Sunday, March 10
Hamilton, N.Y.
2 p.m.
Bucknell University
14-19,10-8Patriot
65
at
68
Colgate (PL Semifinals)
24-9,16-2Patriot
1
2
F
Bucknell
32
33
65
Colgate
23
45
68
Men’s Basketball Falls Just Short in Patriot League Semifinal Thriller at Colgate, 68-65
3/10/2024 4:47:00 PM | Men's Basketball
HAMILTON, N.Y. – The Bucknell men's basketball team had three-time defending champion Colgate on the ropes for 40 minutes, but the top-seeded Raiders held off the fifth-seeded Bison 68-65 in a Patriot League Tournament semifinal barnburner on Sunday afternoon at Cotterell Court.
Bucknell's season ends a few plays short of a berth in the championship game after being picked to finish ninth in the preseason poll. The Bison came into the game with a four-game winning streak and playing its best basketball of the season, and they jumped on the veteran Raiders early, building a 15-point lead in the first half.
Noah Williamson, who scored the game's first eight points, finished with 19 points and eight rebounds. Jack Forrest tallied 16 points in his final collegiate game, and Josh Bascoe had 12 points off the bench. Patriot League Player of the Year Braeden Smith scored 17 of his 21 points in the second half to lead Colgate's comeback, and Jalen Cox finished with 15, including three second-half 3-pointers after the Raiders started the game 0-for-16 from the arc.
"I could not be prouder of the 14 men inside our locker room right now," said first-year head coach John Griffin III. "It's been quite a journey. Everyone in our program is incredibly disappointed right now. Ironically, that's a good thing, because it means everyone left everything they had on the court today. A couple of bounces didn't go our way, and a couple of offensive rebounds really hurt us, but we will dissect the game another day. Right now I'm just so proud of how the team competed. This group made my job so enjoyable this season."
Colgate (24-9) cut into that 15-point deficit late in the first half and trailed by nine at 32-23 at the break. The Raiders missed their first 16 3-point attempts of the day, but then they hit 5 of 6 in one stretch to spark their rally.
The Bison (14-19) led 44-34 after Ruot Bijiek's corner triple, but Cox and Chandler Baker hit from deep in an 8-0 run that brought Colgate within 44-42. Jeff Woodward's free throw tied the game for the first time at 47-all with 10:49 left before Bucknell took the lead right back on Forrest's banked-in three.
It was still tied at 55 when Bascoe hit a corner 3-pointer and slipped behind the defense for a layup, both shots assisted by Williamson, to give the Bison a 60-55 lead. Bucknell forced a miss at the other end, but Woodward picked up the loose ball and stuck it back in. Parker Jones followed with a layup to make it 60-59, and then after the Bison had to force a shot at the end of the timer, Cox was fouled in the open court and split two free throws to tie it again at 60.
The Bison turned it over on their next possession and Cox finished the runout to give the Raiders their first lead of the day with 2:48 to go. Smith's floater gave Colgate its largest lead of four with 2:15 left, but Bucknell refused to go away.
Williamson backed down Keegan Records for a short jump hook while drawing the First Team All-Patriot League center's fifth foul. Williamson made the free throw to cut the margin to one at 64-63 with 1:52 left.
After an exchange of misses, Bucknell fouled Smith with 18 seconds remaining. He missed the front of the 1-and-1, but Woodward grabbed his second critical offensive rebound and passed to Smith, who this time made both free throws.
Up three, Colgate elected to foul Forrest on the perimeter, and he made both free throws to make it 66-65 with 7.4 seconds left. Smith knocked down two more at the stripe, and then Bijiek's 3-pointer was off the mark as the buzzer sounded.
Bucknell shot 38.2 percent from the field and went 9-for-29 from the 3-point arc and 14-for-19 from the foul line. Colgate finished at 41.8 percent after hitting at a 57.7 percent clip in the second half. The Raiders went 5-for-25 from the arc and 17-for-28 from the foul line. Bucknell outrebounded Colgate 39-35 and led 11-9 in second-chance points, but Woodward's two offensive rebounds in the late stages proved to be critical for Colgate.
Williamson helped Bucknell get out to a fast start, scoring the game's first eight points on a couple of threes and a spinning bank shot. The Bison, who have been riding a stout defense of late, pitched a shutout for the game's first 4:27 before Colgate finally got on the board on a Records layup.
The Bison stretched an 8-4 lead to 18-4 with a quick 10-0 run. Williamson hit his third straight 3-pointer, Elvin Edmonds IV buried a second-chance three, and Pip Ajayi had a put-back during the run.
The Bison led by as many as 15 at 31-16 on Edmonds' free throws with 3:05 left, but they went cold in the closing minutes and Colgate cut the gap to 32-23 at the half.
Colgate advances to the Patriot League final against either No. 2 Boston University or No. 6 Lehigh. The Raiders will host the game on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Bucknell's season ends a few plays short of a berth in the championship game after being picked to finish ninth in the preseason poll. The Bison came into the game with a four-game winning streak and playing its best basketball of the season, and they jumped on the veteran Raiders early, building a 15-point lead in the first half.
Noah Williamson, who scored the game's first eight points, finished with 19 points and eight rebounds. Jack Forrest tallied 16 points in his final collegiate game, and Josh Bascoe had 12 points off the bench. Patriot League Player of the Year Braeden Smith scored 17 of his 21 points in the second half to lead Colgate's comeback, and Jalen Cox finished with 15, including three second-half 3-pointers after the Raiders started the game 0-for-16 from the arc.
"I could not be prouder of the 14 men inside our locker room right now," said first-year head coach John Griffin III. "It's been quite a journey. Everyone in our program is incredibly disappointed right now. Ironically, that's a good thing, because it means everyone left everything they had on the court today. A couple of bounces didn't go our way, and a couple of offensive rebounds really hurt us, but we will dissect the game another day. Right now I'm just so proud of how the team competed. This group made my job so enjoyable this season."
Colgate (24-9) cut into that 15-point deficit late in the first half and trailed by nine at 32-23 at the break. The Raiders missed their first 16 3-point attempts of the day, but then they hit 5 of 6 in one stretch to spark their rally.
The Bison (14-19) led 44-34 after Ruot Bijiek's corner triple, but Cox and Chandler Baker hit from deep in an 8-0 run that brought Colgate within 44-42. Jeff Woodward's free throw tied the game for the first time at 47-all with 10:49 left before Bucknell took the lead right back on Forrest's banked-in three.
It was still tied at 55 when Bascoe hit a corner 3-pointer and slipped behind the defense for a layup, both shots assisted by Williamson, to give the Bison a 60-55 lead. Bucknell forced a miss at the other end, but Woodward picked up the loose ball and stuck it back in. Parker Jones followed with a layup to make it 60-59, and then after the Bison had to force a shot at the end of the timer, Cox was fouled in the open court and split two free throws to tie it again at 60.
The Bison turned it over on their next possession and Cox finished the runout to give the Raiders their first lead of the day with 2:48 to go. Smith's floater gave Colgate its largest lead of four with 2:15 left, but Bucknell refused to go away.
Williamson backed down Keegan Records for a short jump hook while drawing the First Team All-Patriot League center's fifth foul. Williamson made the free throw to cut the margin to one at 64-63 with 1:52 left.
After an exchange of misses, Bucknell fouled Smith with 18 seconds remaining. He missed the front of the 1-and-1, but Woodward grabbed his second critical offensive rebound and passed to Smith, who this time made both free throws.
Up three, Colgate elected to foul Forrest on the perimeter, and he made both free throws to make it 66-65 with 7.4 seconds left. Smith knocked down two more at the stripe, and then Bijiek's 3-pointer was off the mark as the buzzer sounded.
Bucknell shot 38.2 percent from the field and went 9-for-29 from the 3-point arc and 14-for-19 from the foul line. Colgate finished at 41.8 percent after hitting at a 57.7 percent clip in the second half. The Raiders went 5-for-25 from the arc and 17-for-28 from the foul line. Bucknell outrebounded Colgate 39-35 and led 11-9 in second-chance points, but Woodward's two offensive rebounds in the late stages proved to be critical for Colgate.
Williamson helped Bucknell get out to a fast start, scoring the game's first eight points on a couple of threes and a spinning bank shot. The Bison, who have been riding a stout defense of late, pitched a shutout for the game's first 4:27 before Colgate finally got on the board on a Records layup.
The Bison stretched an 8-4 lead to 18-4 with a quick 10-0 run. Williamson hit his third straight 3-pointer, Elvin Edmonds IV buried a second-chance three, and Pip Ajayi had a put-back during the run.
The Bison led by as many as 15 at 31-16 on Edmonds' free throws with 3:05 left, but they went cold in the closing minutes and Colgate cut the gap to 32-23 at the half.
Colgate advances to the Patriot League final against either No. 2 Boston University or No. 6 Lehigh. The Raiders will host the game on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Team Stats
Buck
Colg
FG%
.382
.418
3FG%
.310
.200
FT%
.737
.607
RB
39
35
TO
12
6
STL
4
7
Game Leaders
Pts
19
FGM
6
3FGM
4
FTM
3
Pts
16
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
5
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
5
FGM
1
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
G
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/ Men's BasketballG
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