Bucknell University
18-8 (9-3PL)
Army
3-21 (1-11PL)
Bucknell Men Pick Up Win No. 18, 69-55 at Army
2/19/2005 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 19, 2005
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Charles Lee scored 22 points and Kevin Bettencourt added 14 to lead Bucknell to a 69-55 victory at Army on Saturday afternoon at Christl Arena. The verdict pushed the Bison 10 games over .500 for the third time this season and gave them their first 18-win season since 1996-97.
Now 18-8 overall and 9-3 in the Patriot League, Bucknell clinched a top-two seed thanks to its victory and third-place Lehigh's home loss to Navy on Saturday night. The Bison, who play at first-place Holy Cross on Wednesday, still maintain feint hopes of moving up to the No. 1 seed. They must defeat both Holy Cross and Colgate and hope that the Crusaders fall at home to Army in the regular-season finale.
Regardless, Bucknell is assured of hosting the first two rounds of the Patriot League Tournament on March 4 and 6.
Matt Bell scored a game-high 23 points to lead the Black Knights, who fell to 3-21, 1-11. Grant Carter and Jarell Brown scored 11 each.
Bucknell, which played most of the night without the services of two key starters, broke open a six-point halftime edge by scoring 24 of the first 33 points of the second half. Bettencourt's step-back 3-pointer from the left corner pushed Bucknell's lead into double digits at 36-26. Midway through the half John Griffin hit a 3-pointer, Lee tipped in his own miss and Darren Mastropaolo converted his second three-point play of the night for an 8-0 run that gave Bucknell its largest lead of 21 points at 54-33.
Four of Army's final six field goals came from 3-point range, including three in a row from reserve Brown. Two Bell free throws with 3:38 to play brought Army within 12 at 61-49, but two charity tosses by Bettencourt and Donald Brown's first 3-pointer of the season halted the comeback.
Army had the best of play in the opening five minutes, turning a pair of Carter 3-pointers into a quick 11-5 lead. At the 14:09 mark Bell drained two free throws after a technical foul was assessed to Brown, giving the Black Knights a 13-8 lead, but Bucknell responded with an 18-2 run over the next 10 minutes.
Lee sandwiched two 3-pointers around a Chris Niesz trifecta to put the Bison ahead 19-13, and later Tarik Viaer-McClymont scored on a reverse layup to make it 26-15 with 3:42 left in the half.
Army closed the half on a 9-4 run, with seven of the points coming at the free-throw line, to get within 30-24 at intermission.
Bucknell began the game without two starters - point guard Abe Badmus and center Chris McNaughton. Both players have been battling illnesses most of the week. Badmus played only eight minutes and did not score, while McNaughton had four points in nine minutes.
Freshman Griffin made his sixth start of the season but played only three minutes in the first half after picking up two quick fouls. Bettencourt was pressed into point guard duty for most of the half with Badmus and Griffin on the bench.
Bucknell finished with a season-low eight turnovers and shot 47.9 percent from the floor. Defensively the Bison forced 15 turnovers and held the Black Knights to 38.1 percent shooting. Army finished with a 28-25 rebounding edge.
Bucknell won its ninth straight game against Army and improved to 7-6 on the road this season. Wednesday's game against frontrunning Holy Cross will be Bucknell's final away game of the regular season. Tip-off from the Hart Center is slated for 7 p.m.
