Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Opens Home Hoops Slate Saturday vs. Yale
11/25/2005 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 25, 2005
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After cementing its "Giant Killer" reputation with a thrilling 74-69 win over 17th-ranked Syracuse at the Carrier Dome on Tuesday, Bucknell opens its 2005-06 home schedule Saturday evening against Yale. The victory over the Orange was the team's third over a top-20 foe in the last 11 months. Last year Bucknell toppled No. 7 Pittsburgh on the road and No. 12 Kansas in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Orange & Blue are now 2-0 for the first time since 2000-01, and they have won their first two road games in a season for the first time since 1983-84. The Bison have won 11 straight home games dating back to a 70-65 loss to Saint Francis (Pa.) on Nov. 22, 2004. Yale played three games in three nights last weekend at the John Thompson Foundation Basketball Classic in Lincoln, Neb., and the Bulldogs came home with a pair of victories. On Friday they downed Louisiana Tech 69-68, then they fell 73-64 to host Nebraska, and Yale finished up with a 70-67 win over Longwood. Sam Kaplan, who hit the game-winning free throws with six seconds left against Louisiana Tech, leads the team in scoring at 17.7 ppg. Eric Flato (10.7) and Caleb Holmes (10.3) also score in double figures. These two teams engaged in a thriller last season in New Haven, as the Bison overcame a six-point deficit in the final minute of regulation and eventually won 73-64 in overtime.
with a victory over yale, bucknell would ...
• ... begin a season 3-0 for the first time since 1999-2000, and for only the second time since 1983-84.
• ... win its home opener for the second straight season and for the eighth time in 12 seasons under Pat Flannery.
• ... win its 12th straight home game.
• ... improve to 3-2 all-time against Yale.
• ... defeat the Bulldogs at home for the first time since Dec. 1, 1990.
last time out: bison topple another top-25 foe
For the third time in the last 11 months, Bucknell knocked off a top-25 opponent on Tuesday night with a 74-69 victory over 17th-ranked Syracuse before more than 20,000 fans at the Carrier Dome. Kevin Bettencourt led all scorers with 20 points, including nine of the team's final 12 points over the last 2:38. Charles Lee had 18 points and Chris McNaughton had a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. The Bison trailed 60-56 with five minutes to play before out-executing Syracuse down the stretch. The Bison erased that four-point deficit by scoring nine straight points, including two breakaway layups after steals. McNaughton's 3-point play gave Bucknell a 65-60 lead with 1:42 to play, and the Bison hit 10 of 13 free throws to seal the win.
a terrific twenty
Bucknell's veteran squad came up with a near-flawless second half in Tuesday's win at Syracuse. Over the final 20 minutes the Bison shot an astounding 82.4% (14-17) from the field. All three misses came in the first five minutes of the half (they made their last 11 shots of the night), and on one of the misses they grabbed the offensive rebound. What's more, Bucknell out-rebounded Syracuse 12-10 in the second half and held the Orange's starting frontcourt of Terrence Roberts (6-9, 235) and Darryl Watkins (6-11, 258) to a combined four points and one rebound.
badmus authors another defensive gem
Junior point guard Abe Badmus showed Syracuse why he's the reigning Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year. Badmus harassed Wooden Award candidate Gerry McNamara into a 6-for-19 shooting night, and he came up with three of his game-high four steals in the critical final four minutes of the game. With Bucknell trailing 60-58 at the four-minute mark, Badmus stripped McNamara at the top of the key and raced untouched for the tying layup. With just over a minute to play and Bucknell leading by five, he intercepted an Eric Devendorf pass, and with 0:52 left he stole a pass from Josh Wright.
ball protection
When Bucknell head coach Pat Flannery is handed a boxscore, one of the first statistics that catches his eye is his team's assist-to-turnover ratio. For the second time in as many games this season, the Bison posted a positive ratio with 19 assists and 15 turnovers against Syracuse. Even more impressive is that all five guards that saw action on Tuesday -- Abe Badmus, Kevin Bettencourt, Charles Lee, John Griffin and Jason Vegotsky -- combined for a near-perfect 16-to-3 ratio.
inside the boxscore
John Griffin had another solid night off the bench with six points, four assists, a steal and no turnovers in 16 minutes ... Griffin hit a big 3-pointer with the Bison trailing by seven in the second half ... Bettencourt reached the 20-point mark for the 16th time in his career ... the Bison shot 85.7% (18-21) from the free-throw line ... Bucknell held Syracuse to 38.3% shooting from the field and 37.5% (9-24) from the 3-point line ... it was Bucknell's first victory over Syracuse in nine tries.
last time vs. yale
Some would argue that last year's 73-65 overtime victory over Yale was the turning point in the entire season for Bucknell. The Bison were coming off a discouraging 13-point loss at Penn, and they trailed by six at Yale with 45 seconds left in regulation. But John Clark and Charles Lee hit big 3-pointers, the latter with 15 seconds to play, and Bucknell rallied for what would be its first of 11 straight victories. Lee, who had scored only three points in the loss to Penn, had perhaps the best night of his career with 22 points and 18 rebounds. Clark registered 11 points and Chris McNaughton also had a double-double with 10 points and 11 boards. Edwin Draughan led Yale with 21 points.
bucknell vs. the ivy league
The Bison are 34-39 (.466) all-time against the Ancient Eight -- 3-1 vs. Brown, 1-1 vs. Columbia, 20-21 vs. Cornell, 1-0 vs. Dartmouth, 1-1 vs. Harvard, 3-4 vs. Penn, 3-9 vs. Princeton and 2-2 vs. Yale. In the Pat Flannery era, Bucknell is 10-14 (.417) against the Ivy League. The Bison have one more contest against an Ivy foe this season. Cornell visits Sojka Pavilion on Dec. 17.
home winning streak on the line
Bucknell has not lost a home game in more than a year. The Bison have won 11 straight in Sojka Pavilion dating back to their last loss here, Nov. 22, 2004 against Saint Francis (Pa.) (70-65).
bucknell in home openers
Bucknell is 7-4 in home openers under Pat Flannery. Last season the Bison defeated Rider 69-50 in their home opener and went on to finish 12-1 at Sojka Pavilion.
home, sweet home
Bucknell was 12-1 at home last season and now has a 16-game home winning streak against PL foes. The Bison are 25-6 in Sojka Pavilion since debuting in the new facility on Jan. 15, 2003.
two of college basketball's oldest teams square off
Bucknell and Yale, along with Minnesota, are the oldest college basketball programs in the nation, with all three playing their 111th season in 2005-06. Despite the rich heritage, the Bison and Bulldogs have met only four times previously, with each team winning twice.
milestone watch
• Senior Kevin Bettencourt has moved into 14th place on Bucknell's all-time scoring list with 1,199 points. He needs one point to catch Joe Steiner for 13th place; nine points to catch Lorry Hathaway for 12th place; 128 to enter the top 10; 319 to get into the top 5 and 774 to break Al Leslie's school record.
• Bettencourt has already broken the school record for career 3-pointers with 218, but he can break the Patriot League mark (Mark Lueking, Army) if he makes 80 more.
• Bettencourt also needs to play in 25 more games to equal the school mark for career games played. Paul Olkowski (1989-93) and Steve Schrader (1982-87) participated in a record 118 contests.
• Senior Charles Lee needs 243 points and 110 rebounds to become only the 15th player in school history with 1,000 points and 500 rebounds.
in the polls
Bucknell is currently receiving votes in both the Associated Press Poll and the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll. The Bison pocketed one vote in the Coaches' Poll and four points in the AP Poll this week. In addition, Bucknell began the season ranked eighth in the collegeinsider.com Mid-Major Poll. That is an all-time high for the Orange & Blue, who peaked at 14th in the Mid-Major Poll last season before finishing 18th.
