Bucknell University
7-1
Haverford
3-5
Bison Men's Basketball Topples Haverford, 76-44
12/19/2005 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 19, 2005
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Chris McNaughton and Jason Vegotsky scored 14 points each to lead Bucknell to its second straight 30-plus point victory, 76-44 over Haverford on Monday night at Sojka Pavilion. Kevin Bettencourt added 11 points and five assists for the Bison, who improved to 7-1 on the season.
Jason Polykoff and Mike Fratangelo led Haverford (3-5) with eight points each.
After a sluggish first half, Bucknell outscored the Fords 45-23 after the break and led by as many as 36 points in the final minute. The victory came just two days after a 44-point victory over Cornell.
Bucknell committed 14 turnovers and shot only 44.4 percent from the field in the first half but managed to take a 31-21 halftime lead behind a solid defensive effort. Two McNaughton buckets and a Bettencourt 3-pointer helped the Bison to a 9-0 start, but the smaller Fords hung around.
A 7-1 run capped by Ben McDowell's jumper at the 8:43 mark made it a four-point game at 21-17, but Vegotsky's 3-pointer started an 8-0 run that pushed the lead back to double figures, where it would remain for the rest of the night.
Charles Lee's 3-pointer 3:45 into the second half pushed the lead up to 16 at 41-25, and Tarik Viaer-McClymont's put-back after a missed free throw made it a 21-point lead at 47-26.
Vegotsky, who made all four of his 3-point attempts on the night, canned three trifectas is a span of only 2:54 midway through the second half, the last giving the Bison a commanding 63-31 lead. Bucknell took its largest lead of 36 points at 76-40 on Rob Thomas' tip-in with 23 seconds left.
Defensively the Bison forced 19 turnovers and held Haverford to only 15 field goals in 54 attempts (27.8 percent). Haverford made only 3 of 19 from 3-point range, and Bucknell held leading scorer Johnny Elefterakis to just one point on 0-for-11 shooting from the floor.
The Bison held Haverford without a field goal for more than nine minutes in the second half while stretching their lead from 11 to 26 points.
For the second straight game Bucknell received excellent bench production. Led by Vegotsky's career-high 14 points and Donald Brown's career-high-tying 10 rebounds, the bench totaled 35 points and 25 rebounds.
Bucknell posted a season-high 51 rebounds to Haverford's 27. The Bison shot 45.8 percent from the field and made 8 of 18 3-point tries.
Off to its best start since 1983-84, Bucknell returns to action on Wednesday night, hosting St. Joseph's at Sojka Pavilion at 7 p.m.
