Bucknell University
12-14, 8-5
Holy Cross
14-14, 8-5
Bailey Leads Bucknell Past Holy Cross, 75-73
2/20/2002 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb 20, 2002
WORCESTER, Mass. - Bryan Bailey scored a game-high 30 points and Bucknell survived Tim Szatko's missed 3-point attempt at the buzzer as the Bison held off Holy Cross 75-73 at Hart Center Wednesday evening.
With the victory, the Bison improved to 12-14 overall, 8-5 in Patriot League play, and caught Holy Cross for second place. Lafayette defeated Lehigh on Wednesday to make it a three-way tie at 8-5, while first-place American clinched the regular-season title by beating Navy.
The Bison finish the regular season Sunday at Lehigh, while Holy Cross travels to American.
Bucknell's win over Holy Cross (14-14) did not come without some tense moments. Bucknell led by as many as 11 in the first half, fell behind by six in the second, then after surging ahead late in the game had to survive a wild final minute.
Ryan Serravalle's free throw made it 74-73 Bucknell with 35 seconds left, and Jave Meade stole the ball from Matt Quinn near half court to give the Crusaders a final shot to win. Szatko, Holy Cross' leading scorer and the reigning Patriot League Player of the Year, had two shots in the paint with under 10 seconds remaining, but Brian Werner rejected both shots.
Bailey rebounded and was fouled with 6.4 seconds remaining, and one of two free throws made it 75-73. Serravalle saved a turnover by calling timeout to avoid falling out of bounds on an errant half-court inbounds pass, then Szatko, after pump-faking around Boakai Lalugba, saw his open 3-pointer from just to the right of the top of the key bounce off the rim at the buzzer.
Bucknell benefited from some deadly 3-point shooting after falling behind in the second half. Holy Cross twice led by six points - 55-49 and 58-52 - but both times reserve forward Jeremiah Bennett drained long threes to keep the Bison close. Trailing 62-59 after Brian Wilson's baseline jumper with 6:16 left, Bucknell got back-to-back treys from Werner and Chris Rodgers to regain the lead. Five more lead changes ensued, with Bucknell finally taking the lead for good on Bailey's two free throws with 1:03 to play.
Werner's 3-pointer, one of 11 in 22 tries on the night for Bucknell, capped a 12-3 run and gave Bucknell its largest lead of 11 points at 23-12 with 9:41 left in the first half. Two minutes later, Bailey hit another trey to make it 28-17. But Holy Cross outscored Bucknell 16-6 over the rest of the half, capped by Guillermo Sanchez's buzzer-beating layup, to cut the Bison lead to 34-33 at intermission.
Wilson's 3-pointer on the opening possession of the second half gave Holy Cross its first lead since 3-2. Bailey's three-point play with 13:04 remaining tied the game at 49, but an inside bucket from Patrick Whearty and consecutive Serravalle layups gave the Crusaders their first six-point advantage with 10:38 to play.
Bucknell shot 48.1 percent from the floor in the game and won despite having Boakai Lalugba saddled with foul trouble for much of the second half. Lalugba picked up his fourth foul with 16:05 remaining in the game and finished with four points and three rebounds. Frontcourt-mate Werner picked up the slack, making all three of his 3-point tries en route to a 15-point night. Chris Rodgers added 10 points off the bench.
The Bison committed a season-low eight turnovers, while recording assists on 20 of 26 field goals. Bucknell was also sharp from the charity stripe, making 12 of 15.
Bailey registered his third career 30-point game, making 10 of 20 field goals. He also had four rebounds and four assists without a turnover. Bailey also topped the 1,100-point mark for his career and moved past Ted Aceto '89 into 18th place on Bucknell's all-time scoring list.
Bucknell snapped a three-game losing streak to Holy Cross and avenged a 73-65 loss to the Crusaders on Jan. 30. The Bison improved to 6-2 this season in games decided by three points or less, 7-1 when leading at the half, and 5-0 when scoring at least 70 points.
Szatko led Holy Cross with 20 points, making 11 of 14 free throws to overcome a 4-for-14 performance from the floor. Wilson made 4 of 5 from 3-point range and scored 18 points, while Serravalle added 14 and Whearty 11. Holy Cross shot an even 50.0 percent from the floor and held a 28-23 edge on the glass.
