Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Men's Basketball Heads to Holy Cross Wednesday for Showdown Among Top Two PL Teams
2/22/2005 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 22, 2005
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The top two teams in the Patriot League square off for the second time this season when Bucknell visits Holy Cross on Wednesday night at the Hart Center. In the Patriot League opener way back on Jan. 8, the Bison defeated the Crusaders 59-43 at Sojka Pavilion. Holy Cross has not lost since then, rattling off 12 straight victories to put them on the verge of clinching the No. 1 seed at the Patriot League Tournament. With two regular-season games remaining on the schedule, both teams have locked up top-two seeds and the right to host at least the first and second rounds of the Patriot League Tournament. Holy Cross needs either one more victory or one more Bison loss to clinch the No. 1 spot and home-court advantage throughout the tournament. Bucknell is coming off a 69-55 win at Army on Saturday, while the Crusaders also won on the road, 59-46 at Colgate. The Bison essentially played without two starters in that game -- Abe Badmus and Chris McNaughton both played under 10 minutes off the bench due to illness -- but both are expected to be near full strength on Wednesday. Holy Cross features one of the league's top all-around players in Kevin Hamilton, who averages a team-best 15.4 ppg to go with 5.9 rpg, 3.1 apg and 3.1 spg. Sixth-man Keith Simmons also scores in double figures at 12.3 ppg. Holy Cross and Bucknell are two of the nation's best defensive teams, allowing only 56.7 and 59.9 ppg, respectively. The Crusaders also lead the PL in field-goal percentage defense, blocked shots and steals. Bucknell's win seven weeks ago upped its series lead to 20-17. Both teams won on their home floor during the 2003-04 regular season, then the Bison took the rubber match 66-60 in the first round of the Patriot League Tournament at Show Place Arena.
bison lock down home court
Saturday proved to be a banner day for Bucknell. Not only did the Bison defeat Army 69-55 at West Point, but Lehigh and American both suffered upset losses, allowing Bucknell to clinch at least the No. 2 seed at the Patriot League Tournament. That position takes on added importance this season, with a new tournament format awarding hosting rights for the first two rounds to the top two regular-season finishers. The Bison are still mathematically alive for the No. 1 spot, although their feint hopes require wins over Holy Cross and Colgate to finish the season, along with a Holy Cross home loss to last-place Army.
breaking down the race
Here are the remaining conference schedules for each Patriot League team, as the battle for postseason seeds heats up.
Team RPI* Remaining Games Combined PL Record Holy Cross (11-1) 40 BKN, ARMY 10-14 Bucknell (9-3) 79 @HCR, CGT 17-7 Lehigh (7-5) 238 AMR, @LAF 10-14 American (6-6) 154 @LEH, NAVY 11-13 Colgate (6-6) 227 @ARMY, @BKN 10-14 Lafayette (4-8) 252 @NAVY, @LEH 11-13 Navy (4-8) 303 LAF, @AMR 10-14 Army (1-11) 328 CGT, @HCR 17-7 *Source: rpiratings.com
with a victory over holy cross, bucknell would ...
• ... sweep the season series from the Crusaders for the first time since 1999-2000.
• ... win at the Hart Center for the first time since 2001-02 (75-73).
• ... remain alive for the No. 1 seed at the Patriot League Tournament.
• ... improve to 8-6 on the road.
• ... have its first 19-win season since 1992-93.
• ... improve to 11 games over .500 for the first time since 1992-93.
last time out
Charles Lee scored 22 points and Kevin Bettencourt added 14 to lead Bucknell to a 69-55 win at Army on Saturday. With ill starters Abe Badmus and Chris McNaughton limited to eight and nine minutes, respectively, the Bison received contributions from several other players. Donald Brown came off the bench to score a season-high nine points on 4-for-4 shooting, while also grabbing a team-high five rebounds. Rookie Darren Mastropaolo also didn't miss a shot (2-2 FG, 4-4 FT) and scored eight points, while senior Chris Niesz made his first start of the year and logged five points, two rebounds and two blocked shots. Bucknell erased an early deficit with an 18-2 run and took a 30-24 halftime lead, then opened up a double-digit cushion with a 24-9 surge to start the second half.
inside the boxscore
Bucknell committed a season-low eight turnovers while forcing 15 ... Charles Lee hit a career-high four 3-pointers and scored 22 points for the third time this season ... the Bison were outrebounded 28-25, despite allowing only five offensive rebounds in the game ... Bucknell shot 47.9% from the field, while Army shot 38.1%.
two-of-a-kind
In addition to their status as the Patriot League's top two teams in 2004-05, Holy Cross and Bucknell share other similarities:
• Both have had winning streaks of at least 11 games this season.
• Both own top-80 RPIs (Holy Cross 40, Bucknell 79).
• Both teams rank in the top three in the Patriot League in scoring defense, FG% defense, scoring margin, rebounding defense, blocked shots, steals and turnover margin.
• They are the two winningest teams in Patriot League history. Bucknell has 127 regular-season PL victories, while Holy Cross has 120.
bucknell vs. holy cross, round one
A Sojka Pavilion-record crowd of 3,897 fans saw Bucknell back up its upset of then-seventh-ranked Pittsburgh six days earlier with a 59-43 victory over Holy Cross. Kevin Bettencourt scored 17 points and Charles Lee added 12, but it was Bucknell's defense that stifled the Crusaders. The Bison forced 19 turnovers and limited Holy Cross to just 28.0% shooting (14-50) on the day. Holy Cross reduced a 12-point halftime deficit to just one point at 38-37 with 11:14 to play, but the Bison allowed only one more field goal the rest of the way (at the 1:36 mark) and slowly increased its lead thanks mostly to solid free-throw shooting. Bucknell finished 26-for-37 from the line, while the Crusaders were 10-for-12.
last season vs. holy cross
• Feb. 1 at Sojka Pavilion: Kevin Bettencourt scored 29 points to lead the Bison to a 77-67 victory. Bucknell had been 0-9 on the season when trailing at the half, but turned a 32-31 deficit into a 10-point win. Nate Lufkin led Holy Cross with 12 points.
• Feb. 27 at Hart Center: Lufkin scored 14 points to help the Crusaders snap Bucknell's seven-game winning streak, 72-61. With head coach Pat Flannery at home with an illness, the Bison got 21 points from Bettencourt but couldn't overcome 18 turnovers.
• March 6 at Show Place Arena: Fourth-seeded Bucknell bounced No. 5 Holy Cross 66-60 in the opening round of the Patriot League Tournament. Charles Lee and Chris McNaughton combined for 39 points on 14-for-18 shooting. Bucknell overcame a season-high 28 turnovers by shooting 61.8% from the field. Kevin Hamilton had 19 points for the Crusaders.
bison climbing single-season victory ladder
Bucknell's 18 wins thus far in 2004-05 is tied for the most under current head coach Pat Flannery and tied for eighth-most in school history. Bucknell's all-time winningest teams ...
• 1983-84 24-5 • 1992-93 23-6 • 1988-89 23-8 • 1986-87 22-9 • 1991-92 21-9 • 1979-80 20-7 • 1984-85 19-10 • 2004-05 18-8 • 1978-79 18-9 • 1996-97 18-11 • 1990-91 18-13
3-point improvement
Bucknell has significantly improved its 3-point accuracy this season, turning what was a glaring weakness a year ago into a strength. Last season the Bison ranked dead last in the Patriot League in 3-point percentage at 29.0% (140-483). This year Bucknell has already made 31 more trifectas than last season, and the Bison rank second in the PL at 37.6% (171-455).
bracketology
According to Joe Lunardi's "Bracketology" report on ESPN.com, seven of Bucknell's 2004-05 opponents appear in the latest NCAA Tournament projections. The Bison have a 4-3 record against those teams, with wins coming against Pittsburgh, St. Joseph's, Niagara and Holy Cross. Bucknell suffered losses to Penn, Villanova and Iowa State.
big east killer
Sophomore center Chris McNaughton has had two of his better games of the season against Big East competition. On Jan. 2 he scored 17 points against big Chris Taft in Bucknell's upset of then-seventh-ranked Pittsburgh. Last Tuesday he dropped in another 17 on Villanova, including 12 of Bucknell's first 17 points of the night. In the two Big East games this season, McNaughton is 16-for-25 (.640) from the field. McNaughton's career scoring high of 22 points came against a Big Ten member, Northwestern, last season.
mastropaolo enters starting lineup
Freshman Darren Mastropaolo has started the last six games at the power forward position. Mastropaolo, who also started a game at Penn on Dec. 1, has played solid defense and is averaging 6.2 ppg since joining the starting rotation.
bettencourt drops 200th 3-pointer, closes in on career mark
With two 3-pointers Saturday at Army, junior guard Kevin Bettencourt became only the second Bucknell player ever to record 200 career treys. Mike Bright made 206 3-pointers from 1989-93, and Bettencourt has pulled within six of Bright's 12-year-old record.
