Bucknell's long inbounds pass was broken up as time expired.
Tillotson hit 10 of 13 shots and 4 of 5 from 3-point range as Colgate shot 69.2 percent in the second half and 59.6 percent overall. Matt McMullen added 12 points, Damon Sherman-Newsome 11 and Luke Roh 10 for the Raiders (10-13, 7-3 PL).
Nana Foulland tallied 14 points and six rebounds, Frazier scored a season-high 11 points, and Kaspar dished out a season-high seven assists for the Bison (12-11, 7-3 PL). Bucknell shot an even 50.0 percent from the floor and his 10 of 14 3-point attempts.
In the first meeting of the season between the two teams, Colgate rallied from 13 points down at the half to win 68-62. The Raiders faced an eight-point halftime deficit in this one before making 18 of 26 second-half shots.
Bucknell ended an evenly played first half on a 10-2 run, capped by Stephen Brown's steal and breakaway layup, and led 35-27 at the break. Tillotson hit two treys in a quick 8-1 run early in the second period, the latter bringing the Raiders within a point at 42-41.
Colgate went ahead on a McMullen triple with 9:51 remaining, and there would be four more lead changes the rest of the way. Trailing 59-56, Bucknell scored seven straight points, the last five from Hass on a 3-pointer and two free throws.
The Raiders drew even again at 64-all on Sherman-Newsome's 3-point play with 3:03 left, but Hass immediately answered with a three. Kaspar stole the ball from Sherman-Newsome in the corner and then made a beautiful no-look pass to Frazier for the layup that made it a 69-64 game, but the rest of the game belonged to Tillotson.
“Obviously we are very disappointed to let this one get away,” said coach Dave Paulsen afterward. “We were up 69-64 and couldn't close it out. We really didn't get any defensive stops when we needed to.”
Bucknell and Colgate sit atop the Patriot League standings at 7-3, and every other team in the league has at least five losses. Colgate does hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Bison after becoming the first team since Navy in 2010 to sweep a season series from Bucknell.
This was Colgate's first win over the Bison in Sojka Pavilion since the arena's inaugural year in 2003. Bucknell had won 11 straight since then.
Bucknell visits Lafayette on Wednesday, while Colgate travels to Holy Cross on Thursday.
