Bucknell University
18-3, 9-0PL
Colgate
8-14, 2-6PL
Bucknell Men Rally Past Colgate, 68-59, for Ninth Straight Win
2/4/2006 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 4, 2006
HAMILTON, N.Y. - For the second time this week Bucknell faced a major challenge on the road, but the Bison again used a big second half to turn back Colgate, 68-59, before a spirited crowd at Cotterell Court on Saturday afternoon. After rallying from an early 10-point deficit to defeat Army 67-54 on Wednesday, Bucknell overcame a 12-point second-half hole against the Raiders to improve to 18-3 overall and 9-0 in the Patriot League.
Kevin Bettencourt scored 17 points, including two critical second-half 3-pointers, to lead Bucknell. Charles Lee had another boxscore-filler with 13 points, six rebounds, and a career-high-tying seven assists. Chris McNaughton added 12 points and Abe Badmus 10 for the Bison, who continue to equal the best start in school history.
Bucknell head coach Pat Flannery picked up his 100th career Patriot League victory, extending his league record.
Bucknell maintained sole possession of first place in the Patriot League. The Bison have now won five straight road games and 13 straight games against league foes.
Kyle Roemer led Colgate with 19 points, while Todd Checovich scored 13 off the bench.
This one was a tale of two halves for the Bison, who got off to a nightmarish start, missing their first seven and 15 of their first 17 shots from the field. Bucknell trailed by as many as 12 points in the first half and went to the locker room down 28-20. The Bison made only 8 of 24 from the field, 1 of 6 from 3-point range and 3 of 9 from the free-throw line in the opening 20 minutes.
In the second half, however, the Bison went 14-for-21 (.667) from the floor and outscored Colgate 48-31.
Dan Gentile opened the game with three 3-pointers to stake Colgate to a 9-3 lead as the Bison didn't manage their first field goal until 7:52 had elapsed. Kendall Chones' short jumper gave the Raiders their first 10-point lead at 18-8, and Kyle Roemer's 3-pointer with 2:14 left in the half made it 26-14.
Bucknell closed the half on a 6-2 run, sparked by back-to-back jumpers from Bettencourt, to pull within eight at the break.
Colgate went back up by 12 at 32-20 on Roemer's free throws, but the Bison finally got things going offensively and took the lead for the first time thanks to a 20-4 run. Bucknell scored 14 of 16 points in one stretch, with seven different players scoring.
Jason Vegotsky hit a big 3-pointer to pull Bucknell within two, and Lee scored in transition to tie the game at 34-all with 13:47 to play. Kendall Chones ended Colgate's four-minute field-goal drought with an inside bucket to put Colgate back ahead, but Vegotsky and Donald Brown made four free throws to give the Bison their first lead of the night with 12:54 to play.
Back-to-back 3-pointers from Roemer and Kyle Chones gave the Raiders a 42-40 lead, but Bettencourt answered with a 3-pointer and McNaughton converted a 3-point play to make it 46-42 Bucknell with 10 minutes to play. The Bison went up by six for the first time when Brown finished another 3-point play, making it 49-43.
Later, after Marc Daniels missed a pair of free throws, Bettencourt and Lee hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Bison a commanding 59-49 lead with 3:47 to play.
Colgate drew within five on Checovich's free throws with 2:39 to play, but Bucknell struck back with five straight. McNaughton scored off a pretty drive and dish from Lee, Badmus spun for a 15-foot jumper and Lee hit 1 of 2 free throws after a Badmus steal with a minute to play.
Defensively, Bucknell forced 23 turnovers and held Colgate to 39.5 percent shooting.
The Bison return home on Wednesday night to face American at 7 p.m. at Sojka Pavilion.
