Bucknell University
13-14, 7-7PL
Colgate
14-13, 9-5PL
Bucknell Men End Regular Season with 64-56 Loss to Colgate
3/2/2003 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 2, 2003
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Andrew Zidar had 15 points and 11 rebounds to lead Colgate to a 64-56 victory over Bucknell in the regular-season finales for both teams Sunday at Sojka Pavilion.
With Holy Cross defeating Lehigh Sunday, the No. 3 seed at next weekend's Patriot League Tournament was up for grabs for the Bucknell-Colgate winner. The Raiders sprinted to an early 13-1 lead and withstood a late Bison charge to claim the third seed.
Bucknell (13-14, 7-7) will be seeded fifth and play No. 4 Lehigh Saturday at 2:30 p.m. at the Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro, Md. Colgate (14-13, 9-5), winners of five straight, plays No. 6 Lafayette in the opening round. Other quarterfinal matchups are No. 1 Holy Cross against No. 8 Army, and No. 2 American and No. 7 Navy.
Zidar was the early hero for Colgate. After the Bison took their only lead of the day at 1-0 on a Boakai Lalugba free throw on the first possession of the day, Zidar scored the game's next nine points. A Howard Blue tip-in and Dave Hardy's layup made it 13-1 just 6:29 into the contest.
Bucknell shot just 33.3 percent in the first half and trailed 35-25 at intermission. The Bison regrouped after the break, however. Roland Webber's 3-pointer with 11:36 to play capped a 12-3 run that cut Colgate's lead to 42-39.
Tarik Viaer-McClymont's layup with 7:10 left made it a one-point game at 46-45, but Bucknell would make only one more field goal in the next five minutes, and it never managed to take the lead. Alvin Reed hit a jumper to push the lead back to three, and after Kevin Bettencourt made 1 of 2 free throws at the other end, Mark Linebaugh scored five quick points to make it 53-46 with 5:35 left.
Dave Hardy's jumper with 2:50 to play pushed the lead back to double digits at 59-49. Bucknell made one final surge when Bettencourt made three free throws, then hit a 3-pointer to make it 59-55 with 2:06 left. After a Colgate turnover, Chris Niesz missed a long 3-pointer that could have made it a one-point game again, but it rimmed out.
Colgate made 5 of 6 free throws in the last 36 seconds to seal the win.
Lalugba recorded his 17th double-double of the season with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Bettencourt finished with 11 points for the Bison, who shot 37.5 percent from the field and 55.2 percent (16-29) from the free-throw line.
The Raiders, who also got 15 points from Linebaugh and 10 from Howard Blue, shot 42.9 percent from the field.
Bucknell had won five straight and 9 of 10 against Colgate. The Raiders won in Lewisburg for the first time since 1997-98.
