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Saturday, November 25, 2006
NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- It was a home game for the Yale Bulldogs, at least according to the schedule. That is to say, it was played in Yale's ancient John J. Lee Ampitheater. The majority of the crowd though, up to 70 percent of the 1,821 in attendance by one estimate, was dressed in orange and they did not go home from Bucknell's 72-57 win disappointed. Not after the Bison used a dominant second half to shake a pesky Yale five that somehow managed to hang within two at the half.
The Bison tried to pull away late in the first half, opening a 29-22 lead on a pair of free throws by Justin Castleberry, whose emergence as a scoring option merits further attention in a moment. The foul shots, by the way, gave Castleberry -- who had scored 6 points his entire career prior to this afternoon -- a career-high 7 points with a half still to play. He would finish with 11.
But when it seemed the Bison were about to bury the Bulldogs, Yale responded with a quick 7-2 spurt in the final 1:30 of the half.
It proved to be but a temporary reprieve. Up three, 37-34, with 17 minutes to play, Bucknell went on a 10-0 run to push the lead to double digits, where it stayed for all but a few brief seconds the rest of the way. Chris McNaughton (6 for 8, 13 points, 7 rebounds), who had his third double figures game in a row, got the run started with a layup that actually proved to be his last score of the game.
Castleberry was fouled going to the hole and made a pair of foul shots, and Darren Mastropaolo hit the front of a one-and-one to make it 42-34, and Abe Badmus pushed the lead to 10 with a pair of free throws after he was hammered while taking it to the rack at the 12:53 mark. What makes those foul shots notable is the fact they were the only Bucknell points not scored directly in the paint in the first 10:28 of the second half, and those were actually the result of in the paint efforts.
"We made an emphasis coming in that the big guys were going to get some touches," Flannery said.
"We sometimes rely too much on the perimeter. The last couple of games we relied on the three-point shots. We made an effort to get the ball inside and then worked inside out," said McNaughton.
The out part of the equation was pretty much junior guard John Griffin, who had two three-pointers in the second half, the only Bucknell points that did not come either in the paint or at the foul line in the second half. Both of Griffin's treys came in response to three-pointers by Yale's Eric Flato that had cut the Bison lead to 9 each time.
"We work on that in practice," said Donald Brown. "When a team scores, we want to go score right back and then get a stop."
Griffin finished with three of Bucknell's 5 three-pointers and 14 points.
It was a situation where so many times already this season Bucknell had been unable to come up with the appropriate response.
"I really liked what we did in the second half. We played with a purpose and a poise in the second half," said Flannery.
Brown, who was in attack mode on offense almost from the start, went 7 for 8 from the field, finishing with a season-high 16 points, leading the Bison. None of Brown's buckets came from more than about three feet away from the basket.
"I was trying to be more aggressive to help the team. Coach talked to me about that in the preseason. I needed to put it into action," Brown said. "Tonight I got it in my mind to go out and do it."
Double figures games by Brown, Griffin and McNaughton come as no surprise, though. For Castleberry, on the other hand, even seeing him on the floor early in the first half with nobody in foul trouble was a shock. Coming into the game he had only played in two of Bucknell's four games and then just a total of three minutes. Prior to today, Castleberry had not taken a shot all season and had only put up five in his career.
But there he was, just a few minutes into the game, putting up, and knocking down, his first career three-pointer. It was his only field goal in three tries, but his 8 for 8 shooting at the foul line was a tribute to his ability to get into the lane and to the basket.
"You saw what he can do. He is real aggressive. He can score. he is a real savvy player," said Brown. "He helped us a lot."
"That is what we need a little bit, a guy who can penetrate into the seams. he stepped up. That is what we needed," McNaughton added.
To Flannery, the decision to expand Castleberry's role came down to a simple need for more guys who can create some offense on their own.
"We were not making enough basketball plays. We were too robotic," Flannery said. "We had to get another handler into the lineup and another shooter. He can do both."
It didn't hurt any that the Bison turned things up on defense in the second half, too. In the first half, Bucknell shot 50 percent from the field and had a 16-10 edge on the boards, yet led by only 2 because they allowed yale to shoot 52 percent. In the second half, Bucknell limited Yale to 11 of 31 from the field (35.5 percent). At the same time, buoyed by the inside attack, Bucknell went 12 for 19 from the field (63.2 percent).
The win snaps a five-game losing streak for Bucknell, one that dated back to the loss to Memphis in the second round of last season's NCAA Tournament.
"We came up here as a hurt basketball club . . . This was a big, big win for us," Flannery said.
Postgame audio with Chris McNaughton and Donald Brown
Gameblog
The Bison tried to pull away late in the first half, opening a 29-22 lead on a pair of free throws by Justin Castleberry, whose emergence as a scoring option merits further attention in a moment. The foul shots, by the way, gave Castleberry -- who had scored 6 points his entire career prior to this afternoon -- a career-high 7 points with a half still to play. He would finish with 11.
But when it seemed the Bison were about to bury the Bulldogs, Yale responded with a quick 7-2 spurt in the final 1:30 of the half.
It proved to be but a temporary reprieve. Up three, 37-34, with 17 minutes to play, Bucknell went on a 10-0 run to push the lead to double digits, where it stayed for all but a few brief seconds the rest of the way. Chris McNaughton (6 for 8, 13 points, 7 rebounds), who had his third double figures game in a row, got the run started with a layup that actually proved to be his last score of the game.
Castleberry was fouled going to the hole and made a pair of foul shots, and Darren Mastropaolo hit the front of a one-and-one to make it 42-34, and Abe Badmus pushed the lead to 10 with a pair of free throws after he was hammered while taking it to the rack at the 12:53 mark. What makes those foul shots notable is the fact they were the only Bucknell points not scored directly in the paint in the first 10:28 of the second half, and those were actually the result of in the paint efforts.
"We made an emphasis coming in that the big guys were going to get some touches," Flannery said.
"We sometimes rely too much on the perimeter. The last couple of games we relied on the three-point shots. We made an effort to get the ball inside and then worked inside out," said McNaughton.
The out part of the equation was pretty much junior guard John Griffin, who had two three-pointers in the second half, the only Bucknell points that did not come either in the paint or at the foul line in the second half. Both of Griffin's treys came in response to three-pointers by Yale's Eric Flato that had cut the Bison lead to 9 each time.
"We work on that in practice," said Donald Brown. "When a team scores, we want to go score right back and then get a stop."
Griffin finished with three of Bucknell's 5 three-pointers and 14 points.
It was a situation where so many times already this season Bucknell had been unable to come up with the appropriate response.
"I really liked what we did in the second half. We played with a purpose and a poise in the second half," said Flannery.
Brown, who was in attack mode on offense almost from the start, went 7 for 8 from the field, finishing with a season-high 16 points, leading the Bison. None of Brown's buckets came from more than about three feet away from the basket.
"I was trying to be more aggressive to help the team. Coach talked to me about that in the preseason. I needed to put it into action," Brown said. "Tonight I got it in my mind to go out and do it."
Double figures games by Brown, Griffin and McNaughton come as no surprise, though. For Castleberry, on the other hand, even seeing him on the floor early in the first half with nobody in foul trouble was a shock. Coming into the game he had only played in two of Bucknell's four games and then just a total of three minutes. Prior to today, Castleberry had not taken a shot all season and had only put up five in his career.
But there he was, just a few minutes into the game, putting up, and knocking down, his first career three-pointer. It was his only field goal in three tries, but his 8 for 8 shooting at the foul line was a tribute to his ability to get into the lane and to the basket.
"You saw what he can do. He is real aggressive. He can score. he is a real savvy player," said Brown. "He helped us a lot."
"That is what we need a little bit, a guy who can penetrate into the seams. he stepped up. That is what we needed," McNaughton added.
To Flannery, the decision to expand Castleberry's role came down to a simple need for more guys who can create some offense on their own.
"We were not making enough basketball plays. We were too robotic," Flannery said. "We had to get another handler into the lineup and another shooter. He can do both."
It didn't hurt any that the Bison turned things up on defense in the second half, too. In the first half, Bucknell shot 50 percent from the field and had a 16-10 edge on the boards, yet led by only 2 because they allowed yale to shoot 52 percent. In the second half, Bucknell limited Yale to 11 of 31 from the field (35.5 percent). At the same time, buoyed by the inside attack, Bucknell went 12 for 19 from the field (63.2 percent).
The win snaps a five-game losing streak for Bucknell, one that dated back to the loss to Memphis in the second round of last season's NCAA Tournament.
"We came up here as a hurt basketball club . . . This was a big, big win for us," Flannery said.
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