Bucknell University Athletics
Bison Cagers in Search of Fifth Straight Win Tuesday at St. Joseph's
12/27/2004 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 27, 2004
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Bucknell puts its four-game winning streak on the line in a Tuesday evening tilt at St. Joseph's. The Bison, who are off to their best 11-game start since 1992-93, are coming off a thrilling 76-74 victory over Niagara last Wednesday. After a brief holiday rest, Bucknell returned to practice on Sunday to prepare for two very difficult road games leading into the Jan. 8 Patriot League opener against Holy Cross. The Bison battle two teams that went deep into last season's NCAA Tournament in St. Joseph's and Pittsburgh (Jan. 2), two squads that combined to go 61-7 a year ago. The Hawks, led by reigning national coach of the year Phil Martelli, are off to a 3-4 start as they try to overcome the loss of national player of the year Jameer Nelson and backcourt mate Delonte West, both of whom were NBA first-round draft picks. St. Joseph's has dropped two straight to San Francisco and Old Dominion. Led by the trio of Chet Stachitas (14.4 ppg), Dwayne Jones (12.4 ppg, 12.6 rpg, 3.0 bpg) and Pat Carroll (11.7 ppg), the Hawks average 62.1 ppg while yielding 66.0 ppg. St. Joseph's is 16-1 against Bucknell in an all-time series that dates back to 1951. The two teams have met only once since 1981, that a 74-54 St. Joseph's win on Dec. 6, 1995. Bucknell's only series triumph came on Jan. 10, 1979, a 63-61 double-overtime decision in Davis Gym, when the Bison and Hawks were conference mates in the now-defunct East Coach Conference.
about the bison
Last Tuesday's dramatic win over MAAC favorite Niagara extended Bucknell's winning streak to four games -- its first non-conference four-game winning streak since 1990-91 -- and lifted its record to 7-4 on the season. The Bison are three games over .500 for the first time since opening the 1999-2000 season 3-0. They are also 7-4 for the first time since 1992-93. Going back to Jan. 17, 2004, the Bison are 18-8.
with a victory over st. joseph's, bucknell would ...
• ... improve to 8-4, matching its best 12-game start since 1992-93.
• ... defeat the Hawks for the second time ever and first time since Jan. 10, 1979.
• ... have its first five-game winning streak, all out of conference, since 1970-71.
• ... finish the month of December 5-1, its best December since 1983 (4-0).
• ... improve to 3-2 on the road this season.
• ... finish the 2004 calender year at 19-12.
philadelphia freedom
Tuesday's game will be the second of three contests in Philadelphia for the Bison this season. On Dec. 1 Bucknell lost to Penn 65-52 at the Palestra, and the Bison will be back in Philadelphia on Feb. 15 to take on Villanova.
homecoming for the griffin family
Bucknell freshman guard John Griffin returns to familiar territory this week. Griffin, who is averaging 7.5 ppg and shooting a team-best 43.6% from 3-point range (17-39), starred at St. Joseph's Prep before coming to Bucknell. His father, John, played at St. Joseph's from 1975-78, and he served as head coach of the Hawks for five seasons (1990-95), immediately preceding Phil Martelli, who had also served as an assistant under Griffin.
dee-fense
Bucknell's strong start has been keyed by its defense, which is yielding a meager 58.1 points per game and is holding opposing shooters to 39.0% from the floor. Last Tuesday the Bison held Niagara, the nation's highest scoring team (89.7 ppg on the season and 96.2 ppg in its six games prior to Bucknell), to 74 points, including just one field goal in the last 6:36 of the contest. The Bison have not allowed more than 74 all season, and only two teams have reached the 70-point mark. Bucknell ranks second in the Patriot League and 14th nationally in scoring defense.
In Bucknell's last 100 games, it has allowed ...
• ... 90 points once.
• ... 80-89 points 4 times.
• ... 70-79 points 19 times.
• ... 60-69 points 36 times.
• ... 50-59 points 25 times.
• ... 40-49 points 11 times.
• ... 30-39 points 2 times.
• ... 20-29 points 2 times.
last time out
On Dec. 22 at Sojka Pavilion, Charles Lee connected on an 18-foot jumper with 0.9 seconds left to lift Bucknell to a 76-74 victory over Niagara (boxscore). It was a remarkably competitive game that featured 18 lead changes, the last coming in the final second after the Bison battled back from a seven-point deficit with 10 minutes to play. Bucknell made seven first-half 3-pointers and led 44-39 at halftime, but Niagara went on a 14-5 run to grab a 62-57 lead. The Bison turned up the defense, getting a series of critical stops in the closing minutes. After Chris Niesz tied the game at 74 with a right-wing jumper with 42 seconds left, Bucknell forced a long 3-point attempt and Abe Badmus rebounded the miss. After two timeouts with four seconds to play, Badmus inbounded to Lee who drained the winning jumper near the right elbow. Kevin Bettencourt and Chris McNaughton led the Bison with 21 points, while Alvin Cruz added 21 for Niagara.
inside the boxscore
Kevin Bettencourt contributed in every department, adding six rebounds, three steals and seven assists (with no turnovers) to his season-high 21 points ... Chris McNaughton made 8 of 12 from the field and 5 of 7 from the free-throw line ... the Bison were outrebounded 38-24, only the fourth time in 11 games they have lost the battle of the boards ... the Herd came up with 11 steals and forced 17 turnovers against the nation's No. 1 scoring team.
taking care of the basketball
After hurting themselves with turnovers early in the season, the Bison have strengthened their ball protection during this four-game winning streak. After averaging 17.7 turnovers per game through seven games, they have committed only 12.0 per contest in the last four and have a combined 56-48 assist-turnover ratio during that span, including 19-13 vs. Niagara.
the last bucknell-st. joseph's meeting
On Dec. 6, 1995 at Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse, Phil Martelli picked up his second career coaching win in St. Joseph's 74-54 victory over Bucknell. Reggie Townsend had 20 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Hawks, who surged to a 34-16 halftime lead after holding the Bison to 5-for-26 shooting in the first half. Brian Anderson led the Bison with 19 points and six rebounds, while Dave Steigerwald added 11 points. Mark Bass (13) and Will Johnson (12) also scored in double figures for the Hawks in a game that featured five technical fouls -- three on the Hawks and two on the Bison -- and one ejection (Bass).
scoring balance
While the Bison do not currently have a player ranked in the top eight in the Patriot League in scoring, they have received good scoring balance thus far. Bucknell has four players averaging at least 7.5 ppg and seven averaging at least 3.5. The Bison are one of only two Patriot League teams with three players averaging in double figures (Colgate has four).
Pat Flannery notches 250th career win
Now in his 11th season as head coach at Bucknell, Pat Flannery became the longest-tenured head coach in the Patriot League when Navy's Don DeVoe retired at the end of last season. Flannery notched his 150th Bucknell win on Nov. 12 against Northern Colorado and now has 156 victories, a total that ranks second in school annals, trailing only the legendary Charlie Woollum, who won 318 games from 1975-94. Woollum notched many of those wins with Flannery as his point guard in the late-1970s. Flannery picked up career victory No. 250 on Dec. 18 at Cornell and now has 251 overall, including his days at Lebanon Valley, when he led LVC to a Divison III national title.
milestone watch
Chris McNaughton recently became eligible for Bucknell's career field-goal percentage list, and he jumped right into the No. 1 position at 63.8% ... Kevin Bettencourt, just a junior, needs only 45 3-pointers to break Mike Bright's Bucknell career record ... Bettencourt tied the school record with 72 last season, and he is currently fourth on the BU career chart (161) ... he needs 19 more to catch J.R. Holden for third place ... Bettencourt also needs 104 points to become Bucknell's 30th 1,000-point scorer.
against the atlantic 10
Bucknell is 28-85 (.248) all-time against the teams that currently comprise the Atlantic 10, including previous games against Temple (5-29), La Salle (3-15), St. Joseph's (1-16), Fordham (5-8), George Washington (7-2), Rhode Island (3-5), Duquesne (3-5), St. Bonaventure (1-3), Richmond (0-1) and Dayton (0-1).
