Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
4-11 (1-2PL)
Navy
3-13 (0-3PL)
Bucknell Men Set School and League Shooting Marks in 87-46 Drubbing of Navy
1/17/2004 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 17, 2004
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Bucknell broke school and Patriot League records by shooting 71.7 percent from the field and emphatically picked up its first league win of the season, 87-41 over Navy Saturday at Sojka Pavilion.
Led by 15 points apiece from Chris McNaughton and Charles Lee, the Bison snapped a five-game losing streak and improved to 4-11 overall, 1-2 in Patriot League play. Bucknell made 33 of 46 field goals in the game, including 15 of 19 in the second half.
The 41-point differential was Bucknell's largest ever in a Patriot League game.
The Bison used a seemingly endless array of layups to outscore Navy (3-13, 0-3) 54-26 in the paint and 20-4 in transition. When they did venture outside, the hot shooting continued, with six 3-pointers in 10 attempts.
Freshman Donald Brown, who broke a school record by making 10 of 10 shots from the field against Lehigh on Wednesday, was a perfect 5-for-5 against Navy and scored 14 points. Kevin Bettencourt added 11 points and seven assists, while freshman point guard Abe Badmus handed out a career-high eight assists. Lee also contributed five assists and six steals, two shy of the Bucknell record.
Jeff Charles scored eight points to lead the Midshipmen, who shot 36.4 percent from the field and converted only 2 of 16 3-point attempts.
Bucknell led 20-16 at the midway point of the first half before outscoring Navy 23-7 over the final 10 minutes to take a 43-23 halftime lead. Lee's fastbreak layup capped a 13-2 run to start the second half that pushed the Bison lead to 31 points at 56-25.
The lead stretched to 41 on Matt Quinn's 3-pointer with 2:53 left, and Bucknell led by as many as 44 points at 87-43 on Tarik Viaer-McClymont's dunk in the final half minute.
Bucknell, which won its third straight over Navy at home, scored its most points in a game since a 96-86 double-overtime win over George Mason in 1998-99.
Bucknell's three centers - McNaughton, Viaer-McClymont and Davorin Skornik - combined for 31 points on 14-for-16 shooting.
The previous Bucknell record for field-goal percentage was 68.9 percent, set against Washington College on Jan. 13, 1988. The previous Patriot League mark was 68.0 percent, set by Lafayette against Navy on Jan. 23, 2002.
Bucknell hosts Cornell Tuesday night in a non-league tilt before visiting Army next Friday evening. Navy returns to action on Friday at Holy Cross.
