Bucknell University Athletics
Bison Men's Basketball Preps for Tough Road Trip
1/30/2003 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 30, 2003
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Bucknell this weekend faces a difficult road trip through the northern portion of the Patriot League, squaring off against Colgate Friday evening and Holy Cross on Sunday afternoon. The Bison enjoyed a very successful homestand last weekend, trouncing both Army (53-38) and Lafayette (68-48) in Sojka Pavilion to get back into the thick of the Patriot League race at 3-2. The Orange and Blue enter this weekend tied for third place with Colgate and American, two games back of first-place Lehigh (5-0) and one behind defending PL champion Holy Cross (4-1). The Bison have struggled on the road this season, winning just once in seven tries on enemy hardwood. The good news is that Bucknell has enjoyed some recent success in both Hamilton and Worcester. The Herd won 80-75 at Colgate's Cotterell Court last season, and in one of their best wins of the season, the Bison topped Holy Cross 75-73 at Hart Center just before the Patriot League Tournament.
the state of the bison
Pat Flannery's teams have long been highly regarded for their defensive abilities, and the Bison really turned the pressure up a notch last weekend in two key Patriot League victories over Army (53-38) and Lafayette (68-48). The recommittment to suffocating defense helped the Bison snap a three-game losing streak and jump back into the Patriot League's upper division. Bucknell will go into battle this weekend hoping to have junior forward Ben Slater back in the lineup. Slater missed both the Army and Lafayette games with an illness. Senior forward Brian Werner has not played since Dec. 9 due to a dislocated shoulder. He remains out indefinitely.
more on the defense
Bucknell allowed only 86 points in two games last week, the fewest allowed by a Bison team in back-to-back games since the 1984 East Coast Conference Tournament when they defeated Towson State (64-42) and Lafayette (46-44). The 53-38 victory over Army marked Bucknell's stingiest single-game effort since a 75-37 win over the Black Knights in 1996. Some other notes on Bucknell's defensive effort last weekend:
* The Bison outrebounded Army and Lafayette by a combined 79-46. BU allowed only seven offensive rebounds in the two games, resulting in only six second-chance points.
* Bucknell held Army's leading scorer, Andy Smith, to six points on 2-for-8 shooting, and the Bison held the Patriot League's leading scorer at the time, Lafayette's Justin DeBerry, to four points on 2-for-12 shooting.
* The starting backcourts from the Black Knights and Leopards combined to make 8 of 33 shots (.242).
* Bucknell held Army to 11 first-half points, marking the fewest points allowed in a half by the Bison since at least the mid-1950s. Army made only five 2-point baskets in the entire game.
scouting colgate
Colgate, under the direction of fifth-year coach Emmett Davis, joins Bucknell and American in a three-way tie for thrid place in the Patriot League standings at 3-2. The Raiders split two games on the PL southern swing last week, falling to American 58-55 and defeating Navy 53-48. Colgate, which ranks second in the PL in total rebounding and first in offensive rebounding, averages 67.5 ppg while allowing 66.9 ppg. Forward Howard Blue leads the team in both scoring (12.7) and rebounding (6.7), while guard Mark Linebaugh (10.1 ppg) also scores in double figures. Guards Dave Hardy (9.4 ppg) and Tim Sullivan (7.2 ppg), and forward Andrew Zidar (8.7 ppg), round out the probable starting lineup.
scouting holy cross
The defending Patriot League champions are enjoying another outstanding season. Fourth-year head coach Ralph Willard has an experienced backcourt in Jave Meade and Brian Wilson, and the league's biggest front line in former PL player of the year Tim Szatko (6-8), Patrick Whearty (6-10), 2002 PL rookie of the year Nate Lufkin (6-11) and North Carolina transfer Neil Fingleton (7-6). The Crusaders lead the league in scoring at 72.2 ppg and rank second to Bucknell in scoring defense at 60.7 ppg. They also rank No. 1 in the PL in rebounding (36.1), field goal percentage (.467), field goal percentage defense (.408), assists (298), blocks (72) and steals (162). Holy Cross gets extremely balanced scoring with four players averaging in double figures, but none averaging more than 12 ppg. Szatko leads the way at 11.9 ppg and 6.5 rpg. Meade has quietly emerged as one of the league's top point guards. He boasts a stellar 115-45 assist-to-turnover ratio.
all-time series vs. colgate
Bucknell and Colgate meet for the 77th time, with the Bison clinging to a 40-36 series lead. Bucknell has won four straight and 8 of 9 in the series, including two victories last season and a Patriot League Tournament win in 2001. The Bison have also had decent success in Hamilton, having won three of the last four meetings there. Since the two teams joined the Patriot League in 1990-91, Bucknell has won 19 of 28 meetings.
all-time series vs. holy cross
The Bison and Crusaders have met 30 times previously, with Bucknell winning 17. Holy Cross has won four of the last fiive get-togethers after Bucknell had won 10 straight from 1996-2000. Bucknell has won six of the last seven meetings at the Hart Center, including a 75-73 win there last year. The two teams had never met until joining the Patriot League in 1990-91.
last year's bucknell-colgate meetings
The Bison took both games from the Raiders last season, marking the third time in four years they swept the regular season series. On Jan. 23, 2002, Bucknell enjoyed one of its best offensive performances of the season in an 80-75 victory at Cotterell Court. Boakai Lalugba had 16 points and eight rebounds and Dan Blankenship (14), Bryan Bailey (13) and Chris Rodgers (12) also scored in double figures for the Bison. Bucknell shot 54.3% from the field and made 6 of 11 first-half 3-pointers. Pat Campolieta had 14 points and 13 rebounds for Colgate. In the rematch on Feb. 16, 2002, in Davis Gym, Bailey scored 24 points and grabbed 12 rebounds from his guard position in his final home game to lead Bucknell to a 68-57 win. Blankenship had 15 points and seven rebounds, for the Bison, who trailed 38-35 before surging ahead with a 19-5 run. The Raiders made only 2 of 20 from 3-point range and shot 33.3% from the field. Howard Blue led Colgate with 16 points.
last year's bucknell-holy cross meetings
Bucknell and Holy Cross split two regular season meetings in 2001-02 - with each winning on the other's home floor - but the Crusaders captured the most important head-to-head matchup in the Patriot League Tournament semifinals. On Jan. 30, 2002 in Lewisburg, Tim Szatko had 22 points and 10 rebounds to pace Holy Cross to a 73-65 win. Boakai Lalugba made 12 of 15 from the field and scored 25 points, but it was not enough. On Feb. 20, 2002, in the Hart Center, Bucknell enjoyed one of its best wins of the season, a 75-73 edging of the eventual PL champs. Bryan Bailey scored 30 points and the Bison survived Szatko's missed 3-pointer at the buzzer. The Bison drained 11 3-pointers, including two huge treys by Jeremiah Bennett in the second half. Szatko had 20 points and Brian Wilson 18 for the Crusaders. In the rubber match on March 3, 2002, Szatko had 19 points and 12 rebounds to lead Holy Cross to a tense 64-57 decision at Show Place Arena. The game featured a wild second half that saw the lead change hands on the first 11 baskets of the stanza. Neither team had a two-possession advantage until Szatko's layup with 2:05 left made it 58-54. Lalugba and Brian Werner had 14 points each to top the Bison.
notes from last weekend's games
Chris Niesz averaged 18 minutes per game and made three 3-pointers for nine points ... he grabbed a career-high six rebounds against Army ... Davorin Skornik had nine rebounds in the first half against Army and finished with a career-high 11 ... Bucknell had a season-low 11 turnovers against the Black Knights ... Bucknell's 44 rebounds against Lafayette were its most since grabbing 47 against Army in last year's Patriot League Tournament ... Jordan Hardenbergh scored a season-high seven points against Army.
three's a charm?
Bucknell will try this weekend to complete a three-game winning streak for the first time in more than a year. The Bison won four in a row near the end of the 2000-01 campaign, but since then they are 0-7 when going for three in a row. The good news is that Bucknell has had only one three-game losing streak since early last season.
bettencourt honored (again)
Freshman guard Kevin Bettencourt is going to need a very large wall to hang all of his Patriot League Rookie of the Week citations. Of the 10 weekly awards handed out this season, Bettencourt has won five of them, including the last three in a row. He was cited again on Monday, after contributing 35 points, 11 assists, seven steals and five rebounds in Bucknell's 2-1 week. Bettencourt scored 17 points - two shy of his career high - in a non-league loss to Cornell, then scored nine in each of Bucknell's two PL wins last weekend. He made 3 of 5 3-point attempts against Lafayette on Sunday, despite being a game-time decision because of the flu. Colgate's Alvin Reed has won the award twice this season, making him the only other rookie to win it more than once.
tough road ahead
In an odd scheduling quirk, Bucknell plays four straight and six of its next seven league games on the road. The Bison are just 1-6 on the road this season, with the lone win coming at Albany on Nov. 26. Bucknell won three road games in Patriot League play in 2002, with two of the victories coming at Colgate and Holy Cross.
