Bucknell University Athletics
Let the Madness Begin: Bucknell Men's Basketball Hosts Lafayette in PL Tournament Opener
3/2/2005 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 2, 2005
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The calendar has flipped over to March, which means it must be Patriot League Tournament time for the Bison basketball squad. It seems like yesterday that Bucknell and Princeton tipped off the nation's very first college hoops game of the season, and since then the Bison have given their fans many thrills -- three buzzer-beaters; wins over teams such as Pittsburgh, St. Joseph's, Holy Cross and Niagara; an 11-game winning streak and a 10-1 home record. In reality, all of that means very little now, as all eight Patriot League teams take clean slates into the tournament. For second-seeded Bucknell, the difficult road to the NCAA Tournament begins Friday night at 8 p.m. against No. 7 Lafayette at Sojka Pavilion. Third-seeded American and No. 6 Navy play in the other quarterfinal game at Bucknell, with the winners meeting in Sunday's 1 p.m. semifinal. Top-seeded Holy Cross hosts the other half of the bracket, where the Crusaders will face Army, and No. 4 Lehigh will meet No. 5 Colgate. Bucknell has won four of its last six Patriot League games, including a thrilling 60-59 victory on Chris Niesz's game-ending 3-pointer on Saturday. Meanwhile, Lafayette comes in playing very good basketball as well. The Leopards won 3 of 4 to close the regular season, including an overtime win over American and an 81-76 win over arch-rival Lehigh last week. Bucknell won both regular-season meetings with Lafayette -- 71-54 in Lewisburg and 89-69 in Easton.
how they got here
Bucknell earned the No. 2 seed and home-court advantage for at least the first two rounds of the Patriot League Tournament on the strength of a 10-4 Patriot League record. The 10 conference wins were the team's most since 1994-95. For the second straight year, the Bison were unbeaten at home in Patriot League play. They officially clinched the No. 2 spot after beating Army on Feb. 19.
with a victory over lafayette, bucknell would ...
• ... advance to the Patriot League Tournament semifinals for the 12th time in 15 years in the league.
• ... win its 10th straight home game and improve to 11-1 at home this season.
• ... have its first 20-win season since 1992-93 and seventh in school history.
• ... defeat the Leopards three times in one season for the first time since 1994-95.
• ... move to 11 games over .500 for the first time this season.
bucknell tournament history
Bucknell has an all-time record of 15-14 in 14 Patriot League Tournaments, including a 1-1 mark against Lafayette. The Bison have reached the championship game four times and reached at least the semifinals in 11 of 14 years. Bucknell is one of five teams (Holy Cross 17-10, Navy 13-10, Colgate 13-12, American 6-3) to have a winning tournament record, but the Bison are still looking for their first PL championship.
Bison PL Tourney Log
Year Seed Results
1991 4 def. Army 67-49; lost Fordham 82-76
1992 2 def. Army 74-55; def. Holy Cross 86-77; lost Fordham 70-65
1993 1 def. Lehigh 69-65; def. Colgate 75-73; lost Holy Cross 98-73
1994 5 lost Holy Cross 96-91
1995 2 lost Army 94-78
1996 4 def. Lafayette 56-55; lost Colgate 67-61
1997 2 def. Lehigh 84-54; def. Colgate 71-58; lost Navy 76-75
1998 3 def. Holy Cross 60-56; lost Navy 80-61
1999 3 def. Holy Cross 76-52; def. Lehigh 58-50; lost Lafayette 67-63
2000 3 lost Lehigh 73-62
2001 6 def. Colgate 75-68; lost Navy 88-64
2002 3 def. Army 70-59; lost Holy Cross 64-57
2003 5 def. Lehigh 52-47; lost Holy Cross 75-50
2004 4 def. Holy Cross 66-60; lost Lehigh 60-45
championship games in bold.
history kind to second seeds
Historically, No. 2 seeds have fared well in Patriot League Tournaments, although they have not been immune to upsets. Teams seeded second are 10-4 in their first-round games. Three of the upsets came in successive years from 1994-96. First Lafayette knocked off Fordham 83-65, then Army stunned Bucknell 94-78 in Pat Flannery's first tournament game, and Army toppled Navy 64-58 in 1996. In 1999, Lehigh upset Navy 53-45. The Bison have been seeded second three times previously, in 1992, 1995 and 1997. In 1992 and 1997 they advanced all the way to the championship game. In league history the No. 2 seed has advanced to the title game nine times and won it four times.
pl tournament in lewisburg
Prior to this season only three Patriot League Tournament games have been played on Bucknell's campus, all coming in 1993. That season the league experimented with a setup in which every tourney game was hosted by the higher-seeded team. Bucknell was the No. 1 seed and pulled out close wins over Lehigh and Colgate in Davis Gym, before falling to Holy Cross in the title game.
five bison earn postseason awards
Bucknell fared very well in the All-Patriot League awards balloting, conducted by the league's eight head coaches. Charles Lee and Chris McNaughton earned First Team All-Patriot League honors, while Kevin Bettencourt was named to the second team. Abe Badmus was the first-ever receipient of the Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year Award, while John Griffin was named to the all-rookie team.
all-league notes
Bucknell has now had a first-team all-conference performer in 21 of the last 22 years ... Lee made the first team after being a second-team pick last season ... Bettencourt is a second-team selection for the second straight year ... McNaughton, an all-rookie pick last season, made his first all-league squad ... Griffin gives the Bison an all-rookie pick for the fourth year in a row, following in the footsteps of McNaughton, Bettencourt and Chris Niesz.
Last time out
It was a storybook Senior Night for Chris Niesz on Saturday. Bucknell's lone senior canned a 3-pointer at the final buzzer to give the Bison a 60-59 victory over Colgate at jubilant Sojka Pavilion. The Bison seemed to be in control after two straight 3-pointers by John Griffin sent them on their way to a 57-47 lead with five minutes to play. But the Raiders stunned them with 12 straight points to take a 59-57 lead in the final minute. After a turnover, two missed 3-pointers, a key missed free throw by Colgate and Alex Woodhouse's block of Chris McNaughton's layup with 1.6 seconds left, Charles Lee inbounded to a wide-open Niesz at the top of the key for the winning shot.
inside the boxscore
Chris McNaughton led Bucknell with 16 points, while Chris Niesz and Kevin Bettencourt finished with 10 each ... Abe Badmus had a solid all-around game with seven points, five rebounds, four assists and a steal ... Bettencourt tied his career high with six steals ... the Bison made just 3 of 10 free throws, but shot 45.5% from the floor.
bettencourt closes in on career 3-point mark
Bucknell junior guard Kevin Bettencourt enters the Patriot League Tournament needing only two more 3-pointers 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.
bison climbing single-season victory ladder
Bucknell's 19 wins thus far in 2004-05 are tied for the most under current head coach Pat Flannery and tied for seventh-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
• 2004-05/19-9
free-throw woes
Until recently Bucknell had been enjoying a strong season from the free throw line, even breaking the Patriot League record with a 20-for-20 performance at Lafayette on Feb. 4. But over the last five games of the regular season the Bison really struggled from the line.
• FT%, first 23 games: 351-484 (.725)
• FT%, last 5 games: 57-102 (.559)
 Kevin Bettencourt scored a season-high 29 points in Bucknell's last meeting with Lafayette.  |
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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 45 more trifectas than last season, and the Bison rank second in the PL at 37.7% (185-491).
bombs away!
With 185 3-pointers made this season, the Bison need only five more to match the school record of 190 set by the 1996-97 squad.
not good for the heart
Bucknell's memorable 2004-05 regular season was punctuated by three buzzer-beating victories, two of which came in Patriot League play. The first was Charles Lee's jumper with 0.9 seconds left in a 76-74 win over Niagara (the current MAAC co-leader) on Dec. 22. On Jan. 23, the Bison trailed Lehigh 63-62 until Abe Badmus canned a 3-pointer with six seconds left on the clock. Then just last Saturday, in the "feel good" moment of the season, Bison elder statesman Chris Niesz capped Senior Night with a last-second 3-pointer to beat Colgate, 60-59. Just as memorable was Lee's tying 3-pointer with 15 seconds left at Yale, setting the stage for Bucknell's thrilling overtime victory that sparked an 11-game winning streak.
watch your pockets
Sophomore point guard Abe Badmus has moved up to ninth on Bucknell's single-season steals list with 54. Mike Bright set the school mark with a whopping 94 thefts in 1992-93, while teammate Russell Peyton nabbed 88 that same year for the No. 2 spot in the record book. Badmus, the 2005 Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year, needs three more steals to catch Sekou Hamer (1993-94) for eighth place.
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.
bettencourt reaches 1,000
Kevin Bettencourt became the 30th member of Bucknell's exclusive 1,000-point club with a first-half free throw against Navy on Jan. 30. Now with 1,115 career points, Bettencourt has moved into 21st place on BU's career scoring list. He needs three points to catch Ted Aceto for 20th place.
home, sweet home
Bucknell is 10-1 at home this season and now has a 14-game home winning streak against PL foes. The Bison are 23-6 in Sojka Pavilion since debuting in the new facility on Jan. 15, 2003.
road warriors
In winning seven of its last 12 road contests, Bucknell blew by its road victory total from last season. The Bison were 2-11 on enemy hardwood a year ago, but now stand 7-7 in 2004-05. The Bison had a five-game road winning streak come to an end at American. It was the team's longest road run since the 1974-75 season, when Jim Valvano led his squad to eight straight victories on enemy hardwood.
three-headed monster
The last time Bucknell had three players average 12 points or more per game was in 1991-92, and it's something that has happened only 15 times in school history. But the Bison have a "triple dozen" going this season with Kevin Bettencourt (13.3), Charles Lee (12.5) and Chris McNaughton (12.4) leading the offense. Each member of that trio was a Preseason All-Patriot League pick, and they are accounting for 59.8% of Bucknell's points this season.
honest abe
Sophomore point guard Abe Badmus is averaging just 5.3 ppg, but he may very well be Bucknell's most valuable player. Badmus ranks third in the Patriot League in assist-turnover ratio, second in steals and fifth in assists. He has also frustrated opposing guards with tenacious defense, and his acrobatic block of Carl Krauser's breakaway layup in the final minute of the 69-66 win at then-No. 7 Pittsburgh was the team's defensive play of the year. Badmus had perhaps the biggest offensive play of his career on Jan. 23, hitting the game-winning 3-pointer against Lehigh.
protecting the lead
Bucknell is 16-1 this season and 28-5 over the last two seasons when leading at halftime.
next up
Obviously, the Bison need to defeat Lafayette to stay alive in the Patriot League Tournament. A victory puts them in the semifinals against either American or Navy on Sunday at 1 p.m. on College Sports Television (CSTV). A Patriot League Tournament loss means Bucknell's fate rests in the hands of the NCAA, or more likely the NIT, selection committees.
