Bucknell University
Big Apple Basketball (Exhibition)
Bucknell Cagers Drop 97-95 Exhibition Shootout with Big Apple Basketball
11/14/2002 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 14, 2002
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Harold Deane's acrobatic jumper with six seconds remaining gave Big Apple Basketball a hard-fought 97-95 victory over Bucknell in an exhibition game Thursday in Davis Gym. The shot spoiled terrific 29-point performances from Bucknell's Boakai Lalugba and Kevin Bettencourt.
Lalugba made 12 of 16 shots from the field, including several thunderous slam dunks, and led all players with eight rebounds. Bettencourt, a freshman who started at the shooting guard position, made 7 of 13 3-point attempts.
Bettencourt's two free throws with 43 seconds remaining tied the see-saw affair for the 13th time, at 95-all. After calling timeout, Big Apple nearly waited too long to get off a shot, but Deane, a former University of Virginia star, sank a high-arcing shot over two Bison just before the shot clock expired.
Bucknell had one last shot at the final buzzer, but Bettencourt's hasty, off-balance 3-pointer was off the mark as time expired.
David Capers' 3-pointer with 5:07 to play gave Big Apple the largest lead of the night for either side, eight points at 80-72. But the Bison rallied with a 13-5 run, spearheaded by two Bettencourt treys, and tied the game at 85 on Brian Werner's two free throws with 3:35 to play. There would be five more ties down the stretch, as neither team led by more than one possession in the final four minutes of play.
Bucknell led by as many as five points on four occasions in the opening half and held a slim 41-39 lead at intermission.
Big Apple shot the ball well all night, particularly in the second half when it went 20-for-30 (.667) from the field. The visitors shot 58.3 percent for the night. Bucknell also shot over 50 percent in the second half and finished at 48.1 percent for the game.
Jamal Hunter led five Big Apple players in double figures with 19 points, nine coming on 3-pointers. Rich Rosario logged 15 points, Deane had 14, Capers 13 and Roberto Gittens 12.
Werner finished a strong night with 14 points, six rebounds and four assists. Chris Niesz led all players with five assists in only 12 minutes of action. Bucknell enjoyed a solid 20-to-15 assist-turnover ratio, but the Bison struggled at the free-throw line, making only 10 of 21.
Bettencourt's 29 points would have been just two shy of the Bucknell single-game scoring record by a freshman, and his seven 3-pointers would have been two shy of that single-game school mark. He scored 18 of his 29 points in the second half.
Bucknell opens regular-season play on Nov. 22 at Notre Dame at 9 p.m.
