Bucknell University
1-6
Pennsylvania
3-4
Second-Half 3-Point Barrage Lifts Penn Past Bucknell, 58-49
12/20/2003 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 20, 2003
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Tim Begley hit five second-half 3-pointers and Penn scored 42 of its 58 points after the break en route to a 58-49 victory over Bucknell at Sojka Pavilion Saturday afternoon.
Chris McNaughton continued his fine freshman season for Bucknell (1-6) with a game-high 20 points on 8 of 11 shooting. Begley scored 16 of his 19 points in the second half to lead Penn (3-4).
Both teams came in after 11-day layoffs for final exams, and the defenses on both sides clearly came back to form ahead of the offenses in the first half. The two teams waged a hard-fought defensive struggle over the opening 20 minutes, with the Bison claiming a 19-16 halftime lead. Both teams shot under 30 percent from the floor in a frenzied half that featured numerous drawn charges and swarming perimeter defense.
After Tarik Viaer-McClymont's layup with 14:38 remaining in the half, the score remained 13-10 in favor of Bucknell until Penn's Ibrahim Jaaber's elicited a roar from the crowd with a free throw at the 6:28 mark. Eric Heil's jumper with 4:23 remaining was the first field goal for either team in more than 10 minutes.
But the Quakers found the hot hand from long range early in the second half. Begley tied the game at 19 in the opening minute with the first of eight Penn 3-pointers in the half.
Donald Brown's dunk gave Bucknell a 28-27 lead with 15:18 remaining, but Begley's third trey of the half on Penn's next possession gave the visitors the lead for good. He followed with another three to make it 33-28, and Friedrich Ebede's trey made it 37-30 with 11:38 remaining.
Heil's free throw with 6:39 left capped an 11-2 run - sparked by 3-pointers from Begley and Jeff Schiffner - and gave Penn its largest lead of the night, 14 points at 48-34 with 6:39 to play.
Three straight buckets by McNaughton cut Bucknell's deficit to eight at 48-40, but the Bison got no closer than seven points the rest of the way.
Brown joined McNaughton in double digits with 10 points for Bucknell, which outrebounded Penn 35-26. The Quakers defense bottled up Kevin Bettencourt, the Patriot League's leading scorer at 19.2 ppg entering the contest. Bettencourt was held without a field goal for the first time in his career and finished with five points and five assists. McNaughton entered the contest as the national leader in field goal percentage at 82.9 percent.
Penn shot 54.2 percent from the field in the second half and 41.9 percent for the game, compared to Bucknell's 37.5 percent. The Bison came in leading the Patriot League in 3-pointers made but connected on just 2 of 16. Penn made 9 of 21 from long range but 8 of 14 in the second half.
Bucknell returns to action on Monday against Ursinus at Sojka Pavilion at 7 p.m.
