Wednesday, November 30
Lewisburg, Pa.
7 p.m.
Bucknell University
5-3,0-0Patriot
89
vs
65
Saint Francis (Pa.)
2-6,0-0NEC
1
2
F
Saint Francis (PA)
32
33
65
Bucknell
33
56
89
Bucknell Explodes for 56-Point Second Half to Run Away from Saint Francis (Pa.), 89-65
11/30/2022 8:57:00 PM | Men's Basketball
LEWISBURG, Pa. – Coming out of the halftime break with a slim one-point lead, Bucknell outscored visiting Saint Francis (Pa.) 56-33 in the second half and rolled to an 89-65 victory on Wednesday night at Sojka Pavilion. Xander Rice registered a game-high 20 points, and Alex Timmerman had 14 points and a career-high 14 rebounds to help the Bison improve to 5-3 on the season.
Bucknell went 8-for-13 from 3-point distance in the second half after a 1-for-9 showing in the opening 20 minutes. At the other end, Saint Francis kept close at the start with 7-for-14 shooting from downtown in the first half, but the Bison defended the arc much better in the second stanza, holding them to 4-for-15 accuracy.
Rice was an efficient 6-for-9 from the field, 3-for-5 from long range, and 5-for-5 from the foul line on the way to his second 20-point game of the season. Elvin Edmonds IV also went 3-for-5 from the arc and finished with 11 points.
Bucknell got excellent bench production, led by Josh Adoh with 12 points, seven rebounds, and two assists in 19 minutes. Jake van der Heijden logged nine points, and Josh Bascoe had four points and a game-high five assists, with much of that production coming early in the game when the Bison were struggling to find points.
The Bison used an early 9-0 run to take an 11-4 lead, but then they went scoreless for 4:31 just as Saint Francis (2-6) started to heat up from downtown. Back-to-back threes from Brad McCabe started a stretch where five straight Saint Francis field goals were threes. Bucknell never trailed by more than two points, however, and led 33-32 at intermission.
McCabe's fourth trey of the night gave the Red Flash the lead early in the second, and then Landon Moore answered an Ian Motta triple with a 30-footer to give the visitors a 38-36 edge. That would be their last lead of the night, as Timmerman ignited Bucknell's big second half charge.
Timmerman tied the game with a put-back, made a high-low feed for an Andre Screen dunk, and then used a nifty spin move in the lane for a finish and a 42-38 lead.
The pivotal sequence in the game came at the 13:22 mark with Bucknell leading 47-44. Adoh splashed a 3-pointer while drawing a foul. He missed the free throw, but Screen pulled down the offensive rebound, which led to an open corner three for van der Heijden and a six-point possession. After a defensive stop, Adoh fed Edmonds for a third straight triple, and the 9-0 run in exactly one minute made it a 56-44 Bucknell lead.
Saint Francis made a little surge with five straight points around the 10-minute mark, but another run of threes put the game away, with Edmonds having a hand in all three. Edmonds connected off a feed from van der Heijden, he assisted on Rice's transition jumper, and he finished the flurry with this third of the night to make it 69-51 with 9:02 to go.
Rice lobbed to Screen for a dunk and then hit his third 3-pointer of the half – Bucknell was 8-for-10 from the arc in the second half at that point – to make it a 14-0 run and a commanding 74-51 lead.
All told, Bucknell shot 57.1 percent in the second half and 51.5 percent for the game. It was the sixth time in eight games this season that the Bison have topped the 50-percent mark.
Two sore points in recent games had been defensive rebounding and turnovers, but the Bison were strong in both areas in this one. They had 20 assists on 35 made field goals with a season-low eight turnovers. Bucknell controlled the glass 43-28, including a 12-5 edge on the offensive boards, which led to a 15-3 margin in second-chance points. In Bucknell's three losses this season, it was outscored 48-14 in second-chance points.
Center Josh Cohen, who had a 40-point game against Lehigh earlier in the season, paced Saint Francis with 18 points and seven rebounds. McCabe tallied 12 points from his four 3-pointers. The Red Flash shot 39.3 percent from the field and finished 11-for-29 from the arc.
Bucknell has two games remaining before the final exams break, both coming on the road. Next up is a trip to NJIT on Saturday at 2 p.m.
POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE:
Bucknell went 8-for-13 from 3-point distance in the second half after a 1-for-9 showing in the opening 20 minutes. At the other end, Saint Francis kept close at the start with 7-for-14 shooting from downtown in the first half, but the Bison defended the arc much better in the second stanza, holding them to 4-for-15 accuracy.
Rice was an efficient 6-for-9 from the field, 3-for-5 from long range, and 5-for-5 from the foul line on the way to his second 20-point game of the season. Elvin Edmonds IV also went 3-for-5 from the arc and finished with 11 points.
Bucknell got excellent bench production, led by Josh Adoh with 12 points, seven rebounds, and two assists in 19 minutes. Jake van der Heijden logged nine points, and Josh Bascoe had four points and a game-high five assists, with much of that production coming early in the game when the Bison were struggling to find points.
The Bison used an early 9-0 run to take an 11-4 lead, but then they went scoreless for 4:31 just as Saint Francis (2-6) started to heat up from downtown. Back-to-back threes from Brad McCabe started a stretch where five straight Saint Francis field goals were threes. Bucknell never trailed by more than two points, however, and led 33-32 at intermission.
McCabe's fourth trey of the night gave the Red Flash the lead early in the second, and then Landon Moore answered an Ian Motta triple with a 30-footer to give the visitors a 38-36 edge. That would be their last lead of the night, as Timmerman ignited Bucknell's big second half charge.
Timmerman tied the game with a put-back, made a high-low feed for an Andre Screen dunk, and then used a nifty spin move in the lane for a finish and a 42-38 lead.
The pivotal sequence in the game came at the 13:22 mark with Bucknell leading 47-44. Adoh splashed a 3-pointer while drawing a foul. He missed the free throw, but Screen pulled down the offensive rebound, which led to an open corner three for van der Heijden and a six-point possession. After a defensive stop, Adoh fed Edmonds for a third straight triple, and the 9-0 run in exactly one minute made it a 56-44 Bucknell lead.
Potential game-changing play right here. Adoh was fouled while making this 3FG, missed the FT, and Screen grabbed the offensive rebound. That led to a van der Heijden 3FG in the corner for a 6-point possession. After a stop, Edmonds hit another trey to make it 56-44 Bison! pic.twitter.com/ALqFSNd7IS
— Bucknell MBasketball (@Bucknell_MBB) December 1, 2022
Saint Francis made a little surge with five straight points around the 10-minute mark, but another run of threes put the game away, with Edmonds having a hand in all three. Edmonds connected off a feed from van der Heijden, he assisted on Rice's transition jumper, and he finished the flurry with this third of the night to make it 69-51 with 9:02 to go.
Rice lobbed to Screen for a dunk and then hit his third 3-pointer of the half – Bucknell was 8-for-10 from the arc in the second half at that point – to make it a 14-0 run and a commanding 74-51 lead.
Andre jams it home off the lob from Xander and the Bison are in control! #rayBucknell
— Bucknell MBasketball (@Bucknell_MBB) December 1, 2022
Watch: https://t.co/RB3UMOhRsA@PatriotLeagueTV | @ESPN pic.twitter.com/n5aUydFPlU
All told, Bucknell shot 57.1 percent in the second half and 51.5 percent for the game. It was the sixth time in eight games this season that the Bison have topped the 50-percent mark.
Two sore points in recent games had been defensive rebounding and turnovers, but the Bison were strong in both areas in this one. They had 20 assists on 35 made field goals with a season-low eight turnovers. Bucknell controlled the glass 43-28, including a 12-5 edge on the offensive boards, which led to a 15-3 margin in second-chance points. In Bucknell's three losses this season, it was outscored 48-14 in second-chance points.
Center Josh Cohen, who had a 40-point game against Lehigh earlier in the season, paced Saint Francis with 18 points and seven rebounds. McCabe tallied 12 points from his four 3-pointers. The Red Flash shot 39.3 percent from the field and finished 11-for-29 from the arc.
Bucknell has two games remaining before the final exams break, both coming on the road. Next up is a trip to NJIT on Saturday at 2 p.m.
POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE:
Team Stats
SF-PA
Buck
FG%
.393
.515
3FG%
.379
.409
FT%
.667
.714
RB
28
43
TO
13
8
STL
4
7
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
20
FGM
6
3FGM
3
FTM
5
Pts
14
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
G
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/ Men's BasketballC
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F
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