Bucknell University
6-7
Northern Illinois
3-9
Bucknell Men's Basketball Rebounds with 77-59 Rout of Northern Illinois at Pepsi Marist Classic
12/30/2006 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 30, 2006
POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - Donald Brown scored a season-high 20 points and Bucknell bounced back from a disappointing loss 24 hours earlier with one of its most complete efforts of the year in a 77-59 rout of Northern Illinois in the third-place game at the Pepsi Marist Classic. Chris McNaughton scored 15 points and John Griffin added 12 for the Bison, who will head into Patriot League play next week with a 6-7 record.
Bucknell shot 51.9 percent from the field and did most of its damage inside on a night when it struggled from long range (5-16 from 3-point range). The Bison took excellent care of the basketball, committing only eight turnovers while parlaying 19 Northern Illinois miscues into 20 points.
Mike McKinney scored 13 points to lead the Huskies (3-9), who lost their ninth in a row after a 3-0 start. Center James Hughes, who came in averaging a team-best 14 points per game, was held to only one field goal and four points.
After a tough two-point loss to Central Arkansas the night before, Bucknell came out strong against Northern Illinois, scoring 16 of the game's first 20 points en route to a 39-22 halftime lead.
McNaughton and Brown were the first-half catalysts. After being held to one field goal by Central Arkansas, McNaughton scored 11 points in the first half, while Brown had 12 points, including two big ones on a 15-foot jumper as the shot clock expired after the Huskies had cut a 12-point deficit in half.
Brown's big play sparked a 16-5 run to close the half. Jason Vegotsky's tip-in pushed the lead back to double figures at 27-17 with 5:41 left.
The Bison missed their first five 3-point tries of the night, but Griffin and Justin Castleberry hit back-to-back triples to make it 37-22, then McNaughton powered to the basket for a layup and a 17-point halftime lead.
The lead stretched to 22 at 53-31 after Brown's acrobatic transition layup 5:38 into the second half. Northern Illinois made a last-ditch run midway through the second half, pulling within 14 at 61-47 after an alley oop to McKinney.
Griffin stopped the 8-1 run with a pair of free throws, igniting a 12-2 Bison surge that pushed the lead back over 20. McNaughton made a tough bank shot and Abe Badmus finished in transition to make it 67-47 with 5:33 left. Badmus later hit a jumper with a toe on the arc, and Griffin hit a jumper in the paint to give Bucknell its largest lead of the night, 24 points at 73-49 with 3:53 to play.
Bucknell will begin Patriot League play next Saturday, Jan. 6, against Navy at Sojka Pavilion at 7 p.m
