Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell-Holy Cross Men's Hoops Rivalry Comes to Sojka Pavilion on Saturday
1/13/2006 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 13, 2006
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In one of the most-anticipated Patriot League matchups of the year, Bucknell and Holy Cross meet for the first time since the 2005 conference championship game Saturday on CSTV. These two teams had never met until the Patriot League was formed in 1990-91, but since then the Bison and Crusaders have developed quite a rivalry. They have met 39 times in 15 years, including an amazing nine times in the postseason. Most recently, Bucknell held off Holy Cross 61-57 in last year's PL title tilt at the Hart Center. Both went on to even greater postseason success, as Bucknell defeated Kansas in the NCAA Tournament and Holy Cross knocked off Notre Dame in the NIT. Both teams come in playing very well. The Bison shook off a loss to top-ranked Duke by beating Navy and American on the road to start league play. At 11-3, they are off to their best start in 22 years. Holy Cross brings a four-game winning streak to Sojka Pavilion, including a 29-point home win over Lafayette and a 38-point road victory at Army. The Bucknell-Holy Cross matchup also features many of the Patriot League's top individual stars. Charles Lee and Chris McNaughton of Bucknell and Kevin Hamilton and Keith Simmons of Holy Cross represented four-fifths of last year's All-Patriot League First Team. Hamilton is the reigning PL Player of the Year, while McNaughton was selected as the 2005-06 Preseason Player of the Year. Throw in returning second-team all-star Kevin Bettencourt, defensive player of the year Abe Badmus and all-rookie selections John Griffin and Pat Doherty, and it's easy to see why most Patriot League fans have had this game circled on their calendars all year.
with a victory over holy cross, bucknell would ...
• ... go to 12-3 for the first time since 1983-84.
• ... go to 3-0 in the Patriot League for the second straight year and for the fourth time in 16 years in the conference.
• ... win its 17th straight home game against a Patriot League foe. • ... defeat the Crusaders at Sojka Pavilion for the third straight season.
• ... improve to 22-18 all-time against the Crusaders and 10-7 at home.
last time out: bison outlast american for first pl win at bender arena
Bucknell used a stellar defensive effort in the second half to rally from a slow start and defeat American 58-50 on Wednesday night at Bender Arena. Kevin Bettencourt scored a game-high 14 points, Chris McNaughton added 13 and Charles Lee had 12 points and nine rebounds to lead the Bison. Bucknell trailed 10-2 early and 30-26 at halftime, then held the Eagles to only six field goals in the second half.
charles in charge
With Wednesday's game in doubt in the late stages, senior Charles Lee came up with one of his best clutch performances. Lee scored eight of Bucknell's final 13 points, all of them critical.
• Leading 46-40 with 4:54 to play, Lee hit a 3-pointer as the shot clock buzzer sounded, giving Bucknell its largest lead of the night.
• After American rallied to 49-46, Lee hit a pull-up 13-footer to stem the Eagles comeback.
• With a minute to go in the game and Bucknell leading by seven at 53-46, Lee blocked Andre Ingram's layup. After American rebounded and threw an errant pass back to the top of the key, Lee came all the way from the baseline to outhustle an Eagle guard for the loose ball in the backcourt and converted the breakaway layup to seal the victory.
inside the boxscore
Bucknell held American to 24.0% shooting (6-24) in the second half and 34.0% for the game ... the Bison shot 52.4% in the second half and 44.4% for the game ... Bucknell tied its season-low with 11 turnovers ... no American player scored in double figures, as Garrison Carr scored a team-high nine points ... the Bison struggled from the free-throw line making 56.0% (14-25) ... Darren Mastropaolo grabbed a season-high eight rebounds, one shy of his career best ... Donald Brown had an excellent game off the bench with nine points, five rebounds, three steals and two blocked shots.
bison erase road demons
Bucknell's two Patriot League victories have come in road venues that have not been kind to the Bison though the years. The Bison opened with a 74-52 win over Navy in Annapolis, where they had been 4-26 all-time. On Wednesday, Bucknell won at American's Bender Arena for the first time since the Eagles joined the Patriot League in 2001-02.
Pat Flannery ties record for pl coaching wins
Wednesday's victory over American was the 93rd Patriot League coaching victory for Pat Flannery, tying former Navy coach Don DeVoe's league record. DeVoe also won 93 league games with the Midshipmen from 1993-2004.
league leaders
Bucknell leads the Patriot League in a number of statistical categories, including scoring defense (59.4), scoring margin (+7.4), field-goal percentage defense (.387), 3-point defense (.291), field-goal percentage (.481), 3-point percentage (.376), fewest rebounds allowed (30.9), assists (15.29) and assist-to-turnover ratio (0.98).
Individually, Jason Vegotsky leads the league in 3-point accuracy (.621), Chris McNaughton leads in field-goal percentage (.644) and Kevin Bettencourt leads in both 3-pointers made (2.36) and assist-to-turnover ratio (2.05). championship rematch
Saturday's game is a rematch of the 2005 Patriot League championship game, won by Bucknell 61-57 at the Hart Center. The victory gave the Bison their first-ever Patriot League title, and paved the way for Bucknell's historic upset of Kansas in the NCAA Tournament.
bison, crusaders have long tournament history
Last year's championship game was the ninth meeting between Bucknell and Holy Cross in 15 Patriot League Tournaments, making it the most-played tournament rivalry. The Bison now have a 5-4 lead in those tournament showdowns, with plenty on the line in each of them.
• 1992 Semifinals (Bucknell 86, Holy Cross 77): The rivalry began to heat up, as the Bison erased a 6-point halftime deficit and outscored the Crusaders 46-31 in the second half. Bill Courtney scored 26 points and PL Player of the Year Patrick King had 25.
• 1993 Championship (Holy Cross 98, Bucknell 73): Bucknell clinched the No. 1 seed with a 112-99 win on the last day of the regular season, but Holy Cross returned the favor with a 25-point blowout in the championship game in Davis Gym. Roger Breslin led the Crusaders with 17 points and 10 assists.
• 1994 Quarterfinals (Holy Cross 96, Bucknell 91): In Charlie Woollum's last game as Bucknell's head coach, Holy Cross used a 30-11 run in the second half to take command. The late Gordon Hamilton scored 37 points for the Crusaders, nullifying 24 from Bison point guard Sekou Hamer.
• 1998 Quarterfinals (Bucknell 60, Holy Cross 56): Down 10-0 right out of the gates, the Bison rallied behind 15 points each from J.R. Holden and Martin Gilliard. The duo combined to go 6-for-6 from the foul line in the final 46 seconds to ice the win.
• 1999 Quarterfinals (Bucknell 76, Holy Cross 52): Bucknell's second-largest win in the series was not as easy as it looks on the stat sheet. The Bison trailed 37-36 at the half but outscored Holy Cross 40-15 in the second period. Brian Muckle scored 15 points on 5-for-5 shooting for the Bison.
• 2002 Semifinals (Holy Cross 64, Bucknell 57): The teams alternated the first 11 baskets in a second half that featured 14 lead changes and seven ties. A controversial technical foul call against Bucknell with HC leading by two in the final 30 seconds of the game helped propel the Crusaders, who were led by Tim Szatko's 19 points and 12 rebounds.
• 2003 Semifinals (Holy Cross 75, Bucknell 50): Kevin Hamilton scored 15 points to lead Holy Cross, which jumped out to a 15-5 lead and led by 17 at the half. Boakai Lalugba, a 1,300-point scorer, tallied 21 for Bucknell in his final game.
• 2004 Quarterfinals (Bucknell 66, Holy Cross 60): Charles Lee and Chris McNaughton combined for 39 points on 14-for-18 shooting for the Bison, who overcame 28 turnovers by shooting 61.8% from the field.
• 2005 Championship (Bucknell 61, Holy Cross 57): Bucknell raced to a 33-13 first-half lead but had to hold off a furious Holy Cross rally. Chris McNaughton led the Bison with 17 points on 7 of 8 shooting, while Kevin Bettencourt scored 13, including two clinching free throws with 0:08 left.
notes from last year's bu-holy cross regular-season meetings
• Jan. 8 at Sojka Pavilion (Bucknell 59, Holy Cross 43): Bucknell validated upset wins over St. Joseph's and Pittsburgh the previous week with a convincing victory in the Patriot League opener ... Kevin Bettencourt scored 17 points to lead the Bison, while Kevin Hamilton had 17 for Holy Cross ... the Bison held the Crusaders to their lowest point total of the season, forcing them into 19 turnovers and 28.0% shooting ... Bucknell shot 25 more free throws and outscored Holy Cross 26-10 from the line ... BU led 38-37 with 11:14 to play but allowed only one more field goal the rest of the way.
• Feb. 23 at Hart Center (Holy Cross 69, Bucknell 54): Hamilton led five Crusaders in double figures with 16 points as Holy Cross remained unbeaten since the loss to Bucknell six weeks earlier ... HC broke open a 32-31 game with an 11-2 run ... John Griffin led the Bison with 15 points, while Charles Lee and Kevin Bettencourt scored 11 each ... both teams shot under 40% from the floor, but Holy Cross managed a 39-28 rebounding edge and made 20 of 22 from the line.
