University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
Bucknell
Panthers Top #24 Bucknell in Double-Overtime Thriller
2/18/2006 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 18, 2006
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Cedar Falls, Iowa - Sophomore center Eric Coleman (Maplewood, Minn.) scored six of his team-high 15 points in the second overtime, to help lead the University of Northern Iowa to a 65-61 win over 24th-ranked Bucknell this afternoon at the UNI-Dome. The game was part of BracketBusters presented by eBay.
Coleman tallied the first six Panthers points of the second extra session to help put UNI up, 62-59, with 2:04 left. Bucknell's Charles Lee pulled Bucknell within 63-61 with 13 seconds remaining, but UNI's John Little (Peoria, Ill.) hit a pair of free throws to seal the win.
Bucknell connected on just 36 percent of its shots for the game, including going just 4-for-14 (29 percent) in the two overtimes. UNI hit on 43 percent of its shots, including making nine three-pointers.
After going on a 9-0 run to end the first half, Bucknell entered the locker room with a 24-20 advantage. The Bison led virtually the entire second half, including holding a nine-point lead on several occasions. UNI's Travis Brown (Richfield, Minn.) hit three straight threes to pull the Panthers within one, 40-39, with 7:39 left. However, Bucknell answered with an 8-0 run of its own, and held a 48-39 lead with less than four minutes to play.
That sparked an 8-0 UNI run - including treys by Little and Grant Stout (New Sharon, Iowa) drained a pair of free throws to pull UNI within 51-49 with 33 seconds left. Bettencourt then turned the ball over, and Coleman grabbed the rebound off a Jacobson miss and scored with five seconds left in regulation to tie it at 51-all. Lee's three-pointer at the buzzer missed.
At the end of the first overtime, the Panthers once again found themselves down. After Bucknell's Donald Brown scored on a putback to put the Bison up, 56-54, with 27 seconds left, Stout misfired on a three-pointer with just four seconds to go. Bucknell secured the rebound, but then threw the ball away on the ensuing inbounds play. UNI inbounded the ball to Crawford under the basket, and after fumbling the ball at first, he collected himself and hit a five-foot fadeaway to even the score at 56-all and force the second overtime.
This was the Panthers second double-overtime win of the season, and UNI improved to 3-1 in overtime games this year. Jacobson scored 14 points and Crawford 12 for the Panthers, while Stout led all players with 13 rebounds. Lee led Bucknell with 15 points and 11 boards.
With the win, UNI improves to 22-6 on the season, while Bucknell had its 12-game winning streak snapped and fell to 21-4. The Panthers are next in action on Wednesday, Feb. 22, when they host Bradley at 7:35 p.m.
