By The Daily Item
NEWARK, Del. -- Playing its fourth game in six days to start the season, Bucknell had plenty left in the tank Wednesday night and came away with an emphatic 82-66 road win at Delaware.
Point guard Darryl Shazier scored a career-high 24 points and Patrick Behan added 18 for the Bison, who won their second straight game to improve to 2-2 heading into their home opener Saturday.
One year after allowing Delaware to score the last 25 points of the game in a loss at home, this time the Bison took the game over with a big run of their own. Bucknell trailed 20-18 with six minutes left in the first half, then sandwiched a 24-4 run across the halftime break.
Shazier was the catalyst. He drove the length of the floor for a layup that turned into a 3-point play that gave the Bison the lead for good with 5:11 left in the half. Later in the half he canned two free throws, then finished a breakaway layup after a Bryan Cohen steal.
Bucknell led 36-24 at the half, then buckets by Joe Willman, Behan and Cohen to start the second period stretched the lead to 42-24.
D.J. Boney turned one of Delaware's 25 offensive rebounds into a tip-in to bring Delaware within 44-30 with 16:23 to play, but Bucknell turned to its freshman sharpshooter Bryson Johnson to extend its lead. After two Stephen Tyree free throws, Johnson hit 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to give the Bison their largest lead of the night, 20 points at 52-32.
Eight straight points, highlighted by 3-pointers by Boney and Alphonso Dawson, made it a 12-point game at 52-40 with 12:53 to play. But the Bison, who let that large lead get away against Delaware last season and also saw a 20-point lead dwindle to two in Sunday's win over Bryant, finished strong in this one.
Terrific ball movement in the halfcourt offense helped get Bucknell in the free-throw bonus early in the half, and the Bison converted 23 of 26 from the line in the second half and 29 of 33 on the night. Shazier snuck in his third 3-pointer of the night at the 9:21 mark to extend the lead back to 62-43. Despite a few turnovers down the stretch, the Bison maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the way.
Bucknell shot 61 percent in the first half and 57 percent overall. They eclipsed the 80-point mark in a regulation-time road game for the first time in almost five years, and they did it by attempting only eight 3-pointers among their 42 total shots.
With Shazier going 3-for-4 from the arc and Johnson 2-for-2, Bucknell was 5-for-8 from 3-point range. Johnson had a perfect shooting night, as he also went 6-for-6 from the foul line. He scored 12 points, his third double-digit scoring total in his first four career games.
Shazier, whose previous career high was 21 points at Army last season, went 6-for-10 from the floor and 9-for-9 from the line.
The only two negatives for Bucknell were a season-high 21 turnovers and allowing Delaware to grab 25 offensive rebounds. The Blue Hens (0-2) finished with a 38-29 edge on the glass. Cohen, the Bucknell scoring leader coming in, was held to four points, but he held Dawson to 10 points on 4-for-21 shooting. Jawan Carter, who scored 26 against the Bison last season, finished with 17, while Boney also had 10.
Next up for Bucknell is its home opener on Saturday night against Saint Francis (Pa.). Game time is 7:30 p.m. at Sojka Pavilion. The contest will be preceded by a women's game against Fordham at 5 p.m.
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