Bucknell University
14-15 (7-7)
Holy Cross
25-4 (13-1)
Bucknell Men Fall to Holy Cross in PL Semifinals, 75-50
3/9/2003 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 9, 2003
UPPER MARLBORO, Md. - Reserve guards Kevin Hamilton and Mark Jerz scored 15 points apiece to lead top-seeded Holy Cross to a 75-50 victory over No. 5 Bucknell Sunday evening in the Patriot League Tournament semifinals at The Show Place Arena.
Boakai Lalugba scored a game-high 21 points for Bucknell, which finishes 14-15 following its 10th semifinal appearance in 13 seasons in the Patriot League. Holy Cross improved to 25-4 with its 11th straight victory.
The Crusaders opened up a big lead early with a 42-point first half, the most points scored against Bucknell in a half this season. Holy Cross never trailed in the game and scored nine points in a row to gain its first double-digit lead at 15-5 with 13:33 left in the half.
Later in the half, Holy Cross outscored Bucknell 14-4 as the Bison went without a field goal for a five-minute span. Patrick Whearty's free throws with 5:27 left made it 32-14. The Crusaders were deadly from long range in the opening 20 minutes, canning 7 of 9 3-point attempts, including three by Jerz and two by Hamilton.
Bucknell managed only two field goals in the first 12 minutes of the second half as Holy Cross stretched its lead to as many as many as 34 at 65-31 with 9:18 to play. Lalugba scored 10 points in the final nine minutes to reach the 20-point mark for the 17th time in his career.
Lalugba, appearing in his final collegiate game, also blocked three shots and grabbed four rebounds. He finishes his outstanding four-year career with 1,334 points and finishes ninth on Bucknell's all-time scoring list. Lalugba also graduates ranked ninth all-time at Bucknell in rebounding (731), tied for fourth in blocked shots (93), eighth in steals (125), first in free-throw attempts (567), 10th in free throws made (296) and fifth in field goal percentage (.534).
It was also the final game for seniors Dan Blankenship and Jordan Hardenbergh. Blankenship's 311 career assists is sixth all-time at Bucknell, while his 115 games played is tied for fourth. He never missed a varsity contest in four years.
Holy Cross shot 56.5 percent in the game, compared to Bucknell's 41.5 percent. The Bison entered the game ranked fourth nationally in scoring defense at 58.5 ppg. Holy Cross became just the fifth team this season to score 70 points against Bucknell.
