Bucknell University Athletics
Bison Cagers Seek Fifth Straight Win Saturday in Annapolis
2/13/2004 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 13, 2004
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The Bison look to stay red-hot and continue their ascent in the Patriot League standings in a Valentine's Day matinee Saturday at Navy's Alumni Hall. Currently amid its best eight-game stretch in five years, Bucknell has won four straight and 7 of 8 to climb into a third-place tie alongside American. Lafayette (8-1) and Lehigh (7-2) sit just ahead of Bucknell entering the weekend, and the young Bison next weekend return home - where they are 8-2 and 5-0 in the league this season - to entertain Lafayette and Army. The Bison are coming off a dramatic 64-63 win over then-first-place Lehigh on Tuesday. Navy, on the other hand, has endured a very trying season. The Midshipmen have lost 10 straight, including an 87-46 defeat at Bucknell on Jan. 17, and are 0-9 in Patriot League play. Head coach Don DeVoe, the winningest active mentor in the Patriot League, has announced that he will retire at season's end. The Bison will hardly be taking this game lightly, however, given their recent track record in Alumni Hall. Navy has beaten Bucknell 13 straight times in Annapolis dating back to 1994, including three times in the Patriot League Tournament. Navy leads the all-time series 28-16, including a 25-3 advantage at home.
key stats
* Bucknell leads the Patriot League and ranks 36th nationally in rebound margin at +5.1. Navy is also a solid rebounding club and ranks fourth in the PL in rebound margin at +1.1.
* Bucknell's freshmen and sophomores have accounted for 84.4% of the team's scoring this season.
* Bucknell leads the league in 3-point defense, limiting opponents to 32.6% shooting. Navy ranks last in the PL in that category at 39.8%.
* Bucknell ranks second in the league in field-goal percentage (.459) but just seventh in 3-point percentage (.302). Inside the arc, the Bison shoot 53.8% as a team.
* Two of the league's top four freshman rebounders square off tonight in Bucknell's Chris McNaughton (1st, 5.4 rpg) and Navy's Carlton Baldwin (4th, 4.2).
last time out
Following one of the wildest finishes in the short history of Sojka Pavilion, Bucknell knocked Lehigh out of first place with a dramatic 64-63 victory on Tuesday night. The Bison trailed 63-61 in the waning seconds when Kevin Bettencourt missed a 3-pointer. Charles Lee rebounded under the basket and was fouled - intentionally - by Lehigh's Nick Monserez with 9.9 seconds left. Lee calmly sank both free throws to tie the game, and moments later on the ensuing inbounds, Bettencourt was fouled driving to the basket. He made 1 of 2 free throws with 7.6 ticks left to put the Bison up a point. Lehigh point guard Ra Tiah tried to go coast-to-coast for the game-winner, but he ran into 6'11" center Chris McNaughton, who altered his shot then grabbed the rebound as time expired. Bucknell led by as many as 12 in the first half and by nine at intermission before the Mountain Hawks clawed back. Lehigh took a 62-59 lead on Nick Mgebroff's turnaround jumper with 1:11 to play, but Bucknell scored five of the game's final six points. Mgebroff led Lehigh with 15 points, all in the second half, while Lee finished with a game-high 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Herd.
bucknell vs. navy, part one
Back on Jan. 17 at Sojka Pavilion, Bucknell set school and Patriot League records by shooting 71.7% from the field in an 87-46 drubbing of Navy. The 41-point margin was Bucknell's largest ever in a league game and tied the series record, previously set by Navy in 1946. Led by 15 points apiece from Charles Lee and Chris McNaughton, the Bison snapped a five-game losing streak. Bucknell made 33 of 46 field-goal attempts. Of the 33, 27 were either layups or dunks, and the other six were 3-pointers. Donald Brown, who was coming off a 10-for-10 shooting night against Lehigh, went 5-for-5 against Navy to extend his streak to 15 made field goals in a row. Abe Badmus handed out a career-high eight assists, and Lee had six steals, two shy of the school record. Bucknell led 43-23 at halftime and went up by as many as 44 points in the second half. Jeff Charles led Navy with eight points.
bucknell vs. navy last year
Bucknell and Navy split two meetings last season, with each squad successfully defending its own hardwood. On Jan. 18, 2003, in Annapolis, Scott Long scored a game-high 19 points to lead Navy to a 66-53 victory, its 13th in a row over Bucknell at Alumni Hall. Chris Rodgers led Bucknell with 12 points and Boakai Lalugba and Dan Blankenship scored 11 each, but a 19-5 Navy run to start the second half proved fatal. On Feb. 14, 2003 at Sojka Pavilion, Chris Niesz scored a career-high 18 points, all on 3-pointers, and Lalugba had 13 points and 12 boards to lead the Bison to a 59-41 win. The Bison scored the first 11 points of the game, shutting out Navy for the first 7:27. The Mids closed the half on a 13-1 run to pull within 24-21, but Bucknell ripped off the first 16 points of the second half before Navy finally scored at the 13:38 mark.
streaking
With the Patriot League's youngest lineup really hitting stride, the Bison are enjoying their best prolonged stretch in five years. While the current four-game winning streak is the longest since 2000-01, Bucknell's 7-1 run marks its best eight-game record since late in the 1998-99 season. That year, the Bison finished 16-13, 9-3, and advanced all the way to the Patriot League championship game before falling 67-63 at Lafayette.
a great month
Exactly one month ago Saturday the Bison lost at Lehigh 75-70, and fell to 3-11 overall and 0-2 in the Patriot League. Since then they are 7-1 and have moved into a tie for third place in the loop, just two games back of frontrunner Lafayette. The Leopards visit Lewisburg on Friday.
where's the love?
Bucknell is 15-16 all-time on Valentine's Day, but 2-0 against Navy, including a 59-41 win over the Mids one year ago. Coincidentally, Bucknell's very first intercollegiate basketball game, a 16-14 win over Lock Haven, was played on this date in 1896.
charles in charge
The emergence of Bison sophomore guard Charles Lee has to be considered one of the Patriot League's top stories this winter. A native of Gaithersburg, Md., Lee entered conference play last month averaging 5.2 ppg, and he had scored in double figures only twice in his career. Since then, however, his production has been so good that he may soon at least join the conversation for Patriot League Player of the Year. In league play he has scored at least 12 points in every game, and his 16.2 ppg league average is second only to Lehigh's Austen Rowland's 19.6 average (head-to-head, Lee outscored Rowland 42-32 this season). Lee, who has shot more free throws in league action than any other player (and has converted 83.8%), logged 19 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and three steals in Tuesday's 64-63 win over Lehigh, and he knocked down two free throws with 9.9 seconds left to tie the game at 63.
lee honored
Charles Lee's emergence went recognized by the Patriot League media this week, as Lee was voted the Patriot League Player of the Week for the first time in his career. Lee, who logged 16 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals in last Saturday's 67-62 win over American, was also named the Lewisburg Hotel Bison Athlete of the Week on Monday.
getting to the line
Bucknell has done an excellent job getting to the free-throw line in recent weeks, and in particular sophomores Kevin Bettencourt and Charles Lee have toed the stripe quite frequently. In Patriot League play, Lee and Bettencourt rank 1-2 in the league in free-throw attempts with 68 and 66, respectively (no other PL player has attempted more than 45), and both convert at better than an 80-percent clip. Bettencourt's 119 attempts in all games this season is tops in the conference. In nine PL contests, Bucknell as a team has shot 231 free throws (25.7 per game), also the most in the league.
knocking them down
Charles Lee has made 26 consecutive free throws heading into the Navy game. That is 13 shy of the school-record streak of 39 in a row, set by Bo Heiden in 1986-87.
sixth man extraordinaire
Freshman forward Donald Brown has made a mark as one of the Patriot League's top sixth men this winter. The Long Island native is averaging 8.2 ppg (9.4 ppg in PL play). He is second in the league in field-goal percentage in PL games at 64.8% and ranks third in overall FG% at 57.7%.
bettencourt in race for pl scoring lead
Sophomore guard Kevin Bettencourt, a three-time Patriot League Player of the Week pick this season, is engaged in a heated battle for the league scoring title. Entering this weekend's action, only four points separate the top three scorers - Lehigh's Austen Rowland (346, 15.7), Bettencourt (334, 15.6) and Lafayette's Justin DeBerry (342 pts., 15.5 ppg).
sharpshooters
Bucknell boasts two of the Patriot League's top three most accurate shooters from the field in Chris McNaughton (1st, .644) and Donald Brown (3rd, .577), as well as two of the top four in free-throw accuracy in Charles Lee (2nd, .841) and Kevin Bettencourt (4th, .807).
big o
Reserve guard Antario Glover has excelled as a defensive stopper for coach Pat Flannery this season, but Tuesday against Lehigh he stepped up his offensive game. The Stephens, Ark., native doubled his previous scoring high with 12 points on 6 of 6 shooting from the field.
home sweet home
Bucknell is in the midst of a key stretch with 6 of 7 games at home, with Saturday's affair marking the team's lone road tilt over a 33-day span. The Bison have won seven straight at home and are now 8-2 at Sojka Pavilion this season following Tuesday's win over Lehigh. Bucknell wraps up its 2003-04 home slate next weekend against Lafayette and Army.
hitting the century mark
Bucknell senior Matt Quinn is expected to play in his 100th career game on Saturday. He would become the 23rd Bison to play in 100 career contests.
