Bucknell Men's Basketball Drops Wild 57-54 Decision to Saint Francis (Pa.)

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Stephen Tyree skies for a rebound Saturday night against Saint Francis.

O'Brien's 14 Points, 13 Rebounds Not Enough as Bison Drop Fourth Straight

Dec. 1, 2007

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LEWISBURG, Pa. - Devin Sweetney scored 15 points to lead Saint Francis (Pa.) to its first victory over the season, a wild 57-54 decision over Bucknell Saturday night at Sojka Pavilion. Freshman center Todd O'Brien had 14 points, 13 rebounds and four blocked shots in his first career start for the Bison, but a lengthy second-half drought led to their fourth straight setback after a 2-0 start.

In a roller-coaster second half, Bucknell led by nine early, then fell behind by 16 after the Red Flash (1-6) hit them with a staggering 32-10 run. But down 56-40 with 2:00 to play, the Bison scored 14 points in 53 seconds without allowing Saint Francis to cross midcourt, and miraculously they had two shots to tie in the final 20 seconds but could not get one to drop.

Cale Nelson scored 14 points, including three consecutive 3-pointers midway through the second half, and Bassirou Dieng had 12 points and 12 rebounds for Saint Francis, now 1-6. The Red Flash controlled the glass, parlaying 19 offensive rebounds into a 44-32 advantage. Chris Berry had 11 boards, six on the offensive glass.

O'Brien, who along with fellow freshman Darryl Shazier was inserted into the starting lineup for the first time, made 6 of 11 shots from the field and blew away his career highs in points, rebounds and blocks. Justin Castleberry scored 11 points and Stephen Tyree and Patrick Behan had eight each for the Bison.

Bucknell scored on each of its first two possessions of the second half, stretching a six-point halftime lead to nine on a put-back and 1 of 2 free throws by O'Brien. But Bucknell's next field goal game with 8:55 left in the game, and in the meantime Saint Francis rattled off 16 straight points.

The Red Flash made only 5 of 23 3-point attempts in the game, but four of them came in succession during that run. Steve Profeta hit one at the 14:59 mark to bring Saint Francis within 33-31, the Nelson canned three in a row, the latter giving the visitors a 40-33 lead with 9:31 left.

O'Brien's layup ended the dry spell for Bucknell, but Sweetney converted a 3-point play on the next possession then finished on a fastbreak to make it a 10-point game at 45-35. Sorena Orandi's layup extended the run to 26-5 and made it a 50-36 game with 4:53 to play. By the time Berry scored twice on offensive rebounds and Sweetney banked in a 10-foot jumper with 2:08 left, it appeared the Red Flash had the game well in hand with a 56-40 lead. That was hardly the case, however.

John Griffin hit a 3-pointer with 1:57 left, and after a timeout Bucknell went to a full-court trap that stunningly produced five consecutive steals. Castleberry swiped the ensuing inbounds pass under the basket, scored and was fouled. His free throw made it a 10-point game at 56-46.

Next it was Shazier stealing Ford's pass, and G.W. Boon tipped in O'Brien's miss moments later. Boon then stole the inbounds pass, missed a point-blank layup, and O'Brien was fouled on a follow attempt. O'Brien made 1 of 2 from the line to make it 56-49, and Boon came up with another steal near the top of the key. Two passes later, Castleberry canned a 3-pointer from the right corner to make it 56-52 with 1:19 to play.

The Bison still weren't done, as Castleberry stole the next inbounds try and was fouled going in for a reverse layup. He made both free throws with 1:04 left, and with the crowd in a frenzy it was a 56-54 game.

Saint Francis still could not get the ball inbounds and had to use its final timeout, then finally the Red Flash crossed midcourt and tried to drain the clock. With the shot clock winding down Ford tripped over Shazier at the top of the key and drew a foul call. He made the front end of the 1-and-1 and missed the second, but Kurt Hoffman snagged the team's 19th offensive rebound of the night.

Bucknell quickly fouled Berry, who missed the front end, giving the Bison hope. With about 15 seconds left Griffin got a great look at a 3-pointer curling off the right wing, but the shot rimmed in and out. Ford rebounded and was fouled, but again he missed the front end of the 1-and-1.

This time Griffin's 3-point try from deep on the left wing was too strong, and Sweetney was fouled on the rebound with only five-tenths of a second left. He missed both, leaving the Red Flash 6-for-17 from the foul line on the night, but Bucknell had no time to get off a shot.

After struggling out of the gate in each of its two previous games, the Bison played well early in this one. They made eight of their first 12 shots and led 11-2 after Griffin's 3-pointer 6:40 into the game. Saint Francis pulled within two at 22-20 on Dieng's breakaway dunk, but Bucknell ended the half on an 8-4 run and led 30-24 at the break.

After shooting 50.0 percent from the field in the first half, the Bison shot 27.6 percent in the second and 38.2 percent overall. They finished 4 of 18 from 3-point range. Saint Francis shot 39.7 percent from the field, 21.7 percent from the arc.

Bucknell had not lost back-to-back home games since falling to Holy Cross and Colgate at the end of the 2002-03 season, the team's first year playing in Sojka Pavilion.

The Bison will try to avoid their first-ever three-game losing streak in Sojka Pavilion on Monday night, when they host La Salle in the final game before a 13-day break for final exams.