Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Men's Basketball Begins PL Title Defense Wednesday vs. Navy
2/27/2007 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 27, 2007
WHO: #2 Bucknell (20-8, 13-1) vs. #7 Navy (14-15, 4-10)
WHAT: Patriot League Tournament Quarterfinals
WHERE: Sojka Pavilion, Lewisburg, Pa.
WHEN: Wednesday, February 28, 2007, 7 p.m.
TICKETS: Available ONLINE, at Weis Center (11 a.m. to 5 p.m), ELC Box Office (11 a.m. to 4 p.m.) or at Sojka Pavilion Ticket Office (after 5 p.m. Wed.)
RADIO: Eagle 107 and SportsJuice.com
LIVE ONLINE VIDEO: Patriot League All-Access
COMPLETE PRESS NOTES
The long-awaited postseason has finally arrived, and Bucknell begins its quest for a third consecutive Patriot League title when Navy visits Sojka Pavilion for a quarterfinal matchup on Wednesday night. The Bison boast a 21-14 record in the 16 previous PL Tournaments, but the only team they have never beaten in the postseason is Navy. Even though it had to settle for the No. 2 seed after losing the RPI tiebreaker with regular-season co-champion Holy Cross, Bucknell is the league's hottest team coming into the tournament. The Orange & Blue have won 12 straight, 15 of their last 16 and 21 of their last 25. Chris McNaughton, now a three-time First Team All-Patriot League selection, and fellow seniors Abe Badmus and Donald Brown look to carry the Bison in their final postseason go-round. Navy finished the regular season 14-15 overall and 4-10 in the Patriot League. The Midshipmen tied for sixth place with Army but lost the tiebreaker and wound up as the No. 7 seed. Navy, which fell 70-62 at Colgate on Saturday, is led by Second Team All-Patriot League honoree Greg Sprink, who ranks second in the league in scoring at 17.2 ppg. Sprink scored 18 points in both 2007 meetings with Bucknell. Forward Trey Stanton (8.1 ppg) was named to the PL All-Rookie Team. Bucknell will have to defend the arc in this one, as Navy shoots more 3-pointers than anyone in the league. The Mids average 24.1 long-range attempts per game, accounting for about 48% of their total field-goal attempts.
with a victory over navy, bucknell would ...
-- ... advance to the Patriot League Tournament semifinals for the 14th time in 17 years.
-- ... win its 13th game in a row, which would become the longest streak under Pat Flannery and tie the fourth-longest streak in school history (and become the longest since 1919).
-- ... win its 21st game in 25 outings since the 0-4 start.
-- ... reach the 21-win plateau for the eighth time in school history.
-- ... win its 34th straight home game against Patriot League opponents and ninth straight home game overall.
-- ... win its 6th straight game against the Midshipmen.
-- ... defeat the Midshipmen three times in a season for the first time ever.
-- ... defeat the Mids in a Patriot League Tournament game for the first time ever (0-3 coming in).
-- ... win its 7th straight Patriot League Tournament game.
bucknell vs. navy all-time
In a series that dates back to 1920, Navy holds a 29-22 lead. Bucknell has won the last five in a row, including a pair this season. As Patriot League rivals, the Bison hold a narrow 18-16 series edge, including a 13-3 mark at home (5-0 at Sojka Pavilion). In postseason action, these two teams met in the 1997 Patriot League Championship Game, with the Midshipmen prevailing 76-75 in Annapolis. Navy also prevailed in the PL semifinals in 1998 (80-61) and 2001 (88-64).
bucknell vs. navy earlier this season
Bucknell swept the regular-season series from the Midshipmen for the second straight year and fourth time overall.
-- On Jan. 6 at Sojka Pavilion, Donald Brown had 15 points and nine rebounds and John Griffin posted a career-high eight assists without a turnover to go with his 11 points, leading Bucknell to a 59-51 win. Bucknell struggled from the outside (2-13 3FG) but outscored Navy 30-8 in the paint and committed only six turnovers all night. Chris McNaughton also scored 12 points for the Bison to help offset 18 from Greg Sprink.
-- On Feb. 2 at Alumni Hall, Griffin had 15 points and six assists and the frontcourt combo of McNaughton and Darren Mastropaolo combined for 25 points and 19 rebounds in Bucknell's 78-63 win. In their first game playing without injured forward Donald Brown, the Bison made 11 of 22 shots from 3-point range, overcoming Navy's 13 treys in 32 attempts. Bucknell led by only two at the half but opened it up with an 18-6 run early in the second period. Sprink led Navy with 18 points, while Chris Harris had 12.
bucknell vs. navy last season
The Bison took two from the Midshipmen a year ago, claiming victories by margins of 22 and 34 points .
-- On Jan. 7 at Alumni Hall, Jason Vegotsky scored a career-high 19 points and was one of three Bison reserves to reach double figures in a 74-52 win over Navy. The bench produced 41 of those 74 points, with Donald Brown adding 12 points and seven rebounds and John Griffin 10 points and a career-high eight caroms. Vegotsky and Griffin hit two 3-pointers each during a decisive 20-3 run to close the first half. Kaleo Kina scored 12 points to lead Navy.
-- On Jan. 28 at Sojka Pavilion, Charles Lee scored 12 points to lead a balanced offensive attack in Bucknell's 81-47 win. Brown and Abe Badmus scored 11 each as a dozen different Bison scored. Bucknell forced 26 Navy turnovers and held the Midshipmen to 27.7 percent shooting (13-47). Greg Sprink led Navy with 16 points.
last time out
Abe Badmus scored 15 points, including the tie-breaking 3-pointer with 52 seconds left, leading Bucknell to a hard-fought win at Army Saturday afternoon in the regular-season finale for both teams. Jason Vegotsky canned a 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer to bring Bucknell into a 27-27 tie, and the Bison surged ahead by as many as eight early in the second half. Army used some hot 3-point shooting from Jarrel Brown and Cleveland Richard to stay close, and the Black Knights finally tied it on a pair of Brown free throws with 1:07 left. Badmus hit the 3-pointer on Bucknell's next possession, then the defense came up with two big stops before John Griffin iced it from the charity stripe with 10.8 seconds left.
inside the army boxscore
-- All nine Bison who played grabbed at least one rebound, and Bucknell finished with a 39-24 edge on the glass. It was the 12th straight time the Bison won the battle of the boards.
-- Chris McNaughton finished with a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. It was his fifth double-digit rebounding effort of the year, all coming during the current 12-game winning streak. McNaughton also had three assists and two blocks.
-- Abe Badmus made 3 of 5 shots from the arc and all six free-throw tries on the way to 15 points. It was his second-highest scoring total of the year, behind his 16 against Wake Forest.
-- The Bison were solid from the free-throw line, making 15 of 17.
-- Freshman Stephen Tyree had another solid game defensively and also chipped in six points. He hit his second 3-pointer in as many games and also knocked down 3 of 4 free throws.
-- Bucknell shot 39.0% from the floor while holding Army to 32.0% shooting. Nine of Army's 16 field goals came from beyond the arc.
mcnaughton, brown earn all-patriot league honors
The 2007 All-Patriot League Team was announced on Monday, and Bucknell had two honorees. Senior Chris McNaughton was a first-team selection for the third straight year, making him the first Bison to earn three first-team nods since Brian Anderson from 1994-96. Despite missing the last seven games of the regular season with an injury, Donald Brown earned second-team honors. It was Brown's first all-conference recognition.
all-league notes
Bucknell has now had a first team all-conference player in 23 of the last 24 years, dating back to its days in the East Coast Conference ... in addition to his three first-team all-league citations, Chris McNaughton was also an all-rookie pick in 2003-04 ... the only other players in league history to receive some type of league honor (all-rookie or all-league) four times are Bucknell's Kevin Bettencourt, Rob Feater of Holy Cross, Mark Leuking of Army, Brian Ehlers of Lafayette, Pat Campolieta of Colgate and Matt Logie of Lehigh ... Bucknell's streak of five straight years with an all-rookie selection came to an end.
bucknell tournament history
Bucknell has an all-time record of 21-14 in 16 Patriot League Tournaments, but an 0-3 mark against Navy. The Midshipmen are the only current PL team the Bison have not beaten in the postseason. The Bison have reached the championship game six times, winning it in each of the last two seasons, and reached at least the semifinals in 13 of 16 years. Bucknell is one of four teams (Holy Cross 21-12, Navy 13-12, American 8-5) to have a winning tournament record.
Bison PL Tourney Log Year Seed Results 1991 4 def. Army 67-49; lost Fordham 82-76 1992 2 def. Army 74-55; def. Holy Cross 86-77; lost Fordham 70-65 1993 1 def. Lehigh 69-65; def. Colgate 75-73; lost Holy Cross 98-73 1994 5 lost Holy Cross 96-91 1995 2 lost Army 94-78 1996 4 def. Lafayette 56-55; lost Colgate 67-61 1997 2 def. Lehigh 84-54; def. Colgate 71-58; lost Navy 76-75 1998 3 def. Holy Cross 60-56; lost Navy 80-61 1999 3 def. Holy Cross 76-52; def. Lehigh 58-50; lost Lafayette 67-63 2000 3 lost Lehigh 73-62 2001 6 def. Colgate 75-68; lost Navy 88-64 2002 3 def. Army 70-59; lost Holy Cross 64-57 2003 5 def. Lehigh 52-47; lost Holy Cross 75-50 2004 4 def. Holy Cross 66-60; lost Lehigh 60-45 2005 2 def. Lafayette 70-34; def. American 53-35; def. Holy Cross 61-57 2006 1 def. Army 59-47; def. American 64-50; def. Holy Cross 74-59
bison hoping to join list of no. 2 seeds to win pl title
Historically, No. 2 seeds have performed well in the Patriot League Tournament. No seed lower than a No. 2 has ever won the tournament, with the top seed winning 11 times and the second seed claiming five titles. The last No. 2 to win the championship was Bucknell in 2005. Other 2s to win were Holy Cross in 1993 and 2002, Lafayette in 2000 and Navy in 1998. No. 2 seeds have reached the championship game 11 times in 16 years, including seven straight. Four times the No. 2 seed has lost in the first round, most recently in 1999 when Navy was upset by No. 7 Lehigh. Bucknell has been the No. 2 four times previously and has at least made it to the final in three of those years.
mcnaughton to equal games played record
Senior center Chris McNaughton is expected to play in his 123rd career game on Wednesday night, which would equal Bucknell's all-time games played record set last season by Kevin Bettencourt. McNaughton, who has never missed a game in four years at Bucknell, earned his first start at Northwestern in the fourth game of his freshman year. With the exception of two Senior Days where he came off the bench, McNaughton has started every game since then.
bison back in mid-major top-25
Bucknell returned to the collegeinsider.com Mid-Major Top-25 Poll last week, and in Monday's poll the Bison moved up four spots to No. 21. The Bison were ranked as high as No. 2 last season, and they were No. 6 at the start of the 2006-07 campaign before the 0-4 start knocked them out of the top-25. For the complete poll, see p. 5.
streaking
Bucknell has now pieced together a winning streak of seven games or longer in four straight seasons. Its current 12-game streak is the fourth-longest active streak in the nation (through Monday).
Team Streak 1. Memphis 17 2. Winthrop 15 3. Ohio State 13 4. BUCKNELL 12 5. Old Dominion 11 Southern Illinois 11 Vermont 11 8. Davidson 10
streaking, part ii
Bucknell's current 12-game winning streak is tied for the longest in the Pat Flannery era and tied for the fourth-longest in school history. The longest overall winning streak in school history is 17 games (1902-04), and the longest within a season is 12 games (1907-08, 2005-06 and current).
Longest Bucknell Winning Streaks Under Pat Flannery (Since 1994-95): 12 1/7/06-2/18/06 12 1/17/07-pres. 11 12/4/04 - 1/23/05 8 1/13/96 - 2/7/96 7 1/30/04 - 2/22/04Longest Winning Streaks in Bucknell History (broken up by): 17 3/1/1902 - 2/19/1904 (vs. Allegheny) 15 2/5/1901 - 2/11/1902 (at Princeton) 14 1/10/1908 - 1/27/1909 (at State College) 13 3/9/1906 - 3/9/1907 (at Harrisburg Collegians) 13 2/15/1918 - 2/8/1919 (at Lehigh) 12 1/7/2006 - 2/18/2006 (at Northern Iowa) 12 1/17/2007 - present 11 2/6/1920 - 1/13/1921 (at Temple) 11 2/1/1993 - 3/6/1993 (vs. Holy Cross) 11 12/4/2004 - 1/23/2005 (at American)
streak stats
Some interesting tidbits from the current winning streak:
-- Bucknell has outscored its opponents 64.7 to 53.6 and outrebounded them 33.2 to 23.8.
-- The Bison are shooting 49.0% from the field and 40.5% from 3-point range.
-- Chris McNaughton is averaging 13.8 ppg and 8.4 rpg.
-- Abe Badmus is shooting 51.7% from 3FG range (15-29).
-- Stephen Tyree was averaging 2.6 minutes per game with 11 DNPs before the streak. During the streak he has played in every game, averaging 12.6 minutes off the bench.
among the best
At 13-1 in Patriot League play, Bucknell and Holy Cross rank among the nation's best in terms of conference records. Through Monday, the Bison and Crusaders were two of nine Division I teams with zero or one conference loss.
Team (Conf.) Record Pct. Memphis (C-USA) 14-0 1.000 Winthrop (Big South) 14-0 1.000 Davidson (Southern) 17-1 .944 Vermont (America East) 15-1 .938 Ohio State (Big 10) 14-1 .933 BUCKNELL (Patriot) 13-1 .929 Holy Cross (Patriot) 13-1 .929 Nevada (WAC) 13-1 .929 Penn (Ivy) 10-1 .909
brown does a little of everything
Through the end of the regular season, Donald Brown is the only Patriot League player to rank in the top 10 in scoring (9th), rebounding (1st), assists (10th) and steals (4th). Brown also leads the league in field-goal percentage.
patriot league success
No Patriot League team has won more regular-season conference games than Bucknell since the start of league play in 1990-91. The Bison carry an impressive 156-68 (.696) conference ledger and have now clinched their 15th winning or even conference record in 17 years. The Bison won a league-record 23 straight contests against conference foes from Feb. 23, 2005 to Jan. 12, 2007. Bucknell has an active streak of 33 straight wins at home against conference opponents, with their last home league loss coming on March 2, 2003 against Colgate.
who's got next?
If Bucknell gets past Navy on Wednesday night, it would host the winner of the Lehigh/Army game on Sunday afternoon at a time to be determined.
