Bucknell University
9-2
Santa Clara
7-5
Bucknell Falls to Santa Clara 77-68 in Cable Car Classic Final
12/30/2005 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 30, 2005
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Travis Niesen scored a game-high 24 points, including a handful of clutch second-half baskets to stymie Bucknell's comeback attempt, and Santa Clara handed the Bison only their second loss of the season, 77-68 in the championship game of the Cable Car Classic Thursday night at the Leavey Center.
Kevin Bettencourt and Chris McNaughton tallied 17 points each for the Bison, who fell to 9-2 and had their four-game winning streak come to an end. Bucknell also received 15 points from Charles Lee but could never fully recover from a 14-0 Santa Clara run in the first half.
Darren Mastropaolo's put-back at the 8:11 mark gave Bucknell a 16-15 lead, but Santa Clara (7-5) broke things open by scoring 14 straight points. Calvin Johnson had a 3-pointer and a 2-point jumper to spark the run, and Niesen's leaner with 3:34 left in the half made it 29-16 before Lee ended Bucknell's five-minute scoring drought.
Brandon Rohe's baseline jumper gave the Broncos their largest lead of 15 points at 33-18 with 2:15 left, but Bucknell outscored Santa Clara 8-4 the rest of the way, capped by Bettencourt's 25-foot buzzer-beater, to pull within 11 at 37-26 at the half.
The Bison got as close as five twice in the second half, the first after hitting the Broncos with a barrage of 3-pointers early in the period. Bettencourt and Lee hit two apiece in the first five minutes, with Lee's second making it a 42-37 game.
With McNaughton on the bench with four fouls, Santa Clara upped the lead back to 10 at 52-42 on a pair of buckets by Mitch Henke and a layup by Niesen.
Donald Brown's foul-line jumper and John Griffin's 3-pointer again made it a five-point game at 52-47 with 10:13 left, but Niesen hit a tough, off-balance jumper from the right baseline with the shot clock winding down to stem the Bison rally.
Johnson, who finished with 16 points, followed with a 3-pointer to make it a 10-point game again at 57-47 with 8:59 left. The Bison never got closer than seven the rest of the way.
Santa Clara shot 55.3 percent from the field against a Bison squad ranked among the national leaders in field-goal percentage defense (.368). The Broncos hit 7 of 14 3-point attempts and made 18 of 25 from the free-throw line.
McNaughton and Bettencourt were named to the all-tournament team, while Niesen was named MVP. McNaughton, who scored 20 points in Bucknell's first-round win over Boston University, made 6 of 9 shots from the field and scored 17 points, despite being limited to 23 minutes due to foul trouble.
Bettencourt hit a season-high five of Bucknell's eight 3-pointers. The Bison shot 43.4 percent from the floor, 33.3 percent from 3-point range and made 14 of 17 free throws.
Bucknell will next travel to Durham, N.C., for a Jan. 2 encounter with top-ranked Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The ESPN-televised game will tip off at 4:30 p.m. EST.
