Bucknell University
17-7, 8-3
United States Naval Academy
7-17, 3-8
Bucknell Men's Basketball Defeats Navy, 71-60, Grabs Sole Possession of Second Place in PL
2/13/2005 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 13, 2005
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Charles Lee scored 19 of his game-high 22 points in the first half and Bucknell outlasted Navy 71-60 on Sunday afternoon in a foul-filled Patriot League contest at Sojka Pavilion. With the victory the Bison (17-7, 8-3) are 10 games over .500 for the second time this season, and they gained sole possession of second place in the Patriot League standings by virtue of Holy Cross' victory over Lehigh.
Greg Sprink had 14 points and 10 rebounds, and George O'Garro tallied 13 points to lead Navy (7-17, 3-8), which had defeated the Bison two weeks ago in Annapolis, Md.
Bucknell won its 13th straight Patriot League home game and improved to 9-1 at Sojka Pavilion this season, 6-0 in conference play. The Bison clinched a winning Patriot League record for the 13th time in 15 years in the league.
Abe Badmus had a solid all-around game with 10 points, six assists and four steals, while Kevin Bettencourt scored all nine of his points in the final 6:31 of the game, including two critical 3-pointers that moved seven-point leads up to 10 in the contest's late stages.
Chris McNaughton scored eight points and led Bucknell with seven rebounds, but the 6-11 center played only 15 minutes due to foul trouble. McNaughton went to the bench with two fouls in the first 2:11 of the game, but Darren Mastropaolo and Tarik Viaer-McClymont picked up the slack. Mastropaolo made his fourth straight start and scored a career-high nine points on 4-for-5 shooting in the field, while Viaer-McClymont had four points, three rebounds, two assists and a steal in 12 minutes off the bench.
With the Bison leading 61-54 with six minutes to play, Viaer-McClymont hustled after an offensive rebound and kicked out to Bettencourt for a back-breaking 3-pointer. Navy twice pulled within eight points, but the Bison held the Midshipmen without a field goal for the final 5:29 and iced it with free throws from Bettencourt, Badmus and Mastropaolo down the stretch.
Lee was the story for the Bison in the first half. The junior co-captain hit two straight 3-pointers in the opening minutes and scored eight points in Bucknell's 12-3 run to open the contest. After Navy pulled within two points at 20-18 on Carlton Baldwin's inside basket, Lee hit back-to-back baseline jumpers, the last after rebounding Mastropaolo's missed free throw. After Taj Matthews made 1 of 2 from the line, Lee hit another trey to polish off a 6-for-6 half and give the Bison a 27-19 lead.
Sprink followed up his own miss to make it 32-25, and after a Bison turnover Navy had a chance to pull closer before halftime, but Badmus picked Corey Johnson's pocket near mid-court and scored an uncontested layup to provide Bucknell with a nine-point halftime cushion.
The Bison led by as many as 15 points twice in the second half before Navy pulled closer behind three 3-pointers from Sprink and seven free throws by O'Garro.
The contest was slowed by 50 fouls, as the two teams combined to shoot 55 free throws. The Bison made 17 of 29 from the line in support of 54.5 percent shooting from the field for the game. Navy shot 37.0 percent from the floor and went 15 of 26 from the line.
Navy corralled 21 offensive rebounds and finished with a 37-26 edge on the glass. The Midshipmen were hurt by 22 turnovers, 13 coming off Bucknell steals.
Bettencourt finished 3-for-9 from the field but added four assists and four steals. He moved into 22nd place on Bucknell's all-time scoring list, and he is now eight 3-pointers shy of Mike Bright's school record of 206.
The Bison step away from conference play on Tuesday for a 7:30 p.m. contest at Villanova. Under head coach Jay Wright, a 1983 Bucknell graduate, the Wildcats were ranked 25th nationally before losing to Syracuse on Saturday. Bucknell already has one victory over a Big East squad this season, that coming at Pittsburgh on Jan. 2.
