Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
13-12, 8-4PL
Holy Cross
9-13, 4-8PL
Thomas' Double-Double Helps Bison Top Holy Cross 70-57
2/8/2015 5:50:00 PM | Men's Basketball
LEWISBURG, Pa. – John Azzinaro scored a game-high 14 points and Zach Thomas recorded his first career double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds, helping Bucknell to a 70-57 victory over Holy Cross on Sunday afternoon at Sojka Pavilion. The Bison moved to 8-4 in the Patriot League (13-12 overall) and rejoined Colgate in a tie for first place with six games remaining.
A physical affair between these two arch-rivals ultimately turned into a bit of a free-throw shooting contest. There were 52 fouls called in the game, leading to 69 foul shots. The Bison struggled early at the foul line, making only 3 of 9 in the first half, but they hit 22 of 26 in the second half, including 18 of their final 19. Bucknell finished 25-for-35, while Holy Cross was 21-for-34.
Thomas hit 10 of his 12 free throws and collected the double-double despite going just 1-for-2 from the field. Chris Hass and Ryan Frazier also scored in double figures with 11 each. Malcolm Miller led Holy Cross with 12 points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots.
After allowing Colgate and Lafayette to shoot at least 54 percent from the field in a pair of losses last week, Bucknell turned in one of its best defensive performances of the season in this one. Holy Cross shot 30.6 percent for the game – the lowest mark of the year by a Bison opponent. The Crusaders were hot early from 3-point range, hitting 5 of 10 in the first half, but Bucknell held them to 1-for-8 accuracy from the arc and 6-for-25 (.240) overall in the second period.
Frazier helped limit Miller, his former AAU teammate, to one field goal and five points in the second half. Miller was the Patriot League's tenth-leading scorer at 13.0 points per game coming in. And after giving up 68 points to opposing point guards in the last three games, the Bison did a good job on Holy Cross' standout point guard Justin Burrell, who finished with seven points on 2-for-9 shooting with three assists after going for 15 points and eight assists in a win over Colgate last time out.
“I thought we did a terrific job defensively in the second half,” said head coach Dave Paulsen. “Holy Cross played well in the first half coming off a great performance in a win over Colgate. Ryan Frazier really sparked us defensively, and Zach Thomas did a great job on the glass. We were finally able to piece together consecutive stops, which allowed us to get some separation.”
Despite making only one field goal in the final nine minutes of the first half, the Bison trailed by only two at 27-25 at the break. Cullen Hamilton opened the second half with a three to give Holy Cross its largest lead of the game, but the Crusaders would make only one more field goal over the next eight minutes.
Azzinaro's pull-up jumper in the paint capped an 8-2 run and put the Bison back on top at 33-32. The advantage would swap hands four more times before Bucknell finally opened up some breathing room around the 10-minute mark.
Hass, the fourth-leading scorer in the Patriot League, was being held in check to that point, but he scored six of his team's first eight points in what became a decisive 14-3 run. He hit a 15-foot jumper off a pressbreak, and with Holy Cross concerned about his 3-point shooting, Hass scored on back-to-back hard drives to the basket. Azzinaro capped the run with a long 2-pointer and two free throws, which gave Bucknell a 56-44 lead with 5:43 left.
Bucknell took its largest lead of 13 points for the first time on Ben Oberfeld's layup with off a Steven Kaspar assist with 3:56 to go. Moments later Kaspar made a sweet no-look bounce pass to a cutting Hass for an acrobatic reverse layup.
Holy Cross got as close as eight after a Robert Champion layup with 1:42 left, but Thomas answered with a 3-point play to end the threat of a comeback.
The Bison received quality frontcourt minutes from Thomas, Oberfeld, Dom Hoffman and D.J. MacLeay after starting forward and second-leading rebounder Cory Starkey left the game with a sprained ankle in the opening minutes of the game. Holy Cross did have 11 offensive rebounds but only converted them into five second-chance points. The Crusaders narrowly won the rebounding battle 34-33.
A key for the Bison was handling Holy Cross' aggressive run-and-jump full-court press, which had caused them problems in each of the last two meetings, both won by the Crusaders. This time Bucknell had only eight total turnovers and just one against the press.
“We had lost our last two games to Holy Cross, and maybe we were on our heels and a bit tentative in the first half,” said Paulsen. “Then it looked like we got a little zip in our step as the game went on.”
The Bison are now 9-3 at home this season and 90-20 all-time against Patriot League opponents at Sojka Pavilion, but they will be on the road for four of their final six contests of the season. Bucknell visits Navy on Wednesday, while co-leader Colgate travels to Boston University.
