Patriot League Men's Basketball Championship Game Notes
3/10/2006 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 10, 2006
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• With his selection as Patriot League Tournament Most Valuable Player, Bucknell's Charles Lee became the first-ever back-to-back MVP of the tournament. Additionally, he became just the seventh player in league history to be named both the Patriot League Player of the Year and tournament MVP in the same season.
• Bucknell's senior guard Kevin Bettencourt scored a season-high 23 points in Friday's championship game win over Holy Cross. It was the 16th time in his career he netted 20 points, but just the second this season.
• With the win over Holy Cross, Bucknell will advance to its fourth NCAA Tournament. The Bison upset third-seeded Kansas in the first round of last year's tournament. They also qualified in 1987 and 1989.
• Bucknell extended its single-season victory record to 26 games with its win over Holy Cross. In addition to that milestone, the Bison won their 13th straight home game, their 21st consecutive game against PL foes and their 27th home contest in a row against PL foes. Bucknell also won its fourth straight game against Holy Cross and improved to 24-18 all-time versus the Crusaders.
• Bucknell, which is 21-14 all-time in Patriot League Tournament play, is now 6-4 in the tournament against Holy Cross. The Bison are also 2-4 all-time in Patriot League Championship games.
• With its loss to Bucknell, Holy Cross has failed to win a Patriot League title in each of the past three years. It is the Crusaders' longest stretch without a championship since ending a seven-year drought in 2001.
• Bucknell is the first team to repeat as Patriot League champions since Holy Cross in 2002 and 2003.
• Bucknell, which won its first PL title on its home floor, improved to 2-1 all-time in championship games against Holy Cross. The Crusaders defeated the Bison in Davis Gym in 1993, while Bucknell claimed the title last year at the Hart Center.
• Bucknell's Kevin Bettencourt moved up to fourth place on Bucknell's career scoring list with 23 points Friday. He now has 1,547 career points and moved ahead of Jaye Andrews. Bettencourt also moved into the top 10 in Patriot League history, jumping past Army's Chris Spatola. He is just 12 3-point field goals behind Army's Mark Lueking for the Patriot League career mark. Bettencourt has 288 career 3-pointers.