Bucknell University
22-9
Holy Cross (PL Final)
24-6
BUCKNELL DEFEATS HOLY CROSS 61-57 FOR PATRIOT LEAGUE MEN'S BASKETBALL TITLE!
3/11/2005 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 11, 2005
WORCESTER, Mass. - One of the greatest seasons in Bucknell men's basketball history will last a little bit longer, as the Bison defeated Holy Cross 61-57 in the Patriot League Championship Game Friday evening at the Hart Center.
The victory made this Bucknell team the third in program history to qualify for the NCAA Tournament, joining the 1987 and 1989 Bison squads. Bucknell will learn its tournament fate during Sunday's NCAA Selection Show. The bracket will be revealed at 6 p.m. (Eastern) on CBS. Fans in the Lewisburg area are invited to join the Bison student-athletes and coaches in The Forum, in the Elaine Langone Center on campus, for the selection show.
The Bison (22-9) reached 22 victories for the fifth time in school history and became just the third team to win the Patriot League title on their opponent's home floor. They validated their billing as preseason favorites in the Patriot League, and added another scrapbook memory to go along with wins over Pittsburgh and St. Joseph's, as well as three buzzer-beating victories.
Bucknell made it two out of three against Holy Cross (24-6) and snapped the Crusaders' 16-game winning streak, which dated back to their Jan. 8 loss in Lewisburg.
Among the many championship game heroes for the Bison was center Chris McNaughton, who made 7 of 8 shots from the floor and finished with 17 points and seven rebounds. Kevin Bettencourt added 13 points, including the two clinching free throws with eight seconds left, and Charles Lee pocketed 10 points.
The Bison led by as many as 20 points but had to hold on down the stretch as Holy Cross made a furious comeback behind a swarming full-court press.
Bucknell surprised the Crusaders with a terrific start. Lee's driving layup put the Bison ahead 10-2, and after Kevin Hamilton stemmed the tide with a 3-pointer, Bucknell scored 14 of the next 16 points to take a 24-7 lead. McNaughton scored six points and Bettencourt and John Griffin hit 3-pointers during the run.
By the time Tarik Viaer-McClymont became the seventh Bison player to make a field goal in the first 15 minutes, Bucknell had a stunning 33-13 lead. The Bison still led by 20 on Niesz's second trey of the night before Hamilton scored with 13 seconds left to make it 38-20 at the half.
Bucknell, which held Lafayette and American to a combined 69 points in the first two rounds of the tournament, limited the Crusaders to 6-for-20 shooting over the opening 20 minutes.
Holy Cross scored the first five points of the second half, but the Bison answered with a 9-2 run to restore the 20-point lead at 47-27 with 15:27 to play. Griffin and Lee hit back-to-back 3-pointers and Niesz made an 18-footer from the top of the key to hush the near sellout crowd.
McNaughton's put-back of Abe Badmus' miss made it 51-32 with 11:15 to play, but the Crusaders comeback was just about to get started. Keith Simmons hit a 3-pointer, then Bucknell turned the ball over in the backcourt on three straight possessions, leading to a Hamilton layup, a John Hurley layup and a Hamilton 3-pointer that made it 51-42 with 8:55 remaining.
Bucknell then broke the press, leading to Lee's open 3-pointer from the left wing. After two defensive stops, McNaughton scored off a Lee feed as shot clock expired to push the lead back to 14 at 56-42. Simmons made 1 of 2 from the line, then Darren Mastropaolo finished a slick pass from Niesz to make it 58-43 with 5:55 left, but that would be Bucknell's last field goal of the night.
Torey Thomas and Hamilton hit threes to make it 58-49, then with less than three minutes to play Hamilton came up with steals on three straight possessions. He was fouled on a breakaway layup and made both free throws to make it 59-53, and he picked off another pass and went the distance for another layup to make it a four-point game. Hamilton then stole his third pass in 30 seconds, but Bettencourt took a charge at the defensive end.
Bucknell had a shot-clock violation with 1:27 left, and Kevin Hyland made it 59-57 with a tip-in with 59 seconds to play. The Bison called timeout with 38 seconds left, then went inside to McNaughton, who was short on a baseline jumper for his only miss of the day from the field.
Inside 10 seconds left Hamilton missed from the baseline and Bettencourt was fouled on the rebound. Nearly a 90 percent free-throw shooter on the season, the junior co-captain calmly buried both charity tosses, giving Bucknell a 61-57 cushion with eight seconds to play.
Simmons missed a desperation shot at the buzzer, setting off a wild scene as the Bison celebrated their first conference title in 16 years along with several hundred orange-clad fans who made the six-hour bus ride from Central Pennsylvania.
Hamilton led all players with 21 points, while Hurley added 11. Holy Cross shot 34.5 percent from the floor and outrebounded the Bison 30-28.
Lee was named the Patriot League Tournament MVP, while McNaughton joined him on the all-tourney team.
Bucknell improved to 5-4 against Holy Cross in Patriot League Tournament play and avenged a 1993 loss to the Crusaders in Davis Gym in the championship game. It is the fifth time in league history that the No. 2 seed has won the championship.
Bucknell's last NCAA Tournament appearance was on March 17, 1989, a 104-81 loss to Syracuse in Dallas, Texas. Fittingly, the 2005 NCAA Tournament gets underway next Thursday, March 17.
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