Bucknell University Athletics
March 18, 2005 -- Ten Years Ago Today the Bison Shocked the Basketball World
3/18/2015 5:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Today is the 10-year anniversary of one of the most significant sporting achievements in Bucknell history. On March 18, 2005 in Oklahoma City, the 14th-seeded Bison men's basketball team defeated the third-seeded Kansas Jayhawks, a team that had been ranked No. 1 in the country for most of the season, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament (postgame recap | boxscore). Bucknell was playing in the “Big Dance” for the third time. Kansas had already been to 33 NCAA Tournaments and 12 Final Fours. But the Bison were not intimidated by the Jayhawks' hallowed history, and Chris McNaughton capped off a heart-stopping, back-and-forth contest by hitting the winning shot with 10.5 seconds remaining. The 64-63 verdict marked the first NCAA win in Bucknell and Patriot League history, and 10 years later it is remembered as one of the most memorable games in Tournament history.
We invite you to share your reflections and “where were you when the Bison beat Kansas” stories on the BucknellU Facebook page.
Also note that on May 9, as part of the 10th anniversary celebration weekend, fans are invited to join the members of the 2005 team for a special viewing of the game at the Campus Theatre in downtown Lewisburg. Tickets to the event will be $5, and they may be purchased through the Campus Box Office.
Watch the game courtesy of NCAA on Demand:
Freelance writer David Driver recently caught up with former head coach Pat Flannery and many of the players who took part in the historic victory.
Bison reflect on NCAA upset 10 years later: Close-knit group made Bucknell and Patriot League history by knocking off Kansas in 2005 March Madness
By David Driver
The communication began with group e-mails nearly a decade ago and has evolved – and accelerated – in keeping with the times.
These days that method of keeping in touch is mostly through text messages. And the volume has at times been amazing, even in this age of instant contact.
There are days that members of the 2004-05 Bucknell men's basketball team combine to send nearly 300 text messages, according to former player and current Rider assistant coach John Griffin.
“Sometimes you wonder if guys are working,” says Griffin, with a laugh.
Chris Niesz, the only senior on that team, says during their playing days they would get together and play card games during road trips in one of the hotel rooms.
“That was the closest group of guys I have been on a team with,” notes Niesz, now a banker in New Jersey. “Obviously that chemistry helped on the court.”
There are certainly plenty of memorable moments to help forge 10 years worth of friendships – and text messages.
The Bison finished second in the regular season but beat first-place Holy Cross 61-57 for the Patriot League Tournament championship. But that was just the beginning.
The No. 14 seed Bison upset No. 3 seed Kansas 64-63 in the first round of the NCAA tournament for the first-ever win by a Patriot League team in the event. That earned the team an ESPY Award as the “Upset of the Year.”
The magic ride ended when Bucknell lost to No. 6 seed Wisconsin 71-62 in the second round to end the year 24-9 overall.
“Honestly I think about it every day,” says Holland Mack, a walk-on in 2005. “I teach and coach basketball (at Paramus Catholic in New Jersey) and when I coach my kids I think about getting them to the point where we can achieve like we did at Bucknell. I am always trying to achieve that excellence.”
But it is not just reliving the glory days that keeps the communication flowing. Kevin Bettencourt, who scored 19 points against Kansas, said he sent out a text with the good news to his former teammates less than one hour after his daughter, Mia, was born Feb. 12, 2015 in Beverly, Mass.
SOME BUMPS ALONG THE WAY
The road to March Madness almost got derailed. Nearly every team goes through valleys over the course of the season, and the Bison's pit may have come in an ugly non-league loss at home to Saint Francis of Pennsylvania on Nov. 22, 2004, or in a 13-point setback to Penn at the Palestra nine days later.
“We started out that year really slow,” says wing standout Charles Lee, a junior that season. “It was a long process. But guys really trusted one another.”
Lee's 22-point, 18-rebound performance in a come-from-behind, overtime win at Yale provided a much-needed spark on the heels of the poor performance at Penn. That sparked an 11-game winning streak that included head-turning victories over Niagara (the highest-scoring team in the nation at the time), Saint Joseph's, and most notably, a 69-66 upset of seventh-ranked Pittsburgh. That remains the highest-ranked team the Bison have ever beaten, and to this day it is one of only four non-conference losses for Pitt at the Petersen Events Center (118-4).
Bucknell won its first five Patriot League games, but then there were two straight losses on a southern trip to American and Navy in late January.
“That could have been a devastating swing,” notes Griffin. “That was a point where we could have gone the wrong way.”
“We won some big games early (in non-league play),” says head coach Pat Flannery. “There was some ability there. American had some kids from overseas who were older. It wasn't a valley as much as it was an opportunity to bounce back. The timing (of the losses) made the kids hungrier.”
“I think that our struggles early in the season were what ultimately made us such a successful team down the stretch,” adds center Chris McNaughton. “I remember the tough win against Yale in OT that got us back on track and started a winning streak for us including some great wins at Saint Joseph's and Pitt. But honestly, early in the year nobody could have imagined the way the season progressed for us and how it ended.”
POSTSEASON MEMORIES
The Bison won six of their last eight regular-season games, then turned up the defensive intensity in the Patriot League tourney, suffocating Lafayette (70-34) and American (53-35) in the first two games.
“That was not out of character,” recalls forward Darren Mastropaolo, who was a starter as a freshman on that team. “Our defense was the reason we won a lot of big games.”
“By that time our kids had bought in,” Flannery remembers. “We had a good road team because of our defense.”
Bucknell then knocked off No. 1 seed Holy Cross, playing in front of several busloads of orange-clad fans, on ESPN2 in Worcester, Massachusetts for an automatic bid to the NCAA field.
“They beat us badly (earlier in the year). They were a very good team,” says Abe Badmus, the team's point guard.
Then the Bison practiced on campus before heading to the NCAA tourney.
“One of my most vivid memories was the practice we had before we got on the road to head to Oklahoma,” says Badmus, who had 11 assists and no turnovers against the Jayhawks. “We had just gotten new shoes from Adidas since we had made the tournament. I was excited about that.”
But Flannery was not excited about one practice. “Coach Flannery stopped practice. I would not say he read us the riot act. But it was the kind of speech that demanded attention. He said we were going to Oklahoma to win,” Badmus recalls.
Playing in Oklahoma City against favored Kansas in March, 2005, the Bison hung tough against the Jayhawks.
Mastropaolo remembers seeing a television outside of the Bucknell locker room before the game with Kansas that was showing an upset win by Vermont over Syracuse in the tourney. “That's the upset instead of us,” Mastropaolo thought. “That was a funny moment.”
But there would be a second major upset that day.
The game came down to the final seconds, and during a timeout Flannery and staff drew up a play in which Niesz, a forward, would set a pick near the three-point line.
If starting center Chris McNaughton, an all-league player and one of the best centers in school history, was covered, Niesz was given the green light to shoot. Instead he fed a pass to McNaughton, whose shot with 10.5 seconds left was the game-winner.
“We were not going to end it on a jump shot,” says Flannery. “It was a great entry pass into the post. We just thought that was our strength.”
“If they collapsed on Chris I would have shot,” Niesz says. “Chris had single coverage.”
“As far as I can remember we wanted to run a misdirection post up play,” recalls McNaughton. “With Abe just having fouled out and us struggling against their press late in the game, we wanted Kevin to bring the ball up and try to get a good look. I guess in the end we just executed, which was what had helped us become a successful team that year.”
Niesz grew up rooting for Duke and remains a big college basketball fan. He has run into other fans who know their NCAA tourney history and enjoy talking to him about his pass that helped beat Kansas.
The season came to an end with the close loss to Wisconsin, a game that the Bison led with nine minutes to play. But making it to March Madness was memorable. “That is what you dream of as a freshman,” says Rob Thomas, a freshman in 2005.
“I always remember getting back to the hotel and the pep band from Northern Iowa was there since our pep band couldn't go to Oklahoma,” Bettencourt recalls. “The highlights of our game were on SportsCenter. That is kind of when it sunk in.”
THE WORKING WORLD
These days members of that team are scattered along the East Coast, from Bettencourt as the head coach at Endicott College in Massachusetts to Lee as an assistant coach with the Atlanta Hawks.
The only active player is McNaughton, who is still playing professionally in his native Germany.
So why are so many members of that 2005 title team into coaching?
“I am going to say (because of) coach Flannery and the assistants,” says Griffin. “Coach Flannery is a genius. I would put him up against anybody in the country.”
Lee was the Patriot League MVP as a senior in 2006, helping the Bison get back to the NCAA Tournament, this time as a No. 9 seed, and earn a second NCAA victory over Arkansas. Lee was the last cut of the San Antonio Spurs before playing four years in Europe, the last two in Germany.
Why so many coaches? “The passion for the game,” Lee says. “Have you talked to John Griffin? He has a high basketball IQ. We talked about the game all of the time.”
“We had such wonderful coaches during our college years,” reflects Bettencourt, who led Division III Endicott to the conference title game on Feb. 28 in his first year as head coach. “We are all trying to hang on and see others achieve that.”
Other team members have excelled away from hoops.
Badmus recently moved from King of Prussia to Williamsport, where is the general manager of Liberty Arena. He graduated from Bucknell in 2007 and later got his MBA from Benedictine in Illinois.
Mack cut the rap song “Bison Anthem” that was used during warm-ups when he played at Bucknell. Besides coaching he has remained involved in music and his group, “Super Heroes Swag,” did a recording for the movie “Pretty Life.”
While each member of the team has found their own niche, the 2005 title team enjoys keeping in touch.
“It was more than just a team. It was a band of brothers,” says Thomas, who now works for Paychex in New Jersey.
Mastropaolo, who lives in Brooklyn and has also been involved in the music industry, got to see Lee in February, 2015 during the NBA All-Star weekend in New York City as the Hawks' coaching staff led the East squad.
“The bonds that we have are not (just) because we won together,” says Mastropaolo. “It is because we went through so much together.”
“It goes back to family and their upbringing,” Flannery adds. “A bunch of them have stayed a part of the game. It was a real special group.”
“There are so many great memories that I have of this team on and off the court,” says McNaughton. “I guess it all came down to us being a tight-knit, very hard-working group that believed in Coach Flannery's system. I don't think I have had as much fun playing basketball in my career than I did with this group of guys.”
“Even though it has been 10 years we pretty much touch base every week,” Mack says. “One person will send a text and people will add to it. We have never really lost touch in 10 years. We became brothers through that experience. It is something really special.”
And so was the win over Kansas.
Editor's note: David Driver is a freelance writer who has covered the Patriot League for nearly 20 years. He has contributed to the Bucknell alumni magazine and covers college basketball for The Sports Xchange, a national content provider. He can be reached at www.davidsdriver.com
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
Head coach Pat Flannery – senior development officer at Bucknell
Assistant coach Nathan Davis – head coach at Randolph-Macon in Virginia
Assistant coach Bryan Goodman – assistant coach at Binghamton in New York
Assistant coach Mark Prosser – associate head coach at Winthrop in South Carolina
Player Abe Badmus – general manager of Liberty Arena in Williamsport
Player Kevin Bettencourt – head coach at Endicott College in Massachusetts
Player Charles Lee – assistant coach with the Atlanta Hawks of the NBA
Player John Griffin – assistant coach at Rider in New Jersey
Player Holland Mack – head coach at Paramus Catholic in New Jersey
Player Chris Niesz – works with Deutsche Bank in Jersey City
Player Donald Brown – assistant strength and conditioning coach at VCU
Player Darren Mastropaolo – works for a non-profit in New York City (www.dosomething.org) and is a musician
Player Chris McNaughton – professional basketball player in his native Germany
Player Tarik Viaer-McClymont – has worked in finance and lives in Queens
Player John Clark – lawyer in Chicago
Player Rob Thomas – lives in Montclair, New Jersey and works in human resources
Player Andrew Morrison – sports agent in Philadelphia
