(Originally posted Friday, 11:15 p.m., Links added 10:46 a.m.)

Usually when you say a team stole a game, you are referring to an underdog coming through with an upset.

Friday night in Sojka Pavilion, Bucknell gave that phrase a different twist in a 59-47 win over a stubborn Army team.

The Bison forced 17 Army turnovers, 15 the result of Bucknell steals, to advance to the semifinals of the Patriot League Tournament.

It was hardly the kind of game the crowd of 3,946 expected to see when the No. 1 seeded Bison hosted the eight seeds from West Point. Most of the orange-clad crowd seemed almost shocked when Army held a 21-19 lead with 4:07 to go in the first half.

Then came the first of two key spurts for the Bison. Fueled by a pair of steals, Bucknell closed out the first half with an 11-2 run, taking a 30-23 lead to the locker room at intermission despite hitting only 5 of 18 shots in the first 15 minutes of the half.

In another interesting twist, Bison coach Pat Flannery actually attributed the slow start to Bucknell playing to fast.

"The way it started out, our kids were a little rushed. It is the playoffs, and they played that way," said Flannery.

Bucknell swingman Charles Lee, who overcame a 1 for 5 first half to finish with 12 points, agreed. "We definitely wanted to come out and set a tone for the playoffs," said the Patriot League's Player of the Year. "Because we had that mindset, I think we came out playing a little too fast."

At the break, it seemed like the Bison has settled in. And when they stretched their lead to in the first five minutes of the half, it looked like they were ready to put Army away.

Not quite yet, as it turned out. The Bison, who again struggled from the field early in the half, hit just two buckets the first 6:12 of the half, the rest of their points in that stretch coming at the free throw line. And when Doug Williams and Matt Bell (13 points) combined for 6 straight Army points while Bucknell was going another four minute stretch without a field goal, missing the front end of two one-and-ones in that stretch as well, all of a sudden it was a 4-point game and the crowd was getting nervous.

Then Bucknell did what it does best. After Kevin Bettencourt hit a three to push the lead back to 7, Abe Badmus came up with a steal, went coast to coast for a layup, and the Bison were on their way to a 14-0 run that put Army away. Keying that run, three steals and a clamp down defense in the halfcourt that held Army without a point for almost seven minutes.

By the time the Black Knights broke the scoreless streak with a John Moonshower three-pointer, the Bison had built an insurmountable 18 -point margin.

"That is what good teams do, they get spurts," said Army coach Jim Crews.

Asked if Bucknell turned it up a notch on defense after his team got within four, Crews replied, "It felt like that, I don't know if they did."

Badmus, who finished with 5 steals and 8 assists, had his own explanation.

"Some people got in some other people's faces to step it up," he said. "I don't know about turning it up. People just had to realize the game was at stake."

It didn't hurt Bucknell any that they managed to get to the foul line 26 more times than the Black Knights, who did not shoot a free throw all night. Even though Bucknell was hardly money at the charity stripe, missing 10 of those 26, it was still a huge advantage for the Bison.

"That is what good teams do," said Crews. "They get to the line."

Good teams also advance to the semifinals of their league tournament on nights where they might not seem to hit on all cylinders on offense. The Bison finished the game 19 of 43 from the field (44.2 percent) and had three guys -- Chris McNaughton (14), Bettencourt (13) and Lee (12)-- in double figures. But take away the two spurts and the numbers would be a lot lower.

None of which matters at this time of the year, when winners live to play another day and losers pack their uniforms in a trunk with mothballs.

The Bison will take on No. 4 seed American, a 75-62 winner over Lafayette in the evening's first game, in Sunday's semifinal.

NOTES: The win pushes Bucknell's record to 24-4, equalling the school's best-ever 28-game record, which was held by the 1983-84 team that won the East Coast Conference regular season title . . . That 1983-84 team finished 24-5 . . . It was Bucknell's 219th straight against Patriot League foes and its 25th straight league win in Sojka ... Bucknell has now won 11 in a row at home since losing to No. 4 Villanova on Dec. 6 of last year . . . The Bison have beat Army 12 games in a row.

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Eric Thomas