Second-Half Comeback Propels Bison to 65-64 Win Over Albany

Saturday, December 7

Lewisburg, Pa.

7 p.m.

Bucknell University

4-7,0-0Patriot

Albany

5-5,0-0America East

Team	1	2	F
Albany (NY)	32	32	64
Bucknell	24	41	65

Photo by: Marc Hagemeier

Second-Half Comeback Propels Bison to 65-64 Win Over Albany

12/7/2019 9:49:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

LEWISBURG, Pa. – Jimmy Sotos scored Bucknell's final 10 points of the night, and he tallied 20 of his game-high 23 in the second half to help the Bison rally past Albany 65-64 on Saturday night at Sojka Pavilion. Avi Toomer added a career-high 21 points as Bucknell stormed back from 15 points down to head into the final exam break on a positive note.

Bucknell snapped a three-game losing streak and improved to 4-7 on the season heading into a two-week layoff. Albany, which received 18 points from Ahmad Clark, dropped its second straight game and fell to 5-5.

The Great Danes came into the night holding opponents to 39.5 percent shooting, and that number figured to drop significantly as the Bison got off to a dreadful start offensively. Over the first nine minutes the Bison were 2-for-11 from the field with five turnovers. Meanwhile Albany started 7-for-10 and raced to a 21-6 lead after Kendall Lauderdale's spinning layup.

But as the Bison began to get stops, they slowly chipped away at the deficit. Bucknell forced 12 Albany turnovers in the first half and held the Great Danes to four field goals in the final 12 minutes. Toomer hit a couple of 3-pointers in the late stages of the period, the latter coming with six seconds left, to get the Bison to the locker room down by only eight at 32-24 despite shooting 22.2 percent (6-27).

Bucknell closed within five on a Sotos layup at the 15:31 mark of the second half, but shortly after starting forward Bruce Moore left with his fourth foul, and the Great Danes scored seven unanswered to go back up by 12 at 43-31 with 14:06 to play.

It might have been more, except Brent Hank missed the front end of a 1-and-1, and Toomer hit back with a 3-point play at the other end that ignited a game-changing 15-2 run for the Bison.

Sotos drove to the basket for a layup, Andrew Funk followed with a 3-pointer, and after two long timeout breaks, Alex Timmerman scored off a Toomer feed to make it a two-point game at 43-41. Clark stemmed the tide with a tough step-back jumper, but then Toomer drove hard to the rack for another 3-point play. A Timmerman steal led to a Funk driving layup, and at the 9:30 mark Bucknell had its first lead since it was 3-2.

Healy, one of the America East's top marksmen who came in averaging better than 17 points per game, finally shook loose for a trey to give Albany a 49-48 lead. It was short-lived, as Bucknell took the lead back for good when Kahliel Spear went up high for an offensive rebound and stuck it back in.

The game was really heating up at that point and after double technical fouls were assessed after a scrum under the basket, the Bison came up with one of its most important defensive stops of the night. Spear blocked Clark's runner in the lane, but the ball fell to Romani Hansen under the basket. Toomer came out of nowhere to contest what appeared to be an easy layup, and that forced Hansen to keep the ball on his fingertips long enough for the shot clock to expire and nullify the hoop.

Sotos followed with a 3-pointer at the other end, and for the first time all night the Bison had a two-possession lead at 53-49 with 5:18 to go.

The margin was back down to one at 55-54 after a Healy 3-pointer when Sotos made a trey of his own while absorbing contact from Clark. Sotos finished the 4-point play to make it 59-54.

Things got interesting in the final 30 seconds, when Clark split a pair of free throws to make it 63-60, and then the Bison turned the ball over against the press. Lauderdale rebounded his own miss and put it back in while drawing Timmerman's fifth foul with 14 seconds remaining. Lauderdale had a chance to tie the game but missed the free throw. Toomer grabbed the rebound and passed ahead to Sotos, who was fouled with 10.9 ticks left.

Sotos, who was 11-for-13 from the line on the night, made both to make it a 65-62 lead. After a timeout, Clark missed a contested 3-pointer from the deep right corner. Albany rebounded and put it back in at the buzzer, but that left them a point short as time expired.

"Obviously the game didn't start off the way you would want," said head coach Nathan Davis. "I thought we got some pretty good shots early on and we got a little frustrated. We dug ourselves a pretty big hole, but give these guys credit for sticking together, grinding it out, and finding a way to win the game. These guys have worked hard and they deserve it."

Bucknell forced 21 Albany turnovers in the game, including 13 on steals, which was the team's highest total since collecting 13 thefts at Fairfield on Dec. 6, 2016. Toomer had three steals, as did Funk, who played strong defense all night on Healy, who finished with 15 points on 4-for-11 shooting.

Freshmen Timmerman and Malachi Rhodes each had two steals while manning the center position for the Bison, who once again were without the services of starting center Paul Newman and key reserve forward John Meeks. Spear saw a lot of time at the "4" position and was on the floor during the Bison's biggest run, while Moore was on the bench with foul trouble. Spear had a team-high six rebounds, including three on the offensive end.

After the 22.2-percent shooting performance in the first half, the Bison flipped the script in the second, connecting at a 51.9-percent clip. Bucknell shot 37.0 percent overall and 7-for-28 from 3-point range, but it was helped by 18-for-22 free-throw shooting.

Albany finished at 46.5 percent overall. The Great Danes made 7 of 19 attempts from downtown and 17 of 26 from the foul line.

Toomer continued his torrid play for the Bison. He has made 7 of 10 shots from 3-point distance in the last two games, and over his last five contests he is averaging 17.4 points per game.

The two teams were meeting for the first time in five years, and Bucknell won its fourth straight in the series to take a 7-2 lead.

Bucknell's next game action will be on Dec. 21 at Siena at 6 p.m.

POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE:

Gallery: (12/7/2019) Men's Basketball vs. Albany