Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
0-5
Saint Francis (Pa.)
1-4
Bettencourt's Record-Setting Night Comes in 84-79 Loss to Saint Francis (Pa.)
12/6/2003 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 6, 2003
LORETTO, Pa. - Bucknell sophomore Kevin Bettencourt put on an epic shooting display in DeGol Arena Saturday night, scoring 42 points on a school and Patriot League-record 11 3-pointers, but the record night came in a losing effort as Saint Francis (Pa.) outlasted the Bison 84-79.
Bettencourt scored 24 of his points in the second half and finished 11-for-16 from 3-point range. Mike Bright set the previous record with nine treys against Loyola in 1993, and Army's Mark Lueking (twice) and Colgate's Tucker Neale were the only other players in league history to make as many as nine in a game. The 42 points were tied for the second-most in a game in school history and the most ever on the road.
Bucknell (0-5) trailed 33-31 at the half, with Bettencourt tallying 18 of the Bison's points. But the Bison sophomore guard drained three 3-pointers in the first 4:30 of the second half to put his team back in front.
There were eight lead changes and three ties in a hard-fought second half. Bucknell led 73-70 after Chris Niesz' free throw, but Steveroy Daley's 3-point play off an offensive rebound tied it at 73.
Two free throws by Charles Lee gave Bucknell a 75-74 lead, but Saint Francis took the lead for good on Darshan Luckey's 3-pointer with 1:38 to play. The Red Flash (1-4) made 7 of 8 from the line to maintain the lead in the final 1:20
Down 82-79 in the closing seconds, Matt Quinn had an open look at a trey from the right corner, but the shot rimmed out and Daley iced it with two from the line with 0:10 left.
Lee set career highs with 13 points and seven assists and McNaughton had 12 points, all in the second half, for Bucknell, which shot 50.0 percent from the field and 14-for-15 from the line.
Luckey had 28 for Saint Francis, while Daley had 18 off the bench and Wills 17. The Red Flash shot 60.9 percent in their home opener.
Bettencourt just missed Bucknell's all-time scoring record of 45 points in a game, set by Al Leslie against American on Jan. 12, 1980. Jim Wherry also scored 42 in a game against Penn State in 1967.
Bucknell next hosts Dickinson on Tuesday at Sojka Pavilion.
