Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Places Three on All-Patriot League Men's Hoops Team, Badmus Named Top Defender
3/1/2005 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 1, 2005
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Five members of the Bucknell men's basketball team were honored Tuesday when the 2005 All-Patriot League Men's Basketball Team was announced by the league office. Junior swingman Charles Lee (Gaithersburg, Md./Quince Orchard) and sophomore center Chris McNaughton (Leutershausen, Germany/Dientzenhofer Gymnasium) were First Team All-Patriot League selections, while junior guard Kevin Bettencourt (Peabody, Mass./Peabody) was named to the second team. Also, sophomore point guard Abe Badmus (Chicago, Ill./Notre Dame HS for Boys) was the first-ever recipient of the Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year Award, while freshman guard John Griffin (Philadelphia, Pa./St. Joseph's Prep) made the All-Rookie Team.
The selection of Lee and McNaughton give Bucknell a first-team all-star in 21 of the last 22 years. Lee, Bettencourt and McNaughton were also Preseason All-Patriot League picks.
Lee made the first team for the first time, after garnering second-team honors a year ago. Heading into this week's Patriot League Tournament, Lee ranks second on the team in scoring at 12.5 points per game, and despite standing only 6'3", he leads the team and ranks fourth in the Patriot League in rebounding at 6.1 per game. He has scored in double figures in 22 of 28 games, with a season high of 22 points against Yale, Navy and Army. Lee added 18 rebounds in the win at Yale, the most by a Bucknell player in 11 years. He hit the winning jumper with 0.9 seconds left in a 76-74 victory over Niagara, and his two free throws with 2.3 seconds left iced Bucknell's remarkable 69-66 win at then-seventh-ranked Pittsburgh.
 Charles Lee is the PL's fourth-leading rebounder.  |
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Lee has improved his shooting accuracy this season, setting career highs at 45.2 percent from the field and 42.2 percent from 3-point range.
An all-rookie selection a season ago, McNaughton debuts on the all-league team in 2005. The 6'11" center developed into the league's premier post player, averaging 12.4 points and 4.8 rebounds per game, despite drawing constant double teams. McNaughton leads the league in field-goal percentage at 57.5 percent, and he ranks eighth in the Patriot League in blocked shots with 25.
McNaughton reached double figures in scoring in 22 games this season, with a high of 21 points in Bucknell's two-point win over Niagara. Two of his best games of the season came against Big East competition. He scored 17 points on 8-for-12 shooting against Pittsburgh and star big man Chris Taft. Then last month he dropped another 17 on nationally-ranked Villanova.
 Kevin Bettencourt is closing in on Bucknell's all-time 3-point record. |
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Bettencourt was named to the all-conference second team for the second straight year. The skilled sharpshooter leads the Bison and ranks fifth in the Patriot League in scoring at 13.3 points per game. He ranks second in the league in 3-pointers made with 67, which is five shy of the Bucknell single-season record, and he also lists third in the loop in free-throw percentage (.892) and sixth in steals (47).
Bettencourt became a 1,000-point scorer this winter and topped the 20-point plateau five times, with a high of 29 points against Lafayette on a night when he hit his last seven 3-point attempts. He also scored 27 against Navy and 21 in back-to-back wins over Niagara and St. Joseph's. Bettencourt hit the go-ahead free throws with 23 seconds left and scored 13 points in the win at Pittsburgh. He enters the Patriot League Tournament needing only two 3-pointers to tie Mike Bright's Bucknell career record (206).
For the first time ever the Patriot League awarded a Defensive Player of the Year in 2005, and Badmus cashed in on the brand new hardware. The Bison's starting point guard and a terrific on-ball defender, Badmus leads the team and ranks second in the league in steals with 54. That figure ranks ninth on Bucknell's single-season chart.
 Abe Badmus ranks No. 2 in the PL in steals. |
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Badmus also averages 5.3 points and 3.2 assists (fifth in PL), and his 82-57 assist-to-turnover ratio is third-best in the league. While not a prolific scorer, Badmus upped his offensive production in 2004-05 and shot over 41 percent both from the field and 3-point range. He hit the game-winning 3-pointer with six seconds left in Bucknell's 65-63 home victory over Lehigh, and he scored a career-high 15 points on the return trip to Lehigh two weeks later.
Griffin jumped right into the Bison guard rotation, playing both the point and shooting guard positions. He averages 7.2 points per game and ranks second on the team with 40 3-pointers. Griffin made a big splash on the opening weekend of the season at the Coaches vs. Cancer Tournament, totaling 34 points on 10-for-10 shooting from the field against Princeton and Northern Colorado at The Carrier Dome in Syracuse.
He went on to make at least one 3-pointer in 22 of 28 games. In Patriot League play Griffin tallied 15 points against Holy Cross, 14 against Lafayette and 13 against American.
Bucknell has now had an all-rookie selection four years in a row, with Griffin following McNaughton, Bettencourt and current senior Chris Niesz.
 John Griffin is second on the team with 40 3-pointers. |
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Joining Lee and McNaughton on the first team were Kevin Hamilton and Keith Simmons of Holy Cross and Andre Ingram of American. Hamilton was also the Patriot League Player of the Year.
Alongside Bettencourt on the first team were Colgate's Alvin Reed and Andrew Zidar, Army's Matt Bell and American's Jason Thomas.
The all-rookie team included Griffin, Colgate's Kyle Roemer, Holy Cross' Pat Doherty and a pair of Navy freshmen, Greg Sprink and Corey Johnson. Doherty was selected as the Patriot League Rookie of the Year.
Holy Cross' Ralph Willard was picked as the Patriot League Coach of the Year. All-league voting is conducted by the eight Patriot League men's basketball coaches.
Bucknell is the No. 2 seed at the Patriot League Tournament and will host first and second-round games at Sojka Pavilion this Friday and Sunday. The Bison open with seventh-seeded Lafayette on Friday at 8 p.m.
