(Originally posted Saturday at 4:56 p.m., links added at 8:05 a.m.)

By CHRIS A. COUROGEN
Special to The Telegram & Gazette

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- For the second time in as many meetings, the Holy Cross Crusaders fell way behind Bucknell in the first half and was unable to overcome the deficit despite a strong second half charge.

The first time was last March in Worcester, when Bucknell claimed the Patriot League title by building an 18-point halftime lead that held up for a 4-point win.

This time the final was not quite as close, but the game was eerily similar for the Crusaders (9-8, 2-1 Patriot League), who fell out of a three-way tie for the Patriot League lead with the 56-42 loss.

There are some big differences, to be certain. When Bucknell (12-3, 3-0) won at the Hart Center in March, they entered the game as the underdogs. This game was on the Bison's home floor, where they have now won 18 straight league games. Holy Cross was a deeper, more experienced team back then, too, with a couple of senior frontcourt players -- John Hurley and Nate Lufkin -- who gave them a presence in the middle.

This Crusaders team had no such presence yesterday. Matter of fact, if not for personal fouls and turnovers, Holy Cross' trio of big men hardly showed up in the box score. Starting center Kevin Hyland only took two shots, missing both. Power forward Alex Vander Baan had one bucket all afternoon. Those two at least did grab a few rebounds -- four for Vander Baan and three for Hyland. Tim Clifford, the Crusaders' 6-10 sophomore and only true frontcourt type off the bench, played seven minutes and had nothing but zeroes to show for it, save a single personal foul.

The fact that three of Vander Baan's four boards came on the offensive glass, yet he only scored 2 points, gives you a pretty good idea how anemic the Crusaders were upfront. That lack of any inside presence pretty much reduced the Crusaders to a jump-shooting team, and that is never a good formula, especially on the road, even more so against a team that plays defense the way Bucknell does.

When the jump shots are not falling, and the other team is hitting at a 60-percent clip, the only possible outcome is a huge deficit, which is exactly what the Crusaders were facing following a 3-for-17 shooting effort in the first half. Toss in HC's 12 first half turnovers and you find yourself in a hole like the 34-14 one the Crusaders were in at the break.

"When you struggle as much as we did offensively in the first half, it takes away your defensive intensity. You can't let that happen, but that is what happens," said Holy Cross coach Ralph Willard.

The 14 points were the fewest for Holy Cross in a half all season, worse even than the 15 they scored the last time they lost, back on Dec. 27 at George Mason.

It was a Murphy's Law kind of a half for the Crusaders. The game plan had called for limiting Bucknell center Chris McNaughton, but the 6-11 junior scored 10 of his team-high 15 points in the opening half. Undoubtedly Holy Cross had planned to get more from defending Patriot League player of the year Kevin Hamilton in the first half than the 2 points he managed. Both of those, by the way, coming at the foul line. Hamilton was 0-for-6 from the field in the half.

"We didn't do one thing that we said we were going to do," said Willard. "We looked like we were taking gas in the first half."

The Crusaders managed to make a game of it by starting the second half with a 17-4 run. But despite holding the Bison to 5-of-19 shooting from the field in the second half, Holy Cross never managed to get closer than 8, closing the gap to 43-35 with 9:13 to play on Vander Baan's only bucket.

Bucknell's defense stiffened after that, allowing only one Holy Cross field goal -- a Torey Thomas three-pointer -- the rest of the way. The Bison were not a lot better. They only had two field goals in the final 10 minutes. But Bucknell shot well enough at the free throw line -- 12-for-18 -- in the second half, to coast to their 12th win.

"That's an excellent basketball team to try to come back on. You are not going to come back when you are down 20, especially not here," Willard said.

After his horrid first half, Hamilto heated up in the second, finishing with 18 points to lead all scorers. Keith Simmons added 12 and point guard Torey Thomas finished with 10. Vander Baan was the only other Crusader to score.

Charles Lee (12 points) was the only Bucknell player other than McNaughton in double figures, but the Bison got contributions from six other players and outscored its bench outscored Holy Cross' reserves 15-0.

NOTES: Amy Goodman, wife of Bucknell assistant coach Bryan Goodman, outscored all Crusaders not named Simmons, Hamilton and Thomas this week, giving birth to quadruplets Thursday ... the loss snaps Holy Cross' 15-regular season Patriot League games win streak one win shy of tying the record of 16 set by Navy in the 1997 and 1998 seasons ... With the win, Bucknell coach Pat Flannery moves into first place on the all-time PL coaching wins list with 93, one better than retired Navy coach Don Devoe . . .a true stat oddity, Holy Cross managed just three field goals and 14 first half points despite 10 Bucknell fouls and 7 HC steals, all of which led to extra possessions for the Crusaders . . . Holy Cross is now 7-10 all-time in Lewisburg, 1-3 in Sojka Pavilion . . . the two teams will meet again Feb. 11 in Worcester.

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