Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
8-12, 4-3PL
Holy Cross
8-12, 2-5PL
Bucknell Men Complete Weekend Sweep with 77-67 Win over Holy Cross
2/1/2004 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 1, 2004
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Kevin Bettencourt scored a game-high 29 points to lead Bucknell to its second Patriot League victory in 48 hours, 77-67 over Holy Cross on Sunday at Sojka Pavilion.
The Bison, who defeated Colgate on Friday night, have won five of their last six games and improved to 8-12 overall and 4-3 in the Patriot League. The Bison remain in fourth place in the league standings but kept pace with the three teams ahead of them, each of which won on Sunday.
Holy Cross, the three-time defending Patriot League champion that had beaten Bucknell four straight times coming in, fell to 8-12, 2-5.
Charles Lee, who was scoreless in the first half, scored 14 points in the second and Chris McNaughton (12) and Donald Brown (11) also scored in double figures for the Bison, who shot 57.5 percent from the field.
Nate Lufkin topped Holy Cross with 12 points while Jave Meade and Kevin Hamilton added 11 and 10, respectively.
Bucknell had been 0-9 this season when trailing at the half, but the Bison erased a 32-31 halftime deficit with two key second-half runs. The Crusaders stretched the lead to 36-31 on two Lufkin layups to start the second half, but Lee's three-point play ignited a 15-3 run that gave the Bison their largest lead of the night at 46-39.
Bettencourt drained a 3-pointer to give the Bison a 38-36 lead, and Antario Glover and Lee followed with fastbreak layups. At the 12-minute mark, McNaughton scored inside and got fouled. Brown rebounded the missed free throw and fed McNaughton for another layup and a four-point possession.
Holy Cross rallied, though, by holding Bucknell to one field goal in a span of 5:33. John Hurley's follow cut it to 49-47 and Meade and Greg Kinsey sandwiched 3-pointers around two Bettencourt free throws, the latter knotting the game at 53 with 4:47 left.
But Holy Cross would not make another field goal until the final 30 seconds of the game, and Bucknell scored the next nine points after the Kinsey trey. Bettencourt put the Bison ahead with a free throw with 4:00 left and following a Crusader turnover and a media timeout, Lee buried an open 3-pointer from the left corner.
With 2:16 to play Abe Badmus went to the line for two shots after rebounding Keith Simmons' miss. He made the first and missed the second, but McNaughton collared the offensive rebound and finished with a dunk to make it 60-53. Bucknell made it nine straight points when Brown stole a ball in the paint and fed Bettencourt for a breakaway layup, making it 62-53 with 1:41 to play.
The Bison made 9 of 10 free throws in the final 1:22, including four each from Lee and Bettencourt, and Brown provided a final exclamation point with an open-court dunk in the final 10 seconds.
Bucknell made 26 of 35 free-throw attempts and 5 of 8 from beyond the arc. Bettencourt made 14 of 15 from the free-throw line, just missing the school record for most free throws made without a miss. Lee and Brown were a combined 9-for-9 from the field, and McNaughton made all five of his second-half shots after an 0-for-4 start.
Holy Cross shot 48.0 percent from the field and held a 30-25 rebounding edge.
Bucknell returns to action next Saturday, hosting American at 3:15 p.m., while Holy Cross entertains Army at te same time.
