Nov. 24, 2008
WHAT: Bucknell (0-3) vs. Old Dominion (1-1)
WHERE: Sojka Pavilion, Lewisburg, Pa.
WHEN: Tuesday, November 25, 2008,7 p.m.
RADIO: Eagle 107 and SportsJuice.com
TV: None
STREAMING VIDEO: Bison Vision
LIVE STATISTICS: GameTracker
COMPLETE PRESS NOTES 
With a Victory Over Old Dominion, Bucknell Would ...
... give coach Dave Paulsen his first Bucknell victory.
... defeat the Monarchs for the first time in three tries.
... improve to 57-16 all-time at Sojka Pavilion.
About the Game
Bucknell returns home Tuesday night to take on a strong Old Dominion team in a rematch of last year’s ESPNU BracketBusters game, won by Old Dominion (65-55) in Norfolk, Va. The Bison are still searching for their first victory of the season. They are 0-3, with each of the last two losses coming in overtime. Most recently, Bucknell overcame a 10-point second-half deficit to force overtime, but fell 69-59 at Saint Francis (Pa.) on Saturday night. Freshman Bryan Cohen continued his impressive start with 22 points, and Cohen took over the team scoring lead at 13.7 points per game. Justin Castleberry is also scoring in double figures for the Bison at 11.3 ppg. Hard-working reserve Zach Evans is pacing the squad on the glass with 6.3 rpg. Old Dominion is 1-1 on the season with a 69-68 road win over Charlotte and a 77-62 home loss to UAB. Gerald Lee (12.0 ppg) is tops among the four Monarchs averging in double figures. Old Dominion has outrebounded its first two foes by a combined 41-29 margin and has six players with at least 10 rebounds so far. ODU was picked third in the Colonial Athletic Association preseason poll, behind only Virginia Commonwealth and Northeastern.
How to Get the Game
The Bucknell-Old Dominion game will not be televised, however live video can be purchased through Bison Vision at BucknellBison.com. The game can be heard locally on Eagle 107 (WEGH 107.3 FM), with Doug Birdsong and Ed Sigl on the call. The pregame show begins 30 minutes before tip-off. The audio feed is available free of charge via BucknellBison.com and SportsJuice.com.
Shazier Faces Hometown Team
Bison sophomore guard Darryl Shazier grew up in Newport News, Va., not far from the Old Dominion campus in Norfolk. Shazier, who played his high school ball at Menchville, faced a number of Old Dominion’s current players on the high school and AAU circuits. Last season Shazier returned to his home area when Bucknell visited Old Dominion, and he had four points and a then-career-high five assists in the game. Shazier was a three-year captain at Menchville and was named Peninsula District Player of the Year. A second-team all-state pick, he helped the team reach the regional semifinals in 2007. As a junior he led the district in scoring at 22 points per game.
The Woollum Connection
Legendary Bucknell basketball coach Charlie Woollum was an assistant coach under Sonny Allen at Old Dominion from 1972-75. In Woollum’s three years there, ODU advanced to the NCAA regional finals twice and won the NCAA Division II championship in 1975. Following that season, he was hired as head coach at Bucknell, where he went on to win 318 games in 19 seasons, making him the program’s all-time winningest coach.
Bucknell vs. Old Dominion Series Notes
Old Dominion has captured both of the previous meetings between the two teams.
This will be Old Dominion’s very first trip to Lewisburg in men’s basketball.
On Jan. 5, 1979, the Monarchs defeated the Bison 88-76 in the Kiwanis-Old Dominion Classic at The Scope in Norfolk. The Monarchs received 25 points from Ronnie McAdoo and 24 from Ronnie Valentine. The Bison were led by Steve Sigl’s 20 points, while Pat Flannery had nine points and six assists.
Last season at the Constant Convocation Center, Old Dominion finished the game on a 22-10 run after the Bison had made a big second-half rally, and the Monarchs prevailed 65-55 in an ESPNU BracketBusters game. The Bison trailed by nine early in the second half but took a 45-43 lead on Justin Castleberry’s 3-pointer with 6:15 to play. But Darius James hit a short jumper to answer the Castleberry shot, igniting an 11-0 run for Old Dominion. John Griffin hit five 3-pointers and scored 19 points to lead Bucknell, while Castleberry and G.W. Boon finished with eight points apiece. Gerald Lee led the Monarchs with 20 points and seven rebounds.
Bucknell vs. The CAA
Bucknell is 104-75 against current members of the Colonial Athletic Association, with most of those games coming against former East Coast Conference rivals Delaware (51-33), Hofstra (19-10), Towson (17-8) and Drexel (14-15). The Bison are also 3-6 against George Mason, 0-2 against Old Dominion and 0-1 vs. James Madison. Bucknell will face another CAA team on Dec. 20 when Drexel visits Sojka Pavilion.
Cohen Named Patriot League Rookie of the Week
Freshman guard Bryan Cohen earned his first Patriot League Rookie of the Week honor on Monday. Last week Cohen registered his first two career double-figure scoring games, pocketing 10 points against Boston University and 22 at Saint Francis (Pa.). In the latter game, he scored nine points in the final six minutes of regulation to help the Bison overcome an eight-point deficit and rally to force overtime.
Last Time Out
For the second time in four days the Bucknell men’s basketball team fell in overtime, this time by a 69-59 margin at Saint Francis (Pa.) on Saturday night. Freshman Bryan Cohen scored a career-high 22 points, but the Red Flash outscored the Bison 34-9 from the free-throw line, including a 19-for-22 showing from the line in overtime. Bucknell rallied from a 10-point second-half deficit to force overtime, but four missed free throws in the final five minutes may have prevented a winning result. The Bison were 9-for-17 from the line, while Saint Francis was 34-for-39. Mislav Jukic scored 19 points on 8-for-10 shooting to lead Saint Francis (1-3). Jukic has seven big points and a steal in the overtime period. Devin Sweetney added 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Cale Nelson added 14, all from the free-throw line. The Bison missed four shots and turned the ball over twice on their first six possessions of overtime, and the Red Flash opened the extra period with nine straight points. Jukic tallied seven of those, and Nelson’s free throws at the 1:33 mark gave the hosts a 57-48 lead. The Bison trailed 21-20 at the half, then missed their first 11 shots of the second period, allowing Saint Francis to stretch its lead to 10. For complete recap and boxscore, please see Page 23.
Inside the Saint Francis Boxscore
More from the Saint Francis game:
Bucknell’s offensive struggles continued. The Bison shot 33.3% from the field, 28.6% from 3-point range (8-28) and 52.9% from the free-throw line (9-17). They were particularly cold at the start of each period: 2-for-6 to start the game; 0-for-11 to start the second half and 0-for-4 to start overtime.
Leading scorer Justin Castleberry played only seven of the 25 minutes after halftime due to foul trouble. Castleberry finished with 10 points, five rebounds and two assists, but he fouled out for the first time in his career with 2:40 to play in regulation.
Bucknell was just 9-for-17 from the free-throw line, including 7-for-13 in the final nine minutes when it was trying to claw back from a 10-point deficit.
Patrick Behan had a nice stretch late in regulation, when he came up with two straight steals on defense that led to free-throw opportunities at the other end, and he drained a go-ahead 17-footer with 1:00 to play that put Bucknell in front 47-46.
Zach Evans had another strong game with eight points and five rebounds in a career-high 32 minutes. Evans did not have a turnover in the game, and he hit a 3-pointer on his first career attempt in the overtime period.
Freshman Ryan Ebner saw his first collegiate action in the last minute of overtime after three teammates had fouled out. Enber scored his first points on a layup.
Bucknell has played back-to-back overtime games for the first time since 1993-94.
Cohen also Strong on “D”
Bison freshman Bryan Cohen has turned some heads with his offensive perfomance so, but his defense has been just as impressive early on. The 6’5” guard has locked up with three very good players so far in Maryland’s Greivis Vasquez, a returning All-ACC player, Boston University’s John Holland, who was coming off a 22-point game against George Washington, and Saint Francis’ Devin Sweetney, who was coming off a 25-point game against Duquesne. Cohen helped hold Vasquez to 13 points on 5-for-16 shooting, Holland to only one field goal in regulation and three total, and Sweetney to a 3-for-11 shooting night.
Zach Attack
One pleasant development in the first two weeks of the season has been the emergence of junior forward Zach Evans, who has played significant minutes off the bench in the first three games. In his first two years at Bucknell, Evans logged a total of six points and seven rebounds in 48 minutes. Already in 2008-09 he has 20 points and a team-high 19 rebounds in 83 minutes.
Andoh Joins Starting Lineup
Freshman Enoch Andoh earned his first career start against Saint Francis (Pa.) on the heels of his 10-point performance against Boston University. That gave Bucknell two freshmen in the starting lineup together for the first time since last year’s regular-season finale at Army, when Darryl Shazier and G.W. Boon both started.
No Need to Panic
The last five times Bucknell started a season with at least three straight losses the team rebounded to have a winning record in Patriot League play. The most recent example was in 2006-07, when the Bison started 0-4 (with two overtime losses) but bounced back to finish 22-9 overall and 13-1 in the league.
Year Start Final Patriot League Record
1994-95 0-8 11-3
1998-99 0-3 9-3
2001-02 0-4 8-6
2003-04 0-5 9-5
2006-07 0-4 13-1
Who’s Got Next?
The Bison will celebrate Thanksgiving together later this week, then they will host Wagner on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Sojka Pavilion. The Seahawks, who defeated the Bison 64-55 last season, won two of their first three games in 2008-09. They opened with a 73-67 loss to Lafayette, but have since rallied to defeat St. Peter’s (59-44) and Stony Brook (65-62).
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