(Originally posted Wed. at 10:11 p.m., Links added at 7:33 a.m.)

For about half of the first half of Bucknell's 74-57 win Wednesday night over American, the Eagles were right in the game.

Matter of fact, when Garrison Carr drained a three with 11:10 to go in the opening stanza, the Eagles held a 17-16 lead over the first place Bison.

Then Chris McNaughton got it going. After missing his first two shots of the game, McNaughton hit four of the next five he took, scoring 8 quick points to key the 14-1 run the Bison used to take control and Bucknell never looked back. McNaughton went on to lead all scorers with 16 points, going 8 for 12 from the field.

The 16 points were McNaughton's most since he scored the same number against Colgate five games ago.

As American coach Jeff Jones pointed out: "McNaughton was outstanding. His numbers could have been a lot better if they had tried to just pound the ball inside on us."

Instead, the Bison took advantage of the holes McNaughton's presence in the post created to put together a well-balanced offensive attack that saw three more players join McNaughton in double figures and a fifth, Donald Brown, finished with 9. Charles Lee had 15, Kevin Bettencourt 11 and freshman Jason Vegotsky finished with 10 on a perfect shooting night, going 3 for 3 from the field, 2 for 2 from the arc and 2 for 2 at the foul line.

Vegotsky and McNaughton were not the only Bison to shoot the ball well. Bucknell finished the game 26 of 45 (57.8 percent) from the field, hitting 51.7 percent in the first half, then topping that effort with a scorching 68.8 percent show in the second.

It all started with McNaughton.

"As Chris got established, that put us over the top. We got a lot of good looks," said Bucknell coach Pat Flannery.

"He really just opens the floor," added Lee.

"They softened us up by throwing it in there," Jones said.

For McNaughton, the mostly single coverage he got from American was a refreshing change from the constant doubles and triples most teams in the league have been running at him.

"They really didn't double me. They got me the ball where I could do something with it. I had some great looks," McNaughton said.

Bucknell did not rely just on offense. The Bison D was solid, especially while the game was still in doubt, and they owned the glass. American shot just 39.1 percent in the first half, and despite shooting over 50 percent after the break to finish the game at 19 of 42 (45.2 percent) from the field, the Eagles managed only 57 points. It was the 10th time in a row and the 16th time this season that the opposition has failed to reach 60 against the Bison. Bucknell outrebounded AU by a 28-16 margin, grabbing more of its own misses (12 offensive boards) than American did (8 defensive rebounds).

The Bison also got a good game from point guard Abe Badmus, who scored 6 points, grabbed 6 rebounds, dished 5 assists and made a pair of steals.

"They are just a very well-balanced team. They don't have a whole lot of weaknesses," Jones said.

Bucknell's lead was 40-26 at the intermission. The lead stretched to 23 points in the second half before American was able to close the game with a 10-4 spurt in the final 5:04.

Derrick Mercer finished with 13 for American. Mercer, who had 2 assists and 3 turnovers, was lucky to not be thrown out of the game after a WWE-style body slam of Badmus after the Bison point guard out-jumped everybody in the paint for an offensive rebound with 5:38 to play.

The win was Bucknell's 10th straight this season, It is the second time in league history a team has started conference play 10-0 (Fordham went 11-0 to start the first season of league play in the 1991). It was also Bucknell's 22nd straight at home and 14th straight overall against league opponents.

It also sets up Saturday's showdown against Holy Cross, the last team to beat the Bison in league play, at the Hart Center, the last place the Bison lost against a conference foe.

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