Bucknell University
3-9
Robert Morris
4-6
Robert Morris Downs Bucknell Men, 74-67
1/7/2004 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 7, 2004
MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. - Kevin Bettencourt scored 22 points, but it wasn't quite enough for Bucknell as the Bison fell 74-67 at Robert Morris Wednesday night at the Sewall Center.
Bettencourt, the Patriot League's leading scorer, made 6 of 13 from 3-point range. Davorin Skornik scored 11 points and Chris McNaughton had 10 for the Bison, which dropped its third straight and fell to 3-9 on the season heading into Saturday's Patriot League opener at American.
Maurice Carter scored 21 for the Colonials (4-6), now 4-0 at home. Aaron Thomas scored 17 points and Chaz McCrommon added 15.
Bucknell opened a back-and-forth second half on an 8-2 run and took a 37-36 lead on Bettencourt's 3-pointer. The Bison still led by a point at 48-47 after Skornik's free throw with 10:23 left, but the Colonials answered with an 11-4 run buoyed by 3-pointers from Carter, Thomas and McCrommon.
Bucknell had a chance to cut into a five-point deficit at the four-minute mark but McNaughton missed a dunk attempt, and the Colonials made four straight free-throws to push the lead to nine at 65-56 with 1:27 left.
The Bison stayed in contention with a trey from Abe Badmus and two from Bettencourt, but Robert Morris made 13 of 16 from the line in the last two minutes to seal it.
Robert Morris took a 34-29 halftime lead behind 12 points from Thomas and 10 from McCrommon.
The Colonials led by as many as 10 on two occasions, the last at 33-23 after Thomas's free throws with 1:51 remaining. But back-to-back 3-pointers from Bettencourt helped cut the Bucknell deficit to five at the break.
John Clark made his first career start for the Bison, who started three freshmen for the first time since 1977, when current head coach Pat Flannery joined Bob Barry and Steve Sigl in the lineup.
The Bison begin Patriot League play this Saturday in Washington, D.C., against American. Tipoff is 1 p.m. at Bender Arena.
