Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
11-18 (6-8PL)
Army
13-15 (6-8PL)
Bucknell Drops Regular-Season Finale at Army, 54-51, Will Travel to Navy for First Round of PL Tournament
3/1/2008 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 1, 2008
WEST POINT, N.Y. - Bucknell finished up the 2007-08 regular season with a 54-51 loss to Army on Saturday afternoon at Christl Arena, meaning the Bison will travel to Navy for the first round of the Patriot League Tournament on Wednesday night. Darren Mastropaolo scored 11 points and Stephen Tyree had all 10 of his in the second half, but the Bison struggled offensively for the second straight game.
Bucknell (11-18, 6-8) shot 37.7 percent and made only 4 of 20 from 3-point range, with the last two misses coming in a 3-point game in the final 15 seconds.
Jarell Brown led Army (13-15, 6-8) with 13 points, but the Patriot League's No. 2 scorer had only two in the second half, when the Black Knights scored only 17 points and nearly frittered away a 12-point lead.
With Colgate defeating Navy and American topping Lafayette on Saturday, Bucknell will enter the Patriot League Tournament as the No. 7 seed and travel to second-seeded Navy on Wednesday for the first round.
Bucknell fell behind early in this one, as two Brown 3-pointers helped Army to a quick 12-3 lead. Another Brown 3-pointer gave him 11 points in the first 8:09 and gave the Black Knights an 18-7 lead.
The Bison drew within five on Mastropaolo's layup at the nine-minute mark, but Cleveland Richard banked in a 3-pointer from the top of the key to start a 7-0 run, and Army went back up 28-16 on Chris Walker's layup.
Bucknell pulled within nine at 35-26 on Todd O'Brien's 3-point play with 1:55 left in the half. The Bison got three defensive stops and had the ball with the shot clock turned off, but Justin Castleberry double-dribbled near midcourt with 10 seconds left, Bucknell's 10th turnover of the half. Army cashed in at the other end when Josh Miller was fouled driving to the basket with 5.5 seconds left. His two free throws gave the Black Knights a 37-26 lead at the half.
The Bison forced four turnovers and two missed shots on Army's first six possessions of the second half, but Bucknell could not make up any ground. The Bison missed their first seven shots of the half until Rob Thomas finally hit a jumper 4:36 in to bring them within 10 at 38-28.
Bucknell got within seven on Tyree's 3-point play with 13:00 left, and it was still seven after a Josh Linthicum put-back with 6:42 to play. Bucknell had three straight possessions down seven, but Castleberry and John Griffin missed 3-pointers and Tyree missed a dunk.
Richard ended Army's 6:23 scoreless drought with a reverse layup, and after Thomas missed a long jumper, Marcus Nelson scored on a driving layup to put the Black Knights back up double digits at 52-41 with 3:12 to play.
Later, two Tyree free throws and a Griffin layup brought the Bison within six at 54-48. G.W. Boon missed a front end of a 1-and-1 that could have brought them closer, but after Brown missed a long three at the end of the shot clock, Boon atoned for the missed free throw with a 3-pointer from the right corner, making it 54-51 with 26.8 seconds left.
Army threw the ball away on the inbounds, and after a Bucknell timeout Griffin missed a 3-pointer. Mastropaolo grabbed the offensive rebound and tried to toss it right back to Griffin, but Nelson intercepted the pass. Nelson missed the front end of a 1-and-1, but Patrick Behan's 3-point try from the top of the arc drew only front iron as time expired.
American clinched the No. 1 seed with its victory over Lafayette on Saturday. Navy will be seeded second, followed by Colgate, Lehigh, Army, Lafayette, Bucknell and Holy Cross.
