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Sunday, December 30, 2007
Bison grind out a win
Bucknell's 61-57 win over Long Beach State in Saturday's consolation game at Cal's Golden Bear Classic was not pretty. But it was a win, and the way the Bison are struggling of late, that is all that really mattered.

After losing three of its last four coming in, Bison coach Pat Flannery shook up his starting lineup, benching sophomore Patrick Behan in favor of freshman G.W. Boon. Boon responded with a career-high 12 points, but the move hardly solved Bucknell's offensive woes.

The Bison (5-7) shot just 25.8 percent from the field in the first half (8-31) and finished the game 21 for 60 (35 percent). They had scoreless stretches of over five minutes in each half and jacked up 33 shots from the arc (making 11).

But they played good enough defense to pick up the W over the defending Big West champions. Despite the woeful first half shooting, the Bison managed to lead 23-16 at the intermission after holding the 49ers (3-8) to 5 field goals (on 24 attempts, 20.8 percent).

Long Beach shot much better in the second half, going 14 for 28 from the field, including 7 treys (on 12 tries). But Bucknell managed to hang on, thanks in part to junior center Josh Linthicum, who scored 6 of his 9 points in the final 2:38, including a pair of huge putbacks in the final 1:13.

Linthicum finished with 12 rebounds, helping the Bison to a 42-32 advantage on the boards.

John Griffin finished with 15 points to lead the Bison. Justin Castleberry added 12, including a pair of free throws with nine seconds to go that sealed the victory.
Box score | Sports Network | AP

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Published at 8:57 AM by Hoop Time.
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