Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
9-12, 5-3PL
American
11-11, 5-3PL
Bucknell Men Hold Off American 67-62 for Sixth Win in Seven Games
2/7/2004 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 7, 2004
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Kevin Bettencourt scored 20 points and Charles Lee hit six big free throws in the final 64 seconds en route to a 16-point effort as Bucknell outlasted American 67-62 Saturday at Sojka Pavilion.
The victory was Bucknell's sixth in its last seven outings and propelled the Bison (9-12, 5-3) into a tie for third place with American (11-11, 5-3) in the Patriot League standings.
Bucknell raced to a 15-point halftime lead, but American forced a bevy of turnovers off a tenacious full-court press to get as close as one point with 2:05 remaning. Bucknell, which missed 8 of 11 free throws during one stretch late in the second half to keep the game close, finally sealed it thanks to Lee's 6-for-6 shooting from the stripe and two from Bettencourt in the final seconds.
Jernavis Draughn led American with 17 points, and Andre Ingram had 16, including a game-high four 3-pointers.
Bucknell shot 56.8 percent from the field for the game but only attempted 14 shots in the second half, as the Eagles forced 18 second-half turnovers with their trapping defense. American shot 37.0 percent from the field.
Bettencourt scored 15 points in the first half as Bucknell assumed a 36-21 halftime lead. The Bison made six of their first seven field goals and led 16-5 after Davorin Skornik's layup at the 14:12 mark. American closed within 21-17 following Linus Lekavicius' fastbreak layup, but Bucknell closed the half on a 15-4 run, sparked by three Bettencourt 3-pointers in a three-minute span.
The second half was a different story, as American opened with a 13-6 run to reduce the margin to single digits. The Eagles closed within five at 48-43 on Draughn's alley-oop layin with 7:46 to go, and Ingram's 3-pointer from the left corner made it a two-point ballgame at 54-52 with 4:06 to play.
A driving layup by Abe Badmus and a reverse layup from Lee put Bucknell back up by six at 58-52, but American responded with a 3-point play from Draughn and two free throws from Lekavicius to close within 58-57 with 2:05 to play.
After Lekavicius made his second free throw he stole the inbounds pass, one of his Sojka Pavilion-record nine steals, but the Eagles missed two jumpers that would have given them their first lead of the night.
Bettencourt made 1 of 2 free throws with 1:36 left to make it 59-57, and after the teams traded turnovers, Bettencourt made perhaps the biggest play of the game when, as the only man back on a 2-on-1 fastbreak, he stripped the ball from Draughn and called timeout as he was falling out of bounds.
American fouled Lee on the ensuing possession, and he snapped the Bison out of their free-throw funk by sinking both ends to make it 61-57 with 1:04 to play. Twice more in the final half-minute Lee answered American points with a pair of free throws, his last two giving Bucknell a 65-60 lead with 11 seconds remaining. Lekavicius scored on a put-back to make it 65-62 with 2.1 seconds left, and after an AU timeout, Bettencourt was fouled with 0.8 left after receiving the inbounds pass in traffic along the baseline. Bettencourt stroked both free throws to seal the contest and secure his seventh 20-point game of the season.
Bucknell, which held a 33-24 rebounding edge, also got eight points apiece from Badmus and Chris McNaughton.
American made 17 of 18 free throws and corralled an arena-record 18 steals.
Bucknell returns to action on Tuesday night at home against Lehigh, while American hosts Navy on Tuesday.
