Nov. 13, 2013
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Four players posted double figures for the Penn State men's basketball team, but their efforts fell short as the Nittany Lions fell to Bucknell, 90-80, Wednesday night at the Bryce Jordan Center. Penn State and Bucknell both move to 1-1 on the young season.
D.J. Newbill (Philadelphia, Pa.) led the charge for the Lions with a team-high 18 points, four assists, three rebounds and three steals while Ross Travis (Chaska, Minn.) and Brandon Taylor (Tabernacle, N.J.) each posted career-highs in scoring with 17 points apiece and Tim Frazier (Houston, Texas) added 13 points. Travis also led the team in rebounds, collecting seven boards, and Frazier tallied a team-high seven assists, pulled down four rebounds and grabbed three steals.
The Blue and White shot 49 percent (28-of-57) from the field and 40.9 percent (9-of-22) from three-point range but could not compete with the Bison, who shot 60.9 percent (28-of-46) from the floor and 66.7 (10-of-15) from beyond the arc. Penn State converted 11 Bucknell turnovers to 17 points and picked up six steals while committing just seven turnovers in the contest. The Bison out-rebounded the Lions 28-25 and posted 32 points in the paint to PSU's 26.
Junior Steven Kaspar paced the Bison, totaling 25 points, four assists, three rebounds and two steals. Cameron Ayers, Ben Brackney and Brian Fitzpatrick also posted double figures for Bucknell, tallying 19, 16 and 13 points, respectively.
It was a back and forth battle from the beginning as Penn State opened the contest with a Newbill trey and Bucknell responded with a three-pointer of its own from Brackney. The Lions followed with back-to-back buckets as Frazier sent in a jumper and Newbill notched a dunk after grabbing his first steal of the game.
Penn State gained a six point lead at the 14:59 mark in the first half after Taylor posted three points on a jumper and a free throw to bring the score to 14-8. Another triple from Brackney put the Bison within three until Frazier knocked down his only trey of the night. The Nittany Lions held on to their lead until an Ayers three-pointer and a Ryan Hill layup pushed Bucknell ahead, 28-26.
The Lions regained control with a 7-2 run in the final minutes of the first half on two Frazier jumpers and an Allen Roberts (Middletown, Ohio) three-pointer. The Blue and White managed to fend off the Bison for the remainder of the half as they headed into the locker room with a 41-36 lead.
Penn State's lead did not last long after the break, however, as Bucknell opened the second half with a 7-0 run. Kaspar sparked the Bison run with yet another three-pointer just 24 seconds in and Brian Fitzpatrick followed quickly with a layup on the next possession. Kaspar rounded out the streak with a jumper after rebounding his first attempt to put Bucknell up 43-41.
Penn State responded with a 7-0 run of its own after Frazier laid the ball in to tie the contest at 43 points apiece. Travis regained the lead for the Lions with a layup and Taylor completed the run with a trey to give PSU a five point advantage.
The Nittany Lions maintained their lead for nearly four minutes until another triple from Ayers put the Bison ahead 57-55 with 12:12 on the clock. A free throw from Travis would give PSU its final lead of the game at 60-59 with 10 minutes remaining.
A 12-0 streak gave Bucknell its largest lead of the game at 71-60 and would ultimately seal the deal for the Bison as they never trailed again. PSU pulled within six with under a minute left in the game but could not close the gap as the game ended with four Bucknell free throws to put the final count at 90-80.
The Blue and White travel to Philadelphia Saturday for their first road game of the season, facing in-state rival Penn. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. at the Palestra.