Bucknell Men End Regular Season with 64-56 Loss to Colgate

Bison Seeded Fifth at Patriot League Tournament, Will Face Lehigh in First Round

Senior Boakai Lalugba had 16 points in his final home game Sunday.

March 2, 2003

Box Score

LEWISBURG, Pa. - Andrew Zidar had 15 points and 11 rebounds to lead Colgate to a 64-56 victory over Bucknell in the regular-season finales for both teams Sunday at Sojka Pavilion.

With Holy Cross defeating Lehigh Sunday, the No. 3 seed at next weekend's Patriot League Tournament was up for grabs for the Bucknell-Colgate winner. The Raiders sprinted to an early 13-1 lead and withstood a late Bison charge to claim the third seed.

Bucknell (13-14, 7-7) will be seeded fifth and play No. 4 Lehigh Saturday at 2:30 p.m. at the Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro, Md. Colgate (14-13, 9-5), winners of five straight, plays No. 6 Lafayette in the opening round. Other quarterfinal matchups are No. 1 Holy Cross against No. 8 Army, and No. 2 American and No. 7 Navy.

Zidar was the early hero for Colgate. After the Bison took their only lead of the day at 1-0 on a Boakai Lalugba free throw on the first possession of the day, Zidar scored the game's next nine points. A Howard Blue tip-in and Dave Hardy's layup made it 13-1 just 6:29 into the contest.

Bucknell shot just 33.3 percent in the first half and trailed 35-25 at intermission. The Bison regrouped after the break, however. Roland Webber's 3-pointer with 11:36 to play capped a 12-3 run that cut Colgate's lead to 42-39.

Tarik Viaer-McClymont's layup with 7:10 left made it a one-point game at 46-45, but Bucknell would make only one more field goal in the next five minutes, and it never managed to take the lead. Alvin Reed hit a jumper to push the lead back to three, and after Kevin Bettencourt made 1 of 2 free throws at the other end, Mark Linebaugh scored five quick points to make it 53-46 with 5:35 left.

Dave Hardy's jumper with 2:50 to play pushed the lead back to double digits at 59-49. Bucknell made one final surge when Bettencourt made three free throws, then hit a 3-pointer to make it 59-55 with 2:06 left. After a Colgate turnover, Chris Niesz missed a long 3-pointer that could have made it a one-point game again, but it rimmed out.

Colgate made 5 of 6 free throws in the last 36 seconds to seal the win.

Lalugba recorded his 17th double-double of the season with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Bettencourt finished with 11 points for the Bison, who shot 37.5 percent from the field and 55.2 percent (16-29) from the free-throw line.

The Raiders, who also got 15 points from Linebaugh and 10 from Howard Blue, shot 42.9 percent from the field.

Bucknell had won five straight and 9 of 10 against Colgate. The Raiders won in Lewisburg for the first time since 1997-98.