Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
8-7, 2-0PL
American
8-8, 0-2PL
Bison Men Get to 2-0 in Patriot League with 66-60 Win over American
1/9/2007 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 9, 2007
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Chris McNaughton scored 16 points, including back-to-back decisive buckets in the final two minutes, to lead Bucknell to a 66-60 victory over visiting American and a 2-0 start in Patriot League play. The Bison, who moved over .500 overall for the first time this season at 8-7, also received 14 points from Donald Brown, 11 big points off the bench from Darren Mastropaolo and 10 from John Griffin.
Arvydas Eitutavicius hit 4 of 6 3-point attempts and led American (8-8, 0-2) with 18 points off the bench. Fellow reserve Garrison Carr also hit four threes and finished with 14, while Andre Ingram had 10.
The Eagles stayed in the game with a torrid long-range display, particularly after Bucknell built a 10-point lead by scoring the first nine points of the second half. American hit seven 3-pointers in the second half and pulled within one point with 3:53 to play, but McNaughton came up big in crunch time and Griffin iced the game at the line.
For the Bison, the victory was their 23rd in a row against Patriot League opponents and their 28th straight against league foes at home. Much like in Saturday's win over Navy, Bucknell won it with an outstanding effort from its frontcourt.
McNaughton was limited to 19 minutes due to foul trouble but still managed a season scoring high on 6-for-10 shooting from the field. Brown stuffed the boxscore with 14 points, eight rebounds, four assists and four steals, and with McNaughton on the bench for much of the second half, Mastropaolo hit double figures in scoring for the first time since the Penn State game on Nov. 21. All told, that threesome combined for 41 points on 15-for-25 shooting.
Bucknell took a 28-27 halftime lead after fighting back from an early seven-point deficit, and coming out of the locker room the advantage quickly swelled thanks to a bit of its own long-range shooting. Jason Vegotsky hit two 3-pointers in the first 3:22 of the second half to spark a 9-0 run that made it 37-27.
American's first points of the second period came 5:22 in on Carr's 3-pointer, then a minute later Carr banked in another three with the shot clock expiring to make it 38-33. Bucknell continued to score fairly effectively, with Brown and Mastropaolo combining for 11 straight Bison points in one stretch, but the Eagles whittled the lead by trading two points for three on numerous occasions.
Griffin's free throws with 6:18 left gave the Bison a 48-42 lead, but Eitutavicius answered with a 3-pointer to make it a 3-point game. Abe Badmus tipped in a Brown miss on a fastbreak, but Ingram followed with a 3-pointer. On the next possession Brown hit an elbow jumper, only to see Ingram connect again from the arc to make it a one-point game at 52-51 with 3:53 to play.
Mastropaolo was fouled trying for a reverse layup and after a media timeout made both free throws for a 54-51 advantage, then came the most pivotal stretch of the night. At the two-minute mark, Carr came up with a loose ball near midcourt and appeared to have a breakaway. Badmus contested the shot at the last second and the layup attempt seemed to hang on the rim forever before falling off. Mastropaolo corralled the rebound and was fouled, but after making five straight free throws, this time he missed both. Bucknell caught a break when Travis Lay rebounded the second miss and immediately threw a bad pass out of bounds for a turnover.
The Bison quickly made American pay for the mistake when McNaughton finished a well-executed high-low feed from Brown for a 56-51 lead. Brayden Billbe then missed a short jumper after an inbounds pass, and again Bucknell went inside to the Patriot League Preseason Player of the Year. McNaughton spun to his left and dropped in a short jump hook to make it 58-51 with only 45 seconds left.
Bucknell sealed it from the free-throw line, going 8-for-8 in the final 29 seconds. Griffin made six in a row to finish a perfect 10-for-10 night from the line, accounting for all of his points, and McNaughton hit the final two with four seconds left to make the final 66-60.
Neither team held a two-possession lead until the 12:18 mark of the first half when Ingram hit a baseline jumper to give American a 13-9 edge. Later, Carr hit a 3-pointer to make it 18-11, the Eagles' largest lead of the game.
Bucknell scored the next seven in a row, tying the game at 18. After falling behind 22-18, the Bison had another 7-0 run, highlighted by a thunderous dunk from Brown. Badmus' free throw at the 3:59 mark gave the Bison a lead they would never again relinquish, despite some tense moments down the stretch.
Bucknell shot 51.3 percent from the floor and outscored American 23-6 from the free-throw line. Bucknell managed only three 3-pointers, all from Vegotsky, in nine attempts but did not need to rely on the outside shot thanks to the play of the three big men.
After keeping its turnover total in single digits for three straight games, the Bison had only four in the first 27 minutes before finishing with 12. They had 13 assists on 20 field goals, and defensively they came up with nine steals and outrebounded the Eagles 26-22. Griffin played his fourth straight full game without a turnover.
Bucknell is now 2-0 in Patriot League play for the fifth time. The Bison have won six straight from American and seven in a row over the Eagles at home. It was also the program's 1,199th all-time victory.
Next up for Bucknell is a showdown with fellow Patriot League power Holy Cross on Friday night at 7 p.m. at the Hart Center in Worcester, Mass. The ESPNU-televised contest is a rematch of the last two Patriot League championship games.
