Bucknell University
14-4, 5-0
Lehigh
9-9, 3-2
Badmus' 3-Pointer Lifts Bucknell Men to 11th Straight Win, 65-63 over Lehigh
1/23/2005 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 23, 2005
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Abe Badmus canned a 3-pointer with six seconds left to cap off a frenetic finish to Bucknell's 65-63 Patriot League victory over Lehigh on Sunday afternoon at Sojka Pavilion. The first-place Bison improved to 14-4 overall, 5-0 in the Patriot League with their 11th straight win. Defending league champion Lehigh, which entered the weekend in a first-place tie with Bucknell, dropped its second straight and fell to 9-9, 3-2.
Badmus' heroic shot spoiled what might have been a stunning comeback win for the Mountain Hawks, who erased a seven-point deficit with a minute to play by scoring eight straight points in 31 seconds. In the end it was the Bison who claimed come-from-behind honors by pulling out a victory after trailing by as many as 12 in the first half.
Charles Lee led Bucknell with 15 points, while Chris McNaughton added 13 and Kevin Bettencourt 12. Hot-shooting Nick Monserez led all players with a career-high 22 points for Lehigh, while Jose Olivero scored 15 before fouling out.
Bucknell with the victory equaled the sixth-longest winning streak in school history. Every winning streak longer than 11 happened prior to 1919. It was also Bucknell's 11th consecutive Patriot League home win.
Behind 55-53 with 5:46 to play, the Bison scored nine straight points, seven coming from the free-throw line, to grab a seemingly commanding 62-55 lead. McNaughton scored six straight points, the last three as he was fouled while making a fastbreak layup. After Kyle Neptune missed the front end of a one-and-one for Lehigh, Bettencourt converted all three free throws after being fouled on a 21-foot jumper to make it a seven-point game with 1:17 to play.
 John Clark (21) and Abe Badmus celebrate Bucknell's win over Lehigh.  |
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Monserez, who made 6 of 9 3-point tries on the day, had a rare miss, but Mitch Gilfillan tracked down the rebound in the corner and tossed in a 3-pointer to make it 62-58 with 1:03 left. Bucknell then turned it over on the inbounds, and Neptune made the Bison pay with a 3-point play that made it a 62-61 game with 0:59 to play.
Bucknell threw a long pass to Lee on the ensuing inbounds, but Lee's breakway layup rolled around the rim and off. Lehigh then took a 63-62 lead on Jason Mgebroff's jumper with 32 seconds left.
After using two timeouts, Bucknell first looked inside to a double-teamed McNaughton, who kicked it out to Badmus on the left wing for the clutch go-ahead 3-pointer. Lehigh had a final shot, but Earl Nurse's contested 28-footer just rimmed out as time expired.
Olivero, who made just 1 of 8 shots in Friday's loss at Colgate, came out of the blocks on fire in the early going and staked the Mountain Hawks to an early double-digit cushion. Olivero scored eight of the team's first 13 points, and an alley-oop finish by Nurse capped a 15-2 run that gave Lehigh a 15-5 lead.
Bucknell started the day 5-for-18 from the field and fell behind 31-19 on Joe Knight's free throws with 2: 49 left in the half. But the final four minutes of the first half proved to be key for the Bison. Bucknell held Lehigh without a field goal over the final 4:36 of the half, and 3-pointers by Chris Niesz and Badmus helped trim the deficit to just six at 31-25 at intermission.
The Bison continued their strong play early in the second half, opening on a 13-3 run to claim the lead for the first time since the opening minutes. Bettencourt, who was scoreless in the first half, picked up Bucknell's first five points of the second, and John Clark pulled it within one with a 3-point play off an offensive rebound.
Lee's 17-footer put the Bison ahead five minutes into the half, and Badmus' 3-point play made it 38-34 with 14:17 to play. Points came in bunches over the next several minutes, as Monserez canned two treys and Nurse had a 3-point play for Lehigh, while Bettencourt and John Griffin hit threes for the Bison.
Olivero made five straight free throws to put Lehigh back in front 50-47 with 8:28 left. Bucknell took the lead back with a free throw and another second-chance 3-point play by Lee, but Monserez hit a sensational 3-pointer in front of his own bench as the shot clock expired to put Lehigh in front 53-51 with 7:08 left.
McNaughton scored inside to tie it before Monserez canned two free throws to make it 55-53. That set up the wild finish that evoked memories of last season's Bucknell-Lehigh game at Sojka Pavilion, which the Bison won 64-63 on a Bettencourt free throw with nine seconds left.
Bucknell shot 47.8 percent in its 40-point second half, after shooting only 33.3 percent over the opening 20 minutes. The trend was reversed for the Mountain Hawks, who shot 47.8 percent in the first half but only 30.0 percent in the second.
Badmus, who said it was the first game-winning shot of his basketball career, and Griffin scored nine points each for Bucknell, which currently has the sixth-longest winning streak in the nation.
Prior to the contest it was announced that Bison head coach Pat Flannery would be taking a temporary leave of absence while dealing with personal health issues. Flannery's return to full coaching responsibilities will be decided based on his progress with his health issues, and cannot be projected at present.
Bucknell embarks on a four-game road trip beginning Friday at American. Tip-off is 7 p.m. at Bender Arena.
