HAMILTON, N.Y. (1/30/07) – John Griffin made two free throws in the final 36.7 seconds to lift Bucknell to a 56-53 win over Colgate Tuesday night in a Patriot League game at Cotterell Court.

 

Bucknell (13-8, PL 7-1) wins its fifth straight game, while Colgate (7-14, PL 2-6) loss for the sixth straight time against the Bison.

 

Bucknell was led by Chris McNaughton with 12 points and nine rebounds, while Abe Badmus tallied 12 points and Jason Vegotsky added nine.

 

Senior Jon Simon (Phoenix, AZ) was Colgate’s leading scorer with 22 points, including six 3-pointers, while Marc Daniels (Aurora, IL) had eight points and a career-high 11 rebounds for the Raiders.  Simon has tallied a personal-best 50 3-pointers this season.

 

Colgate jumped all over the Bison to start the contest, scoring the first seven points.  Daniels made the first two baskets and Dan Gentile (Midland Park, NJ) added a 3-pointer.  After McNaughton scored for Bucknell, the Raiders tallied 10 straight points for a 17-2 lead with 14:20 remaining in the first half.

 

Unfortunately over the next 9:48 the Raiders managed only one field goal, while Bucknell was out-scoring the home team, 13-3, to cut the deficit to five points with 4:48 remaining.  Colgate held on for a 26-19 halftime lead when Willie Morse (State College, PA) hit a 3-pointer to close the half.

 

In the second half, Gentile scored the first basket to put the Raiders ahead by nine points, but Colgate went ice-cold over the next 11:59 with only two 3-pointers by Simon.  Meanwhile, Bucknell outscored the Raiders 27-6 to take a 12-point lead, 46-34, with 7:59 remaining.

 

Later in the final 20 minutes, Bucknell enjoyed a 10-point lead before Colgate almost rallied for a victory.  Gentile made two free throws, and Morse and Simon nailed back-to-back 3-pointers to bring the Raiders to within two points, 52-50, with 36.7 seconds left.

 

Griffin made the first of two free throws to put Bucknell ahead by three with 36.7 seconds left, and Simon missed two 3-point attempts, before Griffin made another free throw with 11.7 seconds remaining.  He missed his second attempt and Todd Checovich (North Hampton, NH) grabbed the rebound, and passed to Simon, who made a 3-pointer with 5.2 seconds remaining.  Bucknell’s Stephen Tyree made a lay up at the buzzer for the final margin.