Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
7-22, 4-10PL
Army
10-18, 6-8PL
Bucknell Men Fall to Army, Will Face Holy Cross in First Round of PL Tourney
2/28/2009 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 28, 2009
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| Bucknell-Army Highlights
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Julian Simmons scored 21 points and Army used a 19-2 run to start the second half to break open a close game and surge past Bucknell 70-53 Saturday night at Sojka Pavilion. It was the final game of the regular season for both teams, and Army secured a best-ever No. 4 seed in next week's Patriot League Tournament while the Bison are relegated to the No. 7 seed. Bucknell will travel to Holy Cross for the first round of postseason play on Wednesday night.
Overshadowed by the disappointing loss was another big night from Bucknell junior Patrick Behan, who finished with 23 points and 12 rebounds. It was his fifth straight 20-point game and his eighth of the year, the most since Kevin Bettencourt had eight in 2003-04.
But overall it was a tough offensive night for the Bison (7-22, 4-10 PL), who shot 30.4 percent from the field and 21.1 percent (4-19) from 3-point range after going 10-for-17 from the arc just three days earlier in a win over Lehigh. Bucknell had only five assists on 17 field goals in the game and committed 16 turnovers.
There were five ties and eight lead changes during an evenly played first half. Doug Williams' layup with 13 seconds left in the half gave the Black Knights (10-18, 6-8) a 29-27 lead at the break, a lead that they would not relinquish.
Miller opened the second period with a 3-pointer, one of four treys in the first 5:23 of the half for Army. A 3-point play by Williams put the Black Knights up 37-29, and then Jeremy Hence hit a 3-pointer on his only shot attempt of the night to make it 40-29. Later, Simmons canned back-to-back trifectas from the right side to complete the 19-2 run, which left Army with a commanding 48-29 lead.
Bucknell scored five straight points to pull within 48-34, and later consecutive 3-pointers by Darryl Shazier and Justin Castleberry made it a 13-point game, but the Bison could not get any closer.
Castleberry, who along with fellow seniors Jason Vegotsky and Josh Linthicum were honored prior to the game, scored 11 points, while Shazier finished with nine. Behan, Castleberry and Shazier combined for 43 of the team's 53 points.
Williams had 14 points and nine rebounds for the Black Knights, while Cleveland Richard finished with 12 points, four assists and three steals. Army shot 41.8 percent and outrebounded the Bison 41-38. Bucknell came into the game ranked in the top 20 nationally in 3-point defense (.303), but Army went 9-for-18 from the arc.
When Bucknell and Holy Cross meet on Wednesday night, it will mark the 12th time in 19 Patriot League Tournaments that the Bison and Crusaders have clashed in the postseason. The teams split the season series this season, with the road team winning each time. Bucknell won 72-66 in Worcester on Valentine's Day, while Holy Cross prevailed 68-56 at Sojka Pavilion on Jan. 17.
In other first-round matchups, No. 4 Army will host No. 5 Lehigh, No. 1 American will host No. 8 Lafayette, and No. 3 Navy will host No. 6 Colgate.
