Bucknell University
8-1
Saint Joseph's
4-3
Stellar Defense Leads Bucknell to 63-51 Win over Saint Joseph's, Bison Take Holiday Break at 8-1
12/21/2005 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 21, 2005
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Kevin Bettencourt scored 17 points and Bucknell used a suffocating defensive effort to turn back visiting Saint Joseph's 63-51 before a standing-room-only crowd at Sojka Pavilion on Wednesday night. The victory sends the Bison home for the holidays with an 8-1 record, their best start since 1956-57.
Charles Lee added 14 points and five assists, Chris McNaughton had 12 points and John Griffin filled in nicely for foul-laden point guard Abe Badmus, finishing with 10 points, three assists and two steals.
Ahmad Nivins scored a career-high 17 points for the Hawks (4-3), while Chet Stachitas added 12.
Bucknell entered the contest as the only team in the nation ranked in the top 20 in both field-goal percentage and field-goal percentage defense. Saint Joseph's entered the contest shooting 46.7 percent from the floor and 43.2 percent from 3-point range (No. 7 nationally), but the Bison held the Hawks to 36.2 percent shooting overall, and 22.7 percent (5-22) from long range.
Much of Bucknell's defensive effort focused on Stachitas, the Hawks' leading scorer at 18.0 points per game and the nation's leading 3-point shooter at 63.0 percent (17-27). Bucknell forced the senior into a 2-for-11 night from 3-point distance and 3-for-14 overall.
Offensively Bucknell shot 53.8 percent on the night and canned 7 of 12 3-point tries. In last season's 69-62 win at Saint Joseph's, the Bison made 10 of 15 from beyond the arc. Bucknell came into the game shooting 50.9 percent from the field as a team, 12th-best nationally. It was the fifth time in nine games it made more than half its shots.
Trailing 13-8 in the early stages, Bucknell took the lead for good with a 16-0 run, holding the Hawks scoreless for exactly 11 minutes. The Bison hit four treys in that span, two by Griffin, who broke out of a 3-for-17 shooting slump, and one each from McNaughton and Lee.
Griffin's second bomb made it 24-13 with 5:20 left in the half. Rob Ferguson ended the Hawks' drought with a short jumper, but Bettencourt hit a 2-pointer with a toe on the line and then a long 3-pointer off a drive and kick-out from Griffin, making it 29-15 at the 3:50 mark.
Bucknell still led by 14 at 32-18 until Stachitas hit a 3-pointer with 10 seconds left on one of his few open looks of the night, making it 32-21 at the half.
The Bison took its largest lead of 16 points at 39-23 after a quick 7-0 run, highlighted by another Griffin 3-pointer and Bettencourt's baseline jumper after a rebound of his own miss. Saint Joseph's answered with a 9-0 run, however, pulling within seven on Nivins' put-back with 10:46 to play.
Bucknell's lead never dipped below seven, though, as McNaughton heated up with three face-up jumpers in a two-minute span, keying an important 8-4 run that pushed the lead back to double digits at 47-36 with 8:04 left.
Leading 49-40 inside four minutes to play, Bettencourt hit a crucial 3-pointer with the shot clock set to expire. The Bison initially failed to put the game away from the free throw line, making only 4 of 11 over a two-minute stretch, but eventually they hit their target, hitting 7 of 8, including 5 of 6 from Lee, to keep the Hawks no closer than eight points in the final minute.
While it was Bucknell's second victory in as many years over Saint Joseph's, the Hawks still lead the all-time series 16-3. It was their first visit to Lewisburg since Jan. 7, 1981, and it was Bucknell's first home victory over the Hawks since Jan. 10, 1979.
Bucknell outrebounded Saint Joseph's 31-26 and outscored the Hawks 14-0 off the bench.
The attendance of 4,252 was the second-largest in Bucknell basketball history, trailing only the announced crowd of 4,433 for the Dec. 6 Villanova game.
After taking a brief holiday break, Bucknell returns to action on Dec. 28 against Boston University at the Cable Car Classic in Santa Clara, Calif.
