Saturday, December 16
Lewisburg, Pa.
3:30 p.m.
Bucknell University
3-8,0-0Patriot
63
vs
70
Radford
9-4,0-0Big South
1
2
F
Radford
30
40
70
Bucknell
30
33
63
Photo by: Phil Inglis
Radford's Late Push Upends Bison, 70-63
12/16/2023 5:28:00 PM | Men's Basketball
LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Bucknell men's basketball team battled a tough Radford opponent and came up just short, falling 70-63 on Saturday afternoon at Sojka Pavilion despite 19 points from Jack Forrest. The veteran Highlanders, now 9-4 on the season, scored seven straight points around the four-minute mark of the second half to break open a 55-55 tie and then iced the game at the free-throw line on a day when the two teams combined to go 26-for-26 from the stripe.
Forrest entered the day ranked second in the Patriot League in scoring at 16.2 points per game, and he upped that mark with 19 on 5-for-8 shooting from the field, 3-for-5 from the 3-point arc, and 6-for-6 from the foul line. Noah Williamson added 13 points to go along with four rebounds and four assists, while Ian Motta added 11 points off the bench. Motta shot 4-for-4 from the field and is now 8-for-8 in his last two games. Elvin Edmonds IV came off the bench in his first appearance after a six-game injury absence and tallied nine points and three assists in 24 minutes of action.
Radford shot over 54.2 percent in the second half and made all 10 of its free throws in the stanza to pull away from the Bison (3-8). Kenyon Giles scored 20 points, leading four players in double-figures for the Highlanders. Villanova transfer Bryan Antoine followed with 16 points and four assists, Bowling Green transfer Chandler Turner had 14 points, and Murray State transfer DaQuan Smith chipped in 11.
"Our scheduling philosophy is to play NCAA Tournament-caliber teams in the non-conference period, and that's exactly what Radford is," said head coach John Griffin III. "Radford is a veteran, well-coached team that will certainly be a contender in the Big South. That's what we are trying to get back to, and it's valuable for us to be in a tight game in the last four minutes against a good team. We're obviously disappointed not to win, but I'm not disappointed in our effort. We had a couple of critical communication errors at the defensive end that led to wide-open shots, and I thought we missed a number of good looks around the basket that we have to be able to finish."
Bucknell shot 40.4 percent (19-for-47) for the game, including 10-for-23 (43.5%) from 3-point territory, while the Highlanders shot 43.9% (25-for-57) from the field and 34.6% (9-for-26) from behind the arc. Radford outrebounded Bucknell 31-24 and converted 12 offensive rebounds into 17 second-chance points. Eleven of the Highlanders' first 13 points of the game came off the offensive glass.
The Bison turned the ball over 13 times, while the Highlanders committed eight miscues. Bucknell did capitalize by turning those eight turnovers into 20 points.
Radford broke open a 30-30 game at intermission by scoring the first seven points of the second stanza, but the Bison quickly rallied thanks to some long-range marksmanship. In a span of three possessions, Williamson assisted on 3-pointers by Edmonds and Forrest and then Williamson drained one of his own for a quick 9-0 run.
Radford grabbed the lead back on a baseline jumper by Smith and a tough floater in the lane by Antoine. Smith's catch-and-shoot three off an inbounds pass with one second on the shot clock gave the Highlanders a five-point cushion, and with just over five minutes to play Antoine beat the timer with a scoop shot in the lane.
Bucknell drew even at 55 on four straight free throws from Edmonds and Williamson, but on the next possession the Bison lost Giles on the left wing, and Radford's leading scorer canned his fourth 3-pointer of the day with 4:04 to go. Giles came up with a steal at the other end, which led to a Turner dunk, and after a Bucknell miss in the lane, Smith made two free throws to give the visitors a 62-55 lead with just 2:21 remaining.
The Bison could only trade points from there as Radford went 6-for-6 from the line in the last 30 seconds to ice the win in the first-ever meeting between the two teams.
Bucknell's 15-for-15 performance at the foul line was tied for the sixth-most attempts without a miss in team history. The team record is 22-for-22 against Lafayette on Feb.1, 1989.
Bucknell is back in action next Friday at Merrimack at 2 p.m. The Bison defeated the Warriors 61-55 at Sojka Pavilion last season, and this will be the team's first trip to the North Andover, Mass., campus.
JOHN GRIFFIN III PRESS CONFERENCE:
Forrest entered the day ranked second in the Patriot League in scoring at 16.2 points per game, and he upped that mark with 19 on 5-for-8 shooting from the field, 3-for-5 from the 3-point arc, and 6-for-6 from the foul line. Noah Williamson added 13 points to go along with four rebounds and four assists, while Ian Motta added 11 points off the bench. Motta shot 4-for-4 from the field and is now 8-for-8 in his last two games. Elvin Edmonds IV came off the bench in his first appearance after a six-game injury absence and tallied nine points and three assists in 24 minutes of action.
Radford shot over 54.2 percent in the second half and made all 10 of its free throws in the stanza to pull away from the Bison (3-8). Kenyon Giles scored 20 points, leading four players in double-figures for the Highlanders. Villanova transfer Bryan Antoine followed with 16 points and four assists, Bowling Green transfer Chandler Turner had 14 points, and Murray State transfer DaQuan Smith chipped in 11.
"Our scheduling philosophy is to play NCAA Tournament-caliber teams in the non-conference period, and that's exactly what Radford is," said head coach John Griffin III. "Radford is a veteran, well-coached team that will certainly be a contender in the Big South. That's what we are trying to get back to, and it's valuable for us to be in a tight game in the last four minutes against a good team. We're obviously disappointed not to win, but I'm not disappointed in our effort. We had a couple of critical communication errors at the defensive end that led to wide-open shots, and I thought we missed a number of good looks around the basket that we have to be able to finish."
Bucknell shot 40.4 percent (19-for-47) for the game, including 10-for-23 (43.5%) from 3-point territory, while the Highlanders shot 43.9% (25-for-57) from the field and 34.6% (9-for-26) from behind the arc. Radford outrebounded Bucknell 31-24 and converted 12 offensive rebounds into 17 second-chance points. Eleven of the Highlanders' first 13 points of the game came off the offensive glass.
The Bison turned the ball over 13 times, while the Highlanders committed eight miscues. Bucknell did capitalize by turning those eight turnovers into 20 points.
Bascoe comes up with the steal and starts the fastbreak, with Forrest on the finish for a 7-0 Bison run! #rayBucknell
— Bucknell MBasketball (@Bucknell_MBB) December 16, 2023
Watch: https://t.co/SvCyw8qUkF@PatriotLeagueTV | @ESPN pic.twitter.com/FxoGCuLQoa
Radford broke open a 30-30 game at intermission by scoring the first seven points of the second stanza, but the Bison quickly rallied thanks to some long-range marksmanship. In a span of three possessions, Williamson assisted on 3-pointers by Edmonds and Forrest and then Williamson drained one of his own for a quick 9-0 run.
Radford grabbed the lead back on a baseline jumper by Smith and a tough floater in the lane by Antoine. Smith's catch-and-shoot three off an inbounds pass with one second on the shot clock gave the Highlanders a five-point cushion, and with just over five minutes to play Antoine beat the timer with a scoop shot in the lane.
Bucknell drew even at 55 on four straight free throws from Edmonds and Williamson, but on the next possession the Bison lost Giles on the left wing, and Radford's leading scorer canned his fourth 3-pointer of the day with 4:04 to go. Giles came up with a steal at the other end, which led to a Turner dunk, and after a Bucknell miss in the lane, Smith made two free throws to give the visitors a 62-55 lead with just 2:21 remaining.
The Bison could only trade points from there as Radford went 6-for-6 from the line in the last 30 seconds to ice the win in the first-ever meeting between the two teams.
Bucknell's 15-for-15 performance at the foul line was tied for the sixth-most attempts without a miss in team history. The team record is 22-for-22 against Lafayette on Feb.1, 1989.
Bucknell is back in action next Friday at Merrimack at 2 p.m. The Bison defeated the Warriors 61-55 at Sojka Pavilion last season, and this will be the team's first trip to the North Andover, Mass., campus.
JOHN GRIFFIN III PRESS CONFERENCE:
Team Stats
Rad
Buck
FG%
.439
.404
3FG%
.346
.435
FT%
1.000
1.000
RB
31
24
TO
8
13
STL
9
3
Game Leaders
Pts
19
FGM
5
3FGM
3
FTM
6
Pts
13
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
3
Pts
9
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Players Mentioned
G
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