March 7, 2006
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A NOTE ABOUT TICKETS: The Bucknell Ticket Office sold out of its allotment of Patriot League Men's Basketball Championship game tickets on Monday afternoon. In the event that any tickets are returned by Holy Cross, those tickets will go on sale on a first-come, first-served basis at the Sojka Pavilion Ticket Windows at 2:30 p.m. on Friday afternoon.
For the second straight year and sixth time in the 16-year history of the Patriot League, Bucknell will play for a men's basketball championship. After posting a perfect 14-0 regular-season conference record and double-digit wins over Army and American in the first two rounds of the PL Tournament, the top-seeded Bison host No. 2 Holy Cross on Friday afternoon, with the winner claiming the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. This will be a rematch of both the 1993 and 2005 title tilts. The Crusaders won 90-73 at Bucknell's Davis Gym in 1993 in the only other championship game hosted by the Bison. Bucknell avenged the loss last season at the Hart Center, racing out to a 20-point lead before holding on for a 61-57 victory. That is Bucknell's only Patriot League title, and of course as it turned out, it wasn't the team's last victory of the season. The Bison went on to stun third-seeded Kansas in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, while the Crusaders went on to beat Notre Dame in the first round of the NIT. Bucknell and Holy Cross had never met until the Patriot League was formed in 1990-91. Since then, the two teams have played 41 times, with the Bison winning 23. Amazingly, this will be the 10th time in 16 years -- and the fifth straight year -- the two rivals have met in the Patriot League Tournament. Bucknell has won five of the previous nine tourney showdowns.
with a victory over holy cross, bucknell would ...
• ... win its second consecutive Patriot League title and receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
• ... win a conference championship on its home floor for the first time in school history.
• ... go to 26-4, extending the school's single-season victory record.
• ... win its 21st straight game against Patriot League foes (including PL Tournament).
• ... win its 13th straight home game.
• ... win its 27th straight home game against Patriot League foes (including PL Tournament).
• ... defeat the Crusaders for the fourth straight time.
how they got here
Top-seeded Bucknell punched its ticket for the Patriot League championship game with a pair of home victories over No. 8 Army (59-47) and No. 4 American (64-50). Against the Black Knights, the Bison were clinging to a 41-37 lead with 10 minutes to play before breaking it open with a 14-0 run. Chris McNaughton led the Bison with 14 points, while Kevin Bettencourt added 13 and Charles Lee 12. In the semifinal win over American, McNaughton (16), Bettencourt (16) and Lee (15) combined for 47 of the team's 64 points. The Bison sprinted to an 8-0 lead and stayed ahead by at least nine points for all of the game's final 21:27.
inside the army boxscore
Bucknell had a season-high 15 steals, accounting for nearly all of Army's 17 turnovers ... Abe Badmus had five of those steals, along with a season-high-tying eight assists ... Charles Lee went only 1-for-6 from 3-point range but still managed 12 points, seven rebounds, four steals and two blocks ... Bucknell committed only 11 turnovers and six fouls in the game ... in fact, Army did not shoot a single free throw all night, while the Bison went 16-for-26 from the line ... Donald Brown had a strong game off the bench with nine points and seven rebounds ... Brown's eight free-throw attempts were a career high ... Bucknell allowed less than 50 points in a game for the 40th time in Pat Flannery's 12-year tenure ... Flannery is now 24-3 against Army.
inside the american boxscore
The Bison made their last 11 free throws of the night and finished 11-for-12 from the stripe ... in addition to his 16 points, Kevin Bettencourt led all players with six assists and tied for team-high honors with five rebounds ... Bettencourt was 4-for-6 from 3-point range ... Chris McNaughton's 16 points came on 8 of 9 shooting ... frontcourt-mate Darren Mastropaolo went 3-for-3 from the floor and scored six points, all in the first half ... the Bison had a solid 16-to-11 assist-to-turnover ratio, while American's was 5-to-13 ... Linas Lekavicius scored 21 of AU's 54 points ... the Bison held the Eagles' starting frontcourt of 6-10 Brayden Billbe and 6-11 Paulius Joneliunas to one point on 0-for-7 shooting from the field.
history kind to no. 1 seeds
Historically, No. 1 seeds have fared well in Patriot League Tournaments, in fact, no No. 1 seed has ever failed to make it to the championship game. Top seeds are 9-0 in first-round games, 16-0 in semifinal games and 10-5 in championship games. The Bison have been seeded first once before, that coming in 1993. That season they won close games from Lehigh and Colgate, then lost to Holy Cross in Davis Gym in the championship game.
bucknell tournament history
Bucknell has an all-time record of 20-14 in 16 Patriot League Tournaments, including a 5-4 mark against Holy Cross. The Bison have now reached the championship game six times, winning it for the first time last season, and reached at least the semifinals in 13 of 16 years. Bucknell is one of four teams (Holy Cross 21-11, Navy 13-12, American 8-5) to have a winning tournament record.
Bison PL Tourney Log
Year Seed Results
1991 4 def. Army 67-49; lost Fordham 82-76
1992 2 def. Army 74-55; def. Holy Cross 86-77; lost Fordham 70-65
1993 1 def. Lehigh 69-65; def. Colgate 75-73; lost Holy Cross 98-73
1994 5 lost Holy Cross 96-91
1995 2 lost Army 94-78
1996 4 def. Lafayette 56-55; lost Colgate 67-61
1997 2 def. Lehigh 84-54; def. Colgate 71-58; lost Navy 76-75
1998 3 def. Holy Cross 60-56; lost Navy 80-61
1999 3 def. Holy Cross 76-52; def. Lehigh 58-50; lost Lafayette 67-63
2000 3 lost Lehigh 73-62
2001 6 def. Colgate 75-68; lost Navy 88-64
2002 3 def. Army 70-59; lost Holy Cross 64-57
2003 5 def. Lehigh 52-47; lost Holy Cross 75-50
2004 4 def. Holy Cross 66-60; lost Lehigh 60-45
2005 2 def. Lafayette 70-34; def. American 53-35; def. Holy Cross 61-57
2006 1 def. Army 59-47; def. American 64-50; vs. Holy Cross
championship games in bold.
bison, crusaders have long tournament history
Last year's championship game was the ninth meeting between Bucknell and Holy Cross in 15 Patriot League Tournaments, making it the most-played tournament rivalry. The Bison now have a 5-4 lead in those tournament showdowns, with plenty on the line in each of them.
• 1992 Semifinals (Bucknell 86, Holy Cross 77): The rivalry began to heat up, as the Bison erased a 6-point halftime deficit and outscored the Crusaders 46-31 in the second half. Bill Courtney scored 26 points and PL Player of the Year Patrick King had 25.
• 1993 Championship (Holy Cross 90, Bucknell 73): Bucknell clinched the No. 1 seed with a 112-99 win on the last day of the regular season, but Holy Cross returned the favor with a 17-point blowout in the championship game in Davis Gym. Roger Breslin led the Crusaders with 17 points and 10 assists.
• 1994 Quarterfinals (Holy Cross 96, Bucknell 91): In Charlie Woollum's last game as Bucknell's head coach, Holy Cross used a 30-11 run in the second half to take command. The late Gordon Hamilton scored 37 points for the Crusaders, nullifying 24 from Bison point guard Sekou Hamer.
• 1998 Quarterfinals (Bucknell 60, Holy Cross 56): Down 10-0 right out of the gates, the Bison rallied behind 15 points each from J.R. Holden and Martin Gilliard. The duo combined to go 6-for-6 from the foul line in the final 46 seconds to ice the win.
• 1999 Quarterfinals (Bucknell 76, Holy Cross 52): Bucknell's second-largest win in the series was not as easy as it looks on the stat sheet. The Bison trailed 37-36 at the half but outscored Holy Cross 40-15 in the second period. Brian Muckle scored 15 points on 5-for-5 shooting for the Bison.
• 2002 Semifinals (Holy Cross 64, Bucknell 57): The teams alternated the first 11 baskets in a second half that featured 14 lead changes and seven ties. A controversial technical foul call against Bucknell with HC leading by two in the final 30 seconds of the game helped propel the Crusaders, who were led by Tim Szatko's 19 points and 12 rebounds.
• 2003 Semifinals (Holy Cross 75, Bucknell 50): Kevin Hamilton scored 15 points to lead Holy Cross, which jumped out to a 15-5 lead and led by 17 at the half. Boakai Lalugba, a 1,300-point scorer, tallied 21 for Bucknell in his final game.
• 2004 Quarterfinals (Bucknell 66, Holy Cross 60): Charles Lee and Chris McNaughton combined for 39 points on 14-for-18 shooting for the Bison, who overcame 28 turnovers by shooting 61.8% from the field.
• 2005 Championship (Bucknell 61, Holy Cross 57): Bucknell raced to a 33-13 first-half lead but had to hold off a furious Holy Cross rally. Chris McNaughton led the Bison with 17 points on 7 of 8 shooting, while Kevin Bettencourt scored 13, including two clinching free throws with 0:08 left.
the first bucknell-holy cross meeting
• Jan. 14, 2006 at Sojka Pavilion: Chris McNaughton scored 10 of his 15 points in a dominant first half, leading Bucknell to a 56-42 victory over Holy Cross. The Bison held the Crusaders to only three first-half field goals and led 34-14 at intermission. Holy Cross rallied within eight points in the second half, but Bucknell held the visitors at bay with some solid free-throw shooting down the stretch. Kevin Hamilton led all scorers with 18 points for Holy Cross. He was held to just a pair of free throws in the first half, but he scored 12 points in a 17-6 run to open the second half. Holy Cross, which had been averaging 85.0 ppg in league play coming in, was held to 29.3% shooting and the Bison forced 18 turnovers.
more from bucknell-holy cross, part 1
The Bison shot 60.0% in the first half en route to the 20-point halftime lead ... they finished the night at 43.6% ... Bucknell made 20 of its first 24 free throws before missing its final three in the last 30 seconds ... Donald Brown continued his fine play off the bench with six points, four rebounds and two assists ... Abe Badmus had eight rebounds, one shy of his personal best ... Kevin Hamilton, Keith Simmons and Torey Thomas combined for 40 of Holy Cross' 42 points.
the second bucknell-holy cross meeting
• Feb. 11, 2006 at the Hart Center: With 16 minutes left in the game at Holy Cross, the outlook was not terribly bright for the Bison. The Crusaders had just scored the first seven points of the second half to take a 40-25 lead, and the sold-out Hart Center was deafening. But the veteran Bison never flinched, and they began to chip away at the lead behind strong defense and clutch shots. Charles Lee, who scored a career-high 24 points in the game, hit two 3-pointers in a 12-3 run that brought Bucknell within three. At the 4:03 mark Abe Badmus hit a 3-pointer that tied the game for the first time since 2-2, and two minutes later Kevin Bettencourt cracked a 3-pointer that gave Bucknell its first lead of the night, 53-51. Holy Cross missed the front end of a one-and-one and a long 3-pointer, and Lee and Bettencourt iced it with free throws in the final minute.
more from bucknell-holy cross, part 2
Kevin Bettencourt, a native of nearby Peabody, Mass., played his last career game at the Hart Center ... he finished with eight points, including the key go-ahead trey late in the contest ... Charles Lee went 10-for-10 from the free-throw line and 6-for-12 from the field en route to his career-high 24 points ... he also had seven rebounds, four steals and two assists ... Donald Brown played a season-high 32 minutes off the bench and contributed nine points and nine rebounds ... the Bison held Holy Cross to 7-for-22 shooting in the second half and 38.0% shooting on the day ... the Crusaders were just 3-for-14 from 3-point range and 11-for-20 from the foul line ... Bucknell shot 45.0% from the field.
