Bucknell University
8-4
Saint Joseph's
3-5
Sharp-Shooting Bison Stampede St. Joseph's 69-62 in Philadelphia
12/28/2004 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 28, 2004
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - Kevin Bettencourt scored 21 points and Bucknell, propelled by 10-for-15 3-point shooting, raced past St. Joseph's 69-62 Tuesday night at sold-out Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse. Charles Lee added 17 points and eight rebounds for the Bison, who at 8-4 have matched their best 12-game start since 1992-93.
Bucknell shot 63.6 percent from the field in the game, including an amazing 7-for-8 shooting display from 3-point range in the second half, and led by 14 points with 45 seconds to play before the Hawks made a last-ditch comeback attempt.
The victory was Bucknell's fifth in a row, its longest winning streak solely out of conference since 1970-71, and it was its first victory over St. Joseph's since Jan. 10, 1979.
Pat Carroll led St. Joseph's (3-5) with 21 points, while Chet Stachitas added 14. The Hawks, who went 30-2, captured the Atlantic 10 title and advanced to the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight last season, dropped their third straight.
Trailing 32-31 at halftime, the Bison opened the second stanza on a 17-6 run. Following a 3-pointer by Chris Niesz, Lee blocked Robert Ferguson's shot at the top of the key and took off for a breakaway layup that made it 48-38 with 12:49 to play.
Another layup by Lee off a Chris McNaughton feed made it 55-44 at the 8:45 mark, but then disaster nearly struck for the Bison as St. Joseph's scored nine points in under a minute. First Stachitas hit a baseline jumper, then on St. Joseph's next possession Stachitas and Bison point guard Abe Badmus got tangled up near midcourt. Badmus, who had a season-high eight assists and adeptly handled St. Joseph's pressure most of the night, was whistled for his fourth foul.
Stachitas made the front end of a one-and-one, and John Bryant rebounded his miss on the second, then passed to Dwayne Lee for a 3-pointer that cut the lead to 55-50. Just 16 seconds later, the Hawks got out in transition after a Bison turnover and Carroll drilled one of his six 3-pointers to make it 55-53, sending the sellout crowd into a frenzy.
But Bettencourt, who was coming off a terrific 21-point effort in last Wednesday's win over Niagara, canned back-to-back treys to restore an eight-point lead. Bettencourt made 5 of 6 3-pointers on the night and was 7-for-11 overall. Only a junior, Bettencourt pulled within 40 of Bucknell's career 3-point record.
After a baseline jumped by Stachitas, Bettencourt was again open on the right side, but this time he pump-faked around two charging defenders and found John Clark alone at the top of the arc for a dagger-inducing 3-pointer that made it 64-55 with 4:26 to play.
Dwayne Jones missed the front end of a one-and-one, then local favorite John Griffin stretched it to a 12 point lead with a bomb from the right wing. Badmus' steal and breakaway layup made it 69-55 with 2:03 to play.
The Hawks made things interesting down the stretch, starting with Carroll's four-point play with 44 seconds left. Lee then stole the inbounds pass and drove for a layup to make it 69-61 with 39 ticks left. After a missed Bucknell free throw, Lee made 1 of 2 from the line to make it 69-62 with 29.7 seconds left. But the Hawks missed their last three shots and the Bison finally ran out the clock.
Bucknell shot 59.1 percent from the field in the first half but trailed 32-31 at the break. There were nine lead changes in the opening 20 minutes, the last coming on Carroll's 3-pointer with 2:39 left.
Both teams led by as many as five points in the first half. The Hawks took an early 18-13 edge behind three 3-pointers from Stachitas, but the Bison rallied for a 15-5 run and grabbed a 28-23 lead on Bettencourt's transition jumper with 5:25 to play.
St. Joseph's scored six straight capped by Bryant's layup to regain a 29-28 lead before Griffin canned a 3-pointer to put the Bison back ahead 31-29.
Griffin, who starred at neighboring St. Joseph's Prep before coming to Bucknell, is the son of former Hawks player and head coach John Griffin. The younger Griffin received a warm ovation from the crowd when he checked in for the first time six minutes into the game.
Bucknell finished the month of December 5-1, its best since 1983 (4-0). The Bison wrapped up the 2004 calendar year with a 19-12 record.
McNaughton finished with 10 points on 5-for-7 shooting for the Bison. All but one Bucknell player who saw the floor made at least half of his shots. Among the other starters, Lee was 8-for-11, Bettencourt 7-for-11, Clark 3-for-5 and Badmus 1-for-2.
Despite allowing 15 offensive boards, the Bison outrebounded St. Joseph's 29-27. Defensively Bucknell forced 16 turnovers and held the Hawks to 37.0 percent shooting.
Next up for Bucknell is a visit to seventh-ranked Pittsburgh on Jan. 2. St. Joseph's travels to Ohio State on Dec. 31.
