Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
12-12; 7-4
Lafayette
14-8; 6-5
Lafayette Storms Back to Defeat Bucknell 84-74 in Overtime
2/4/2015 10:24:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Note: The monthly Backcourt Club luncheon will be held on Thursday at noon at La Primavera Restaurant on Rt. 45 in Lewisburg. Coach Dave Paulsen and members of the Bison team will be in attendance and talk about recent and upcoming games.
EASTON, Pa. – Behind 29 points from Dan Trist and 26 from Nick Lindner, Lafayette raced back from a 17-point deficit to defeat Bucknell 84-74 in overtime on Wednesday night at Kirby Sports Center. J.C. Show hit five first-half 3-pointers and finished with a team-high 17 points for the Bison, who dropped their second straight nailbiter and fell to 12-12 overall and 7-4 in the Patriot League.
Chris Hass scored 13 points, Cory Starkey had a career-high 12 with nine rebounds, and Nana Foulland also scored a dozen, but the Bison just could not get enough defensive stops once Lafayette (14-8, 6-5 PL) finally got going with about 15 minutes to play.
Bucknell was doing just about everything right up to that point, scoring both inside and out while holding the normally potent Leopards to 23 first-half points. The Bison were nursing a 17-15 lead with seven minutes left in the half, and then Show took over for a while. Inserted back in the game after Hass had to go to the bench after taking a blow that bloodied his nose, Show canned five 3-pointers and assisted on a Foulland dunk, all in a span of just over five minutes.
After Show's first trey at the 6:51 mark, Bucknell outscored Lafayette 21-8 the rest of the way and led 38-23 at the break. Starkey's layup gave the Bison a 17-point lead at 46-29 with 16:29 left. At that point the Leopards had hit only one 3-pointer, but a Monty Boykins trey would be the first of five they would hit from long range in the second half.
Lindner's layup capped a 27-9 run and gave Lafayette the lead at 56-55 with 5:29 left. The two teams then went blow-for-blow all the way to the final seconds of regulation. Bucknell took the lead four more times, but each time the Leopards had an answer.
Steven Kaspar tried to will the Bison to victory in the final two minutes. He was fouled on back-to-back strong drives to the basket, and he made 3 of 4 free throws to give the Bison a 64-63 lead. Lindner missed a contested runner in the lane, but Seth Hinrichs put back the rebound to give Lafayette the lead back with 29 seconds to go.
Again it was Kaspar, this time finishing at the rim while drawing a foul, and his 3-point play made it 67-65 with 20 ticks left. But Lindner drove the ball all the way to the basket for another layup to tie the game, and Hass' contested 3-point attempt was off the mark as time expired.
Bucknell had a brief lead in overtime when Starkey scored in the paint on the opening possession, but the Leopards scored six straight points to take the lead for good. The Bison had two possessions down 75-71 but came away with a missed jumper and a turnover, and then they had to start fouling. Lafayette converted 11 of 12 at the line in overtime to seal the verdict.
“Give credit to Lafayette, Nick Lindner was sensational tonight, as was Dan Trist,” said head coach Dave Paulsen afterward. “We just weren't able to guard them tonight. That's a very good basketball team that beat us tonight, but at the same time, to have such little attention to detail at the defensive end was very disappointing.”
Bucknell and Lafayette split the season series, and the Leopards moved one game behind the second-place Bison in the Patriot League standings after winning their third game in a row. Colgate remains in first place by a half-game heading into a Thursday road test at Holy Cross.
The Bison shot 42.2 percent for the game. After making 7 of 14 from 3-point distance in the first half, they were just 2-for-16 in the second half and overtime. Lafayette was 20-for-31 from the field after halftime and shot 54.7 percent overall.
Bucknell is back in action on Sunday at 2 p.m. at home against Holy Cross. The game will be televised on CBS Sports Network.
