Wednesday, November 7
Olean, N.Y.
7 p.m.
Bucknell University
88
at
85
St. Bonaventure
1
2
OT 1
F
Bucknell
31
40
17
88
St. Bonaventure
35
36
14
85
Bison Rally From 13 Down to Beat St. Bonaventure 88-85 in OT in Season Opener
11/7/2018 10:05:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Mackenzie nets career-high 28 as Bison win battle of 2018 NCAA teams
OLEAN, N.Y. – Senior Kimbal Mackenzie scored a career-high 28 points, 21 of them coming after halftime, and Bucknell rallied from 13 points down in the second half to beat St. Bonaventure 88-85 in overtime in the season opener Wednesday night at the rowdy Reilly Center. The Bison made all five of their field-goal attempts in overtime and came away with a feel-good victory in a hotly contested matchup between two 2018 NCAA Tournament teams.
The two squads took a combined 8,500 points worth of graduation hits after last season when Bucknell fell by four points to Michigan State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament and St. Bonaventure beat UCLA in the First Four before losing to Florida in the round of 64. With many players in expanded roles in game one, it was Bucknell's veterans making one big play after another with the game on the line.
"This was a great win on the road in a hostile environment to start the season," said head coach Nathan Davis. "I am most pleased with the way we did not hang our heads when we got down by double digits in the second half. There was still a lot of time left in the game, and if we could just get some stops we were confident that we could come back. A lot of different guys stepped up and made big plays down the stretch."
Hometown favorite Nate Sestina – a senior center making his first career start -- tallied 15 points and a career-high 16 rebounds in front of several busloads of family and friends from nearby Cameron County, Pennsylvania. Sophomore point guard Jimmy Sotos added 14 points and seven assists, sophomore backup center Paul Newman scored 10 straight Bison points in one key stretch in the second half, and juniors Bruce Moore and Avi Toomer both finished with nine points while making critical plays in overtime. Toomer accounted for the tying points late in regulation and the go-ahead point in overtime.
The Bison trailed 35-31 at the half before the Bonnies extended the margin to 13 at 52-39 with 12 minutes to play. Bucknell's deficit was still 11 with 6:41 left and seven with 3:49 to go. But Mackenzie and the Bison would not go away.
Mackenzie, who scored 12 points in the last 9:29 of regulation, beat the shot clock with a 3-pointer to make it a 67-63 game with 3:23 to go. St. Bonaventure got a couple of clutch jumpers from big man Ladarien Griffin, but Mackenzie and Sotos answered both with free throws, and then the defense pitched a shutout over the final 2:23 of regulation.
Moore drove hard to the rim for a bucket and a foul with 1:23 left. He missed the free throw to keep Bucknell's deficit at 71-69, but the Bison responded by forcing a late-shot-clock turnover at the other end. Sotos got into the lane and found Toomer for a tough layup with 41 seconds to go, tying the game at 71-all.
Toomer then locked down on Jalen Poynser on the defensive end, forcing a traveling violation with 16 seconds left. Bucknell played for the last shot and went to the red-hot Mackenzie, but his step-back jumper rimmed in and out just before the final buzzer.
Bucknell never trailed in overtime. Toomer split a pair of free throws to give the Bison their first lead since the 11-minute mark of the first half, and Moore followed with a left-corner 3-ball. After three straight Bonnies points, Moore hit another deep jumper, this one with a toe on the line, to make it 77-74. Sotos and Sestina answered St. Bonaventure points with tough shots in the lane, and after St. Bonaventure missed a 3-pointer, Mackenzie melted the shot clock and drove for a finger-roll layup and a five-point cushion with 18 seconds to go.
Sotos made 3 of 4 free throws to make it 86-82 with 7.5 seconds left, but then he gave the Bonnies some life by fouling Kyle Lofton on a 3-point attempt at the other end. Lofton made all three free throws, but Mackenzie answered with two big ones for Bucknell to push the margin to three with three seconds left.
St. Bonaventure threw a long inbounds pass to Poyser in the frontcourt, but he was well off the mark on a 3-point try as time expired.
Bucknell shot 48.3 percent from the field, rallying by making 10 of their final 12 attempts of the night. St. Bonaventure also shot 48.3 percent, dipping under the 50-percent mark with a 2-for-7 showing in overtime.
The Bison struggled for much of the night at the foul line, finishing 23-for-36 (.639), but Sotos and Mackenzie combined to make the team's final five of the night with the game on the line.
Bucknell made 9 of 27 from the arc, while holding the Bonnies to 4-for-19.
Mackenzie hit four of Bucknell's nine treys and went 10-for-15 overall en route to the career-high 28-point night. His previous best was 25 against another Atlantic 10 team, Richmond, in 2016-17.
After a couple of early turnovers, Bucknell hit its first four and six of its first eight field-goal attempts on the way to a 16-8 lead. Treys by Sestina, Walter Ellis and Mackenzie – Ellis' coming on his first career touch of the ball – helped the Bison out to the eight-point lead after 6:17 of play.
But as Bucknell cooled off, St. Bonaventure got going and went on a 22-5 run over the next 10 minutes. A transition layup by Welch gave the Bonnies their largest lead of nine points at 30-21.
Toomer hit a big 3-pointer from the right wing for Bucknell, igniting a 10-2 run that closed the gap back to one at 32-31. Sotos added a triple, and Sestina turned two offensive rebounds into a pair of free throws and a tip-in.
Tshiefu Ngalakulondi canned a 3-pointer with 29 seconds left, and after a turnover, the Bison closed the half with a defensive stop to go to the locker room down 35-31.
Lofton paced five Bonnies in double figures with 18 points. Griffin had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, but Bucknell finished with a 33-29 rebounding edge and led 17-9 in second-chance points.
Bucknell might not have been in position to win were it not for the play of Newman in the second half. During a stretch when St. Bonaventure was hot offensively, the Bison looked to the sophomore time and time again, and he scored 10 straight Bucknell points over a stretch of 3:30. It might have been 13, but he left a few points at the free-throw line. Newman, who scored 14 points all of last season in limited action, went 3-for-3 from the floor and 4-for-7 from the line, and he also grabbed two rebounds and blocked a shot.
Bucknell used 10 players in the first half, with Ellis and Andrew Funk making their collegiate debuts.
The Bison host Fairfield for their home opener on Saturday at 7 p.m. The team will unveil its Patriot League championship and NCAA Tournament banners before the game.
The two squads took a combined 8,500 points worth of graduation hits after last season when Bucknell fell by four points to Michigan State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament and St. Bonaventure beat UCLA in the First Four before losing to Florida in the round of 64. With many players in expanded roles in game one, it was Bucknell's veterans making one big play after another with the game on the line.
"This was a great win on the road in a hostile environment to start the season," said head coach Nathan Davis. "I am most pleased with the way we did not hang our heads when we got down by double digits in the second half. There was still a lot of time left in the game, and if we could just get some stops we were confident that we could come back. A lot of different guys stepped up and made big plays down the stretch."
Hometown favorite Nate Sestina – a senior center making his first career start -- tallied 15 points and a career-high 16 rebounds in front of several busloads of family and friends from nearby Cameron County, Pennsylvania. Sophomore point guard Jimmy Sotos added 14 points and seven assists, sophomore backup center Paul Newman scored 10 straight Bison points in one key stretch in the second half, and juniors Bruce Moore and Avi Toomer both finished with nine points while making critical plays in overtime. Toomer accounted for the tying points late in regulation and the go-ahead point in overtime.
The Bison trailed 35-31 at the half before the Bonnies extended the margin to 13 at 52-39 with 12 minutes to play. Bucknell's deficit was still 11 with 6:41 left and seven with 3:49 to go. But Mackenzie and the Bison would not go away.
Mackenzie, who scored 12 points in the last 9:29 of regulation, beat the shot clock with a 3-pointer to make it a 67-63 game with 3:23 to go. St. Bonaventure got a couple of clutch jumpers from big man Ladarien Griffin, but Mackenzie and Sotos answered both with free throws, and then the defense pitched a shutout over the final 2:23 of regulation.
Moore drove hard to the rim for a bucket and a foul with 1:23 left. He missed the free throw to keep Bucknell's deficit at 71-69, but the Bison responded by forcing a late-shot-clock turnover at the other end. Sotos got into the lane and found Toomer for a tough layup with 41 seconds to go, tying the game at 71-all.
Toomer then locked down on Jalen Poynser on the defensive end, forcing a traveling violation with 16 seconds left. Bucknell played for the last shot and went to the red-hot Mackenzie, but his step-back jumper rimmed in and out just before the final buzzer.
Bucknell never trailed in overtime. Toomer split a pair of free throws to give the Bison their first lead since the 11-minute mark of the first half, and Moore followed with a left-corner 3-ball. After three straight Bonnies points, Moore hit another deep jumper, this one with a toe on the line, to make it 77-74. Sotos and Sestina answered St. Bonaventure points with tough shots in the lane, and after St. Bonaventure missed a 3-pointer, Mackenzie melted the shot clock and drove for a finger-roll layup and a five-point cushion with 18 seconds to go.
Sotos made 3 of 4 free throws to make it 86-82 with 7.5 seconds left, but then he gave the Bonnies some life by fouling Kyle Lofton on a 3-point attempt at the other end. Lofton made all three free throws, but Mackenzie answered with two big ones for Bucknell to push the margin to three with three seconds left.
St. Bonaventure threw a long inbounds pass to Poyser in the frontcourt, but he was well off the mark on a 3-point try as time expired.
Bucknell shot 48.3 percent from the field, rallying by making 10 of their final 12 attempts of the night. St. Bonaventure also shot 48.3 percent, dipping under the 50-percent mark with a 2-for-7 showing in overtime.
The Bison struggled for much of the night at the foul line, finishing 23-for-36 (.639), but Sotos and Mackenzie combined to make the team's final five of the night with the game on the line.
Bucknell made 9 of 27 from the arc, while holding the Bonnies to 4-for-19.
Mackenzie hit four of Bucknell's nine treys and went 10-for-15 overall en route to the career-high 28-point night. His previous best was 25 against another Atlantic 10 team, Richmond, in 2016-17.
After a couple of early turnovers, Bucknell hit its first four and six of its first eight field-goal attempts on the way to a 16-8 lead. Treys by Sestina, Walter Ellis and Mackenzie – Ellis' coming on his first career touch of the ball – helped the Bison out to the eight-point lead after 6:17 of play.
But as Bucknell cooled off, St. Bonaventure got going and went on a 22-5 run over the next 10 minutes. A transition layup by Welch gave the Bonnies their largest lead of nine points at 30-21.
Toomer hit a big 3-pointer from the right wing for Bucknell, igniting a 10-2 run that closed the gap back to one at 32-31. Sotos added a triple, and Sestina turned two offensive rebounds into a pair of free throws and a tip-in.
Tshiefu Ngalakulondi canned a 3-pointer with 29 seconds left, and after a turnover, the Bison closed the half with a defensive stop to go to the locker room down 35-31.
Lofton paced five Bonnies in double figures with 18 points. Griffin had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, but Bucknell finished with a 33-29 rebounding edge and led 17-9 in second-chance points.
Bucknell might not have been in position to win were it not for the play of Newman in the second half. During a stretch when St. Bonaventure was hot offensively, the Bison looked to the sophomore time and time again, and he scored 10 straight Bucknell points over a stretch of 3:30. It might have been 13, but he left a few points at the free-throw line. Newman, who scored 14 points all of last season in limited action, went 3-for-3 from the floor and 4-for-7 from the line, and he also grabbed two rebounds and blocked a shot.
Bucknell used 10 players in the first half, with Ellis and Andrew Funk making their collegiate debuts.
The Bison host Fairfield for their home opener on Saturday at 7 p.m. The team will unveil its Patriot League championship and NCAA Tournament banners before the game.
Team Stats
M-83
M-596
FG%
.483
.483
3FG%
.333
.211
FT%
.639
.742
RB
33
29
TO
14
12
STL
1
8
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
28
FGM
10
3FGM
4
FTM
4
Pts
15
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
14
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
7
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballC
/ Men's BasketballF/C
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
G
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