Men’s Basketball Erases 14-Point Second-Half Deficit but Falls 74-70 in OT at Radford

RADFORD, Va. – Achile Spadone scored a career-high 22 points and helped lead a spirited comeback from 14 points down in the second half, but the Bucknell men's basketball team fell 74-70 in overtime at Radford on Sunday afternoon. Josh Bascoe added 19 points, including a game-tying drive with eight seconds left in regulation, but the Bison were depleted in overtime with their top three bigs and four players in total disqualified in a foul-filled contest.

Jarvis Moss scored 15 points and Josiah Harris had 12 for the Highlanders, who are now 9-2 on the season after their fifth straight win. The Bison dropped their fifth straight against a difficult schedule and will head into a 13-day layoff for final exams with a 4-7 record.

Both teams shot under 40 percent from the field and struggled from long range for most of the day, which meant the game evolved into a physical battle in the paint and on the glass. There was a total of 57 fouls called which led to 69 free throws, and six players fouled out.

Radford led 29-25 after a tightly contested first half in which neither team led by more than five, and then the game got away from Bucknell in the first three minutes of the second stanza. Harris scored five straight points to stretch the Highlanders' lead to nine, and Bison center Noah Williamson picked up his third and fourth fouls in quick succession, both coming 90 feet from the basket after a missed shot.

Bucknell held Radford's top scorer Moss to five points in the first half, but then he got going with seven straight Highlander points, and Tony Felder knocked down a 3-pointer from the right wing to stretch the margin to 14 at 44-30.

The Bison kept battling, even after backup center Pip Ajayi also picked up his fourth foul at the 13:57 mark. Brandon McCreesh hit a 3-pointer from the left corner, Bascoe finished in transition, and Spadone made both ends of a 1-and-1 followed by a 3-pointer to cap a 10-0 run and bring Bucknell within four at 46-42.

Ajayi's offensive rebound and put-back made it a 51-50 game with 7:00 to go, but then the Bison went cold again, missing three straight 3-point attempts. Radford countered with six straight points, four coming at the foul line followed by a Harris bucket for a 57-50 lead.

Bucknell had one more run left, forcing three straight turnovers on the way to a game-tying 7-0 run. Ajayi went high for two critical offensive boards on the same possession, and then Spadone scored off an inbounds play to make it 57-57 with 2:19 to go.

The Bison had two possessions with the game tied but could not convert. Edmonds had a 3-pointer go halfway down and out, and Ibu Yamakazi and Harris both split pairs of free throws to give Radford a 59-57 lead. Bascoe rebounded Harris' miss and drove the length of the floor for a tying layup with eight ticks left. He was fouled on the shot but couldn't finish the 3-point play, and Yamakazi missed a contested three at the buzzer to send the Bison to overtime for the fourth time this season.

Bucknell led twice early in the overtime session after a dunk from Ruot Bijiek and a trey from Bascoe. Bijiek joined Williamson and Ajayi on the bench with five fouls in that stretch, however, and offensive rebounds would become a big factor for Radford the rest of the way.

Jonas Sirtautas's put-back for a 3-point play gave the Highlanders the lead for good at 65-64 with 2:35 to go. Later, Harris lost the ball high into the air on a drive but went up to get it back and fed it to Maclin for a layup. After Bascoe hit 1 of 2 at the line, Radford drained the shot clock and Truth Harris, who was 1-for-15 at that point, buried a 3-pointer for a 72-67 lead with 46 seconds left.

Bascoe came right back with a three of his own to make it 72-70, and again the Bison came up with a tremendous defensive possession to force a long miss, but they could not corral the rebound. Maclin grabbed his 14th board but could only make 1 of 2 at the line to keep it a one-possession game with 11 seconds left.

Bascoe was a bit strong on a pull-up three from the top of the key, Brady Muller rebounded and kicked it out to Jayden Williams, who was off the mark with a rushed three attempt. Radford added one more free throw with three-tenths of a second left to make the final 74-70.

Both teams got out to cold shooting starts, and neither team led by more than three for the first 16 minutes of the game. Bucknell missed its first seven 3-point attempts before Williamson connected at the 10:41 mark, and Radford missed its first six before Moss and Felder hit two in a row in the final five minutes of the half.

Spadone's trey off a drive and dish from McCreesh gave the Bison a 15-12 lead before the Highlanders responded with a 10-2 run to go up 25-20. Spadone cut the deficit to one with a layup with 2:47 left in the half. Sirtautas gave Radford a 29-25 lead with 1:55 to go, and those would be the final points of the period for either side as Sirtautas missed four straight from the foul line.

Spadone's 22 points came on efficient 6-for-8 shooting from the field, 3-for-5 from the arc, and 7-for-8 from the foul line. Bucknell shot 36.2 percent overall and went 7-for-30 from the 3-point arc and 21-for-33 from the line.

Radford shot 39.0 percent from the field and hit 5-for-18 from deep and 23-for-36 from the line.

Bucknell committed only 10 turnovers – four after halftime – but was outrebounded 51-37.

The non-conference schedule does not get any easier after the final exams break. Next up is a trip to No. 7/8 Gonzaga on Dec. 21, followed by a game at Syracuse on Dec. 28 to close out the calendar year.

Men’s Basketball Erases 14-Point Second-Half Deficit but Falls 74-70 in OT at Radford

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Team Stats

Achile Spadone

Josh Bascoe

Noah Williamson

Elvin Edmonds IV

Players Mentioned

Pip Ajayi

Josh Bascoe

Ruot Bijiek

Brandon McCreesh

Brady Muller

Achile Spadone

Jayden Williams

Noah Williamson