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STATE COLLEGE — Three days after letting a second-half lead get away against Princeton, Bucknell flipped the script on Saturday afternoon at the Bryce Jordan Center, overcoming a 10-point second-half deficit to run past Penn State 76-67. Jack Forrest scored 23 points, Noah Williamson scored 23, and Josh Bascoe logged 11 points and a career-high 10 assists to send the Bison into the two-week final exams break on a high note.
The Bison (3-7), who were playing their 10th game in four weeks to start the season, trailed 37-27 early in the second half before outscoring the Nittany Lions (4-4) 49-30 over the final 18 minutes. Bucknell shot 69.2 percent from the field in the second stanza and beat Penn State for the first time since a 90-80 win early in the 2013-14 season.
"We played a good basketball game for 32 minutes against Princeton, and the takeaway from that game was we needed to do it for 40 minutes," said Bucknell coach John Griffin III. "Today we executed for 40 minutes, and that's a credit to the tough mindset that our guys are developing. We've played 10 games in less than a month without much practice time. So these guys are learning how to win basketball games on the fly. To beat a physical Big Ten team on the road is a huge step forward, and now we will get a chance to focus on finals and take a long look at the areas where we need to improve."
Forrest was the catalyst early with 16 first-half points, and then Williamson scored 15 of his 21 in the second half, finishing 9-for-13 from the field. The 7'0" center's 3-pointer from the top of the key with 2:50 to play was one of the biggest shots of the night. It gave the Bison a 64-62 lead, and after Nick Kern split a pair of free throws, Williamson scored in the lane off a feed from Bascoe. Qudus Wahab, who had 18 points for Penn State, missed two free throws, and then Quin Berger hit a dagger three in the right corner on his first shot attempt of the game to stretch the margin to 69-63 with 1:35 to go.
Bucknell went 5-for-6 at the foul line to build on the lead, and Williamson put an exclamation point on the day with a dunk in the final 10 seconds.
Coming out of the locker room with a 33-27 advantage, Penn State scored the first four points of the second half to take its largest lead of 10 points at 37-27. Bucknell responded well, as Williamson's jam off a Bascoe feed ignited a 16-4 run. Ian Motta gave the Bison a huge lift coming off the bench, scoring three times in transition, the last knotting the game at 43-43 with 11:38 to go.
Forrest's face-up three from the right wing gave the Bison their first lead of the second half at 48-47 at the 10:13 mark. At that juncture, Penn State had only one offensive rebound all day, but the Nittany Lions grabbed four on the next two possessions, which led to five straight points for Zach Hicks. His 3-pointer with 8:32 left gave the Lions a 52-48 lead.