Dec. 30, 2008

Box Score |  Notes

LEWISBURG, Pa. - An extra frame wasn't enough time to decide Tuesday night's meeting between St. Bonaventure and Bucknell, but a second was, as the Bonnies out-scored the Bison 12-4 in the second overtime to escape Sojka Pavilion with a 90-82 victory.

The win keeps the Brown and White's road record unblemished at 4-0, as they improve to 8-4 on the season. The 4-0 record is the best road start since the 1967-68 NCAA club won all five of its road games, while the eighth win equals last seasons win total.

The heartbreaking loss slips Bucknell to 3-9.

Freshman Andrew Nicholson dominated the paint from start to finish, blocking a school record nine shots along the way. Nicholson's nine blocks tied the top effort by any Division I player so far this season on upped his personal-best set earlier this season against Princeton. The Mississauga, Ontario product also scored 22 points on 7-of-11 from the field and 8-of-10 from the free throw line. Nicholson's team-best eight rebounds came over 42 minutes.

Bucknell overcame a 14-point halftime deficit and took its first lead of the game, 65-62, since the third minute of the first half on a three-pointer by freshman Bryan Cohen with 52 seconds left in regulation.

Junior Chris Matthews was able to cut it to a 65-63 score with 30 seconds left by sinking 1-of-2 at the line. St. Bonaventure then trapped the inbound pass in the corner and forced a jump ball that gave it the ball back.

With a chance to either tie or go ahead, junior Jonathan Hall wasted little time in getting to the hoop to tie the score at 65-65 with an athletic lay-in.

Bucknell's final possession to win the game never really materialized into a good look as the shot barely found the rim.

The heartbreak of losing a late three-point lead didn't stick with the Bison, as they responded by scoring the first five points of the overtime period to take a 70-65 lead.

Again, it was Hall brining the Bonnies back with five consecutive points to knot the score at 70-70. Hall's first bucket came in the form of a fade away from the top of the key, while traditional three-point play capped his personal scoring spurt.

Each team scored in three of its next four possessions to push the score to 76-76. Bucknell never trailed in the opening overtime and owned a two-point lead, 78-76, with 14 seconds remaining after senior Justin Castleberry worked his way into the lane for a highly contested basket.

Out of timeouts, junior point guard Ray Blackburn pushed the ball up the court and worked his way down the left lane for a foul. Following a make on the first shot and a Bucknell timeout, Blackburn calmly sank the second shot to make it 78-78 and force the program's first double overtime game since 2006.

The final five minutes of the game belonged to the Bonnies as they outscored the Bison 12-4 for the final 90-82 outcome. The Bonnies sank 8-of-10 from the charity stripe, while Bucknell shot just 2-of-10 from the floor, including 0-of-3 from long range, in second overtime.

Matthews turned in a gutsy 46 minutes of work, scoring 18 points on 5-of-10 from the field while adding five boards. All 17 of Hall's points and seven rebounds came in the second half and in the overtime periods as two early fouls limited him to two minutes in the opening half.

The point guard position supplied solid number as Blackburn was the fourth Bonnie in double figures with 16 points and a season-high eight caroms. Sophomore Malcolm Eleby finished with seven points, five rebounds and three assists.

Castleberry led Bucknell with a game-high 23 points, marking the second consecutive season he's broke the 20-point plateau against the Brown and White. Two-time Patriot League Rookie of the Week Bryan Cohen scored 19 points, while junior Patrick Behan had 12.

For the game, the Bonnies shot just a shade under 50 percent (31-63) and held a slight 48-45 edge on the glass. The Brown and White were able to overcome Bucknell's 10 made three-pointers by making 11 more free throws than the home team while holding them to a 35 percent (29-84) shooting clip.

St. Bonaventure will ring in the New Year on Saturday, Jan. 3 when it travels south to take on Central Arkansas. Gametime at Farris Center is slated for 12 p.m. Central Time Zone and 1 p.m. Eastern Time Zone.