Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Men's Basketball Closes Out Regular Season Saturday at Home vs. Colgate
2/25/2005 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 25, 2005
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Longtime rivals Bucknell and Colgate meet Saturday night in the final Patriot League game of the regular season. While the Bison are already sure of their postseason plans -- a home tournament game against Lafayette next Friday at 8 p.m. -- the Raiders come to Sojka Pavilion embedded in a three-way tie for third place alongside Lehigh and American. Colgate must win and hope for an American loss to Navy in order to gain the No. 3 seed. If the Raiders do get the No. 3 spot, they will be right back at Sojka Pavilion on Friday for a first-round date with Navy. They could also finish fourth or fifth, which would mean a trip to Holy Cross. Bucknell is coming off a 69-54 loss at red-hot Holy Cross on Wednesday. The Crusaders, who have won 13 games in a row and locked up the No. 1 seed, avenged a January loss to the Bison. Still, the Bison have not lost a Patriot League home game in two years and have won three of their last five overall. Colgate has played good basketball of late, winning three of its last four, with the lone loss coming to Holy Cross on Feb. 19. Last time out the Raiders won at Army, 66-59, behind Alvin Reed's 15 points. Reed is Colgate's leading scorer at 13.3 ppg, and he also leads the squad in assists, steals and 3-pointers. Center Andrew Zidar is an inside-outside threat. He averages 12.7 ppg and 6.6 rpg, and he also has 29 3-pointers. Guard Jon Simon (12.5 ppg) also scores in double figures. Colgate averages 66.5 ppg but allows 68.0. Led by sharp-shooting freshman Kyle Roemer, the Raiders lead the Patriot league in both 3-pointers made (180) and 3-point percentage (.381). Bucknell holds a 44-38 lead in an all-time series that dates back to 1920. Earlier this season, the Bison won 71-69 in Hamilton, N.Y.
bison to open tournament play against lafayette
Last Saturday Bucknell clinched homecourt advantage for the first two rounds of Patriot League Tournament play, and Navy's win over Lafayette on Wednesday means that the second-seeded Bison and seventh-seeded Leopards will meet in the first round on Friday at 8 p.m. Navy, seeded sixth, will play in the 5:30 p.m. game Friday at Sojka Pavilion against either Lehigh, American or Colgate. Bucknell and Lafayette have met only twice in the Patriot League Tournament. Bucknell won 56-55 in overtime in the first round in 1996 at Holy Cross, and Lafayette won 67-63 in the championship game in Easton in 1999.
tournament seeds almost settled
The Patriot League Tournament bracket is five-eighths complete, with only the 3-4-5 spots still up for grabs. We already know that Holy Cross and Bucknell own the 1-2 spots and will host first and second-round games next Friday and Sunday. Navy and Lafayette are locked into the 6-7 positions, and both will be headed to Lewisburg. Army is the No. 8 seed and will face Holy Cross in the first round in Worcester, Mass. The remaining spots are a bit of a mess, with Lehigh, American and Colgate all entering the final day of the regular season tied for third place. Click HERE for PL Tournament scenarios.
with a victory over colgate, bucknell would ...
• ... sweep the season series from the Raiders for the first time since 2001-02.
• ... win its 14th straight Patriot League home game and finish the league slate unbeaten at home for the second straight year.
• ... have its first 19-win season since 1992-93.
• ... win 10 Patriot League games for the fourth time ever, and first time since 1994-95.
• ... win its regular-season finale for the first time since 2001.
last time out
Kevin Hamilton led five Holy Cross players in double figures with 16 points and the Crusaders officially clinched the Patriot League regular-season title with a 69-54 win over Bucknell Wednesday night at the Hart Center. Bucknell received 15 points from John Griffin and 11 each from Charles Lee and Kevin Bettencourt. In winning its 13th game in a row, Holy Cross led 32-31 five minutes into the second half before opening things up with an 11-2 run. The Bison closed within five on a Griffin 3-pointer, but a 9-0 Crusaders run opened up a double-digit lead. Bucknell was outrebounded 39-28 and missed nine of its first 14 free-throws. The Crusaders were 20-for-22 from the line.
inside the boxscore
The Bison had 13 assists on 16 field goals, led by four from Abe Badmus ... Griffin made 3 of 5 3-point attempts to shake a 3-for-24 slump ... Charles Lee paced the team with five rebounds and three steals ... Darren Mastropaolo was limited to 12 minutes due to foul trouble ... Kevin Bettencourt did not commit a turnover and has just one in his last three games.
bucknell vs. colgate, round one
Charles Lee scored 19 points and made four critical free throws in the final 30 seconds to help Bucknell hold off a resilient Colgate squad 71-69 at Cotterell Court (see complete boxscore and recap on page 24). Colgate trailed by as many as 21 points in the second half before drawing within two late in the game. The Bison led 48-27 on Chris McNaughton's free throw with 15:30 to play, but Alvin Reed scored all 16 of his points in the second half and Kyle Roemer hit five 3-pointers in six tries to help fuel the comeback. Andrew Zidar had 21 points for Colgate but missed a potential go-ahead 3-pointer with 29 seconds left. McNaughton had 15 points and Kevin Bettencourt 13 for the Bison, who won their eighth game in a row in what would become an 11-game winning streak.
last season vs. colgate
• Jan. 30 at Sojka Pavilion: Charles Lee recorded his first career double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds and Kevin Bettencourt matched his scoring total in Bucknell's 61-53 victory. Bucknell raced to an early 21-8 lead, fell behind for one possession in the second half, but pulled back ahead with clutch defense and foul shooting down the stretch.
• Feb. 29 at Cotterell Court: Mark Linebaugh scored 15 points and Colgate erased a 10-point deficit with 10 minutes to play in a 60-57 win. With head coach Pat Flannery at home with an illness, the Bison got 19 points from Chris McNaughton, but the the Raiders used a barrage of 3-pointers in a tide-turning 20-2 run.
bettencourt closes in on career 3-point mark
With three 3-pointers Wednesay at Holy Cross, junior guard Kevin Bettencourt now needs only three more treys to tie Mike Bright's all-time Bucknell record. Bright made 206 3-pointers from 1989-93. He and Bettencourt are the only two Bison ever to make 200 trifectas.
niesz to be honored
Chris Niesz, the lone senior on this year's Bison squad, will be playing in his final regular-season home game on Saturday. He will be honored prior to the game.
