Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Men's Basketball Season Officially Comes to End
3/11/2007 8:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 11, 2007
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Despite 22 victories and a Patriot League regular-season co-championship, the Bucknell men's basketball team did not receive an at-large bid to either the NCAA Tournament or NIT on Sunday evening, officially ending the team's season.
Bucknell went 13-1 in conference play and brought a school modern-day record 14-game winning streak into Friday's Patriot League championship game at Holy Cross. Faced with a 19-point second-half deficit, the Bison valiantly fought back to tie the game, but the Crusaders prevailed 74-66 to claim the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Holy Cross was also 13-1 in the Patriot League but claimed the No. 1 seed in the Patriot League Tournament based on the third tiebreaker criteria, a higher RPI.
With the end of the season also comes the final chapter for one of Bucknell's all-time great senior classes. Chris McNaughton, Donald Brown and Abe Badmus combined for a school-record 87 victories in four years, five more than the previous mark of 82 wins, set by the Class of 1987.
The senior trio combined for 3,048 points and 1,502 rebounds over the last four years, but even more impressive than the individual numbers were the team accomplishments. All three played starring roles on Bison squads that won Patriot League titles in 2005 and 2006, then went on to win the first two NCAA Tournament games in school and league history. In addition to the landmark "Big Dance" victories over Kansas and Arkansas, McNaughton, Brown and Badmus also contributed to wins over the likes of Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Xavier, DePaul and St. Joseph's in the last three seasons. The senior class also posted an impressive 35-0 record in Patriot League home games.
A three-time First Team All-Patriot League selection whose lasting legacy will be his game-winning hook shot against Kansas, McNaughton will graduate ranked sixth on Bucknell's career scoring chart - second among centers - with 1,529 career points. He will also rank fifth in field goals made (609), second in field-goal percentage (.598), seventh in blocked shots (80) and 12th in rebounds (646). He also played in a school-record 125 career games, never missing one in four years. An electrical engineering major, McNaughton will soon be a candidate for his third straight Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year honor.
Badmus earned a starting role midway through his freshman campaign and will be remembered as one of the top point guards in school history. From his acrobatic block on Carl Krauser to save the Pittsburgh game, to his 11-assist-no-turnover performance against Kansas, to his clinching free throws against Arkansas, Badmus turned in many scintillating performances over the last four years. He played in 123 career games, tied for second in school history, and he will also rank second all-time in steals (217) and fifth in assists (375).
Brown went from sixth-man extraordinaire to Patriot League MVP candidate this season. A broken hand that cost him the final seven games of the regular season relegated him to second-team honors, but he still managed to lead the league in rebounding while ranking among the leaders in field-goal percentage, steals and assists this season. Brown will graduate ranked sixth in school history in games played (117) and field-goal percentage (.542).
Bucknell finished the 2006-07 season with a final record of 22-9. After going 24-9 in 2004-05 and 27-5 last season, it is the first time in school history that the Bison have won 20 or more games three years in a row.
