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Sunday, March 05, 2006
75 minutes to game time
About 200 tickets still remain for this afternoon's game. The 200 remaining is approximately the number of tickets turned back by American Saturday.
Approximately 500 tickets that were available went on sale at 11 a.m., and the line stretched around the corner of Sojka Pavilion towards Seventh Street in Lewisburg when the box office opened.
A quick check about five minutes ago showed the line was gone, so if you are in near Lewisburg and thought the game was already sold out, there is still a chance to get tickets.
30 minutes to game time
If you are planning to tune in at 1 o'clock to watch American and Bucknell, you might be in for a shock. CSTV, in what might be a breach of its contract with the league, is showing a Big East women's quarterfinal live in that time slot. The Bucknell-American game has been shifted to tape delay.
The Bucknell officials, who asked not to be identified, are furious with the shift, which the league and the school were not informed of until this morning.
"We have people gathering at alumni clubs all over the country to watch the game," said one BU official.
League executive director Carolyn Schlie Femovich said contractually the network is supposed carry the game live. The league will examine its legal options, but there is nothing it can do to change things at this point.
A check of the broadcast schedule on the CSTV Web site does say when the game will be shown. We will try to find a producer or someone to get that answer.
23 minutes to game time
A group of three AU blue shirts are seated directly behind us in the first row.
We take back what we said earlier in the season about them not getting dates -- one is a very cute young lady. (Wonder if that comment will bring that AU guy who complained about the mentions of girls and dating in an AU recruiting brochure to our doorstep for protests).
Speaking of that, in our chat Wednesday with Kevin Bettencourt of Bucknell, he said girls are the subject of a lot of questions when recruits visit a campus. Seems to us that makes those brochures even more legitimate, not that we thought they were the least bit offensive to begin with.
19 minutes to game time
Among other subjects of conversation with Schlie Femovich:
The Joe Knight situation still has not been completely finalized by the league's presidents. They are still sorting out issues like individual player and coach records, among other things.
Schlie Femovich said she had hoped it would all be resolved by now, but the league presidents do not meet in person until June and it has been difficult coordinating their schedules for a conference call or other consultations.
That does not mean it will not be settled until that June meeting, though. It should be sooner.
"We want to put the issue to rest," she said. "We are close."
The league continues to evaluate its tournament options and would prefer to return to a neutral site if one can be identified that will both generate good attendance numbers and be affordable.
Lacking such a site, the higher seeds hosting is preferable to a single, on-campus site because, as a one-bid league, the conference wants to give its best teams the best chances of advancing.
"Annapolis would be a great site. The fans love going there. But nobody wants to play Navy on its home floor in the tournament," Schlie Femovich noted.
2 minutes till game time
Finally tracked down a time for the tape-delay broadcast of this game on CSTV. It is supposed to be shown tonight at 10:30.
Davis nearly full, except for an almost empty section that was part of the Au allotment and some scattered seats in the section that was occupied by Army fans in the first round.
Bucknell 6, AU 0 (16:11 first)
Bucknell students begin pogoing before the tip.
First possession Bucknell runs a high-low set to Mastropaolo, who scores off the assist from McNaughton. Mastropaolo also helps create a turnover on AU's first possession.
The "Gary Coleman" chant is heard each time AU's Derrick Mercer touches the ball.
AU with turnovers on three of their first five possessions. A missed shot on the other two.
Charles Lee with four of BU's first 6 points, the last bucket, a short baseline jumper in a crowd, brings a quick AU timeout
Bucknell 8, AU 0 (15:09 first)
Andre Ingram's first shot is an air ball, and results in a thunderous dunk by McNaughton in transition.
In 7 career games against BU, Ingram has shot 23.8 percent from the field.
Bucknell 11, AU 6 (10:46 first)
Derrick Mercer's runner at 15:03 is AU's first bucket.
Three's the charm for Bettencourt, who drains a trey after missing the first two he took. Puts BU up 11-2.
Through the first 8 minutes, AU has 1 field goal and 4 turnovers.
Arvydas Eitutavicius gives AU an offensive spark with back-to-back buckets just before the second media timeout.
AU now shooting 3 for 8 (37.5 percent) Bucknell at 5-11 (45.5 percent) 4 of BU's 6 misses are from the arc, where they are 1-5 so far.
Bucknell 20, AU 14 (5:58 first)
After Eitutavicius adds another Bucket to make it 11-10, Lee checks back in to guard him.
Travis Lay hits one of two free throws to tie it 11-11 at the 9:15 mark, but BU right back on top when Mastropaolo hits a hook shot over Joneliunas.
Bucknell's guards being aggressive taking smaller AU guards to the hole.
After the tie, Bucknell on a 9-3 run, 4 points from Mastropaolo and 5 from Bettencourt, who just hit his second three in a row after missing his first two.
Bucknell 24, AU 19 (3:22)
AU's mascot takes the floor during the media timeout. If the Eagle was any shorter it would be Derrick Mercer. It wears a 5 on its jersey, same as Garrison Carr, who is taller than nobody else in uniform except his teammate Mercer.
Ingram hit his last two shots, the second a three-pointer. He is now 2-5.
AU shooting 7-20 (35 percent), Bucknell 11-21 (52.4 percent).
Bucknell 35, AU 22 (Halftime)
When Billbe picks up his second personal, AU goes small, with 6-8 Brian Gilmore and 6-5 Jordan Nichols up front. Bucknell goes to McNaughton two straight trips and Jeff Jones hustles 6-11 Joneliunas back in.
With 22 seconds to go, Bettencourt chases down a loose ball after an Ingram miss and gets the timeout while falling out of bounds to give Bucknell the last possession. Lee's three-pointer bounces around the rim and falls in, sending the Bison off the floor at intermission to a thunderous roar.
At the half:
Bucknell 15 of 26 from the field (57.7 percent), 4-9 from three-point range.
Bettencourt with 11 points leads all scorers. McNaughton has 8 on 4-4 shooting. Lee 7. Mastropaolo 3 for 3, 6 points.
AU 8 for 23 (34.8 percent), 2-5 from the arc. Eitutavicius and Lekavicius with 6 each. Ingram with 5.
Interesting note: neither team reached the 1 and 1 in the first half. Both teams with 6 team fouls. Mastropaolo and Billbe each have 2, nobody else with more than 1 foul in the half.
AU did get to the line 5 times, making 4. Bucknell 1 for 2 (Donald Brown).
Rebounds are 15-12 Bucknell. Turnovers: Bucknell 5, AU 7.
Points in the paint: BU 12, AU 6.
Elsewhere, Holy Cross leads Lehigh 32-26 at the half in Worcester.
Bucknell 41, AU 30 (15:46 left)
McNaughton can't miss. His first shot of the second half a step out jumper from the top of the key finds nothing but twine. He is now 6 for 6, 12 points
AU got within single digits at 37-28 on a trey by Lekavicius, but Brown answered and the lead was back to double digits.
Bucknell 43, AU 30 (14:34 left)
McNaughton finally has a miss, but not without controversy. His shot was blocked by Nichols, and appeared to be goaltending, at least to Pat Flannery, who reacted in disbelief at the no call.
Bucknell 46, AU 35 (11:27 left)
By the way, should Bucknell win and advance to the final, it would host that game at 4:30 p.m. on ESPN2. Bucknell starts spring break that afternoon, but school officials have made arrangements already to provide an extra night of housing in the dorms for students staying for the game.
Officials using the whistles more this half. Nichols third personal at 12:36 is AU's sixth team foul, matching their first half total.
Bucknell has 4 fouls so far. Badmus and Mastropaolo each with three.
Billbe and Nichols with three each for AU.
Where would AU be without Lekavicius. He has 15 points, almost half of AU's total.
Three Bison in double figures already: McNaughton (7-8, 14 points), Bettencourt (11) and Lee (10).
Bucknell 56, AU 42 (7:04 to play)
Bucknell in the 1 and 1 at the 10:55 mark.
Lekavicius hits a trey to get AU back within single digits at 49-41 with about 9:10 to go.
Lee answers with two free throws to push it back to 51-41.
Bucknell playing a very small lineup in this stretch, with McNaughton, Lee, Badmus, Vegotsky and Bettencourt.
During their shootaround Saturday, Bucknell worked on attacking traps, anticipating AU would try that tactic. The Eagles trapped once in the first half, resulting in an easy bucket for McNaughton, and have not tried it since.
Bettencourt his a three right before this timeout, his fourth straight after missing his first two. He now has 14 points.
Bucknell will be in the double bonus with American's next foul. Bucknell's next personal will have AU shooting 1 and 1.
Bucknell 58, AU 45 (3:26 left)
Badmus picks up his fourth personal with 6:45 to go. AU immediately tries full court pressure when John Griffin replaces Badmus at the point.
At the 3:58 mark, Ingram pump fakes, gets Lee in the air, takes two dribbles around him and bricks a pull up J off the front of the rim. Ingram now 2 for 8 from the field.
Bucknell down to 47.9 percent from the field after a couple misses in a row. Lee (5 for 12) and Brown (2-7) the only Bison below 50 percent who have more than 2 shots.
Lekavicius now has 20 of AU's 45 points.
Bucknell 60, AU 49 (1:43 left)
With 2:44 to go, Travis Lay makes a pair of free throws to get Au back to single digits once more at 58-49. McNaughton answers with an 8-foot baseline jumper to push it back to double digits.
Bucknell 64, AU 50 (FINAL)
Crowd on its feet roaring approval the final 22 seconds. Bucknell mercifully takes a 35 second shot clock violation with 3 seconds to go, not even looking at the hoop.
McNaughton (8-9) and Bettencourt each with 16 for Bucknell. Lee with 15.
Lekavicius' 21 the only double figures for AU.
Bucknell finishes 24-50 from the field (48 percent). Bison 11 for 12 from the foul line, 10-10 in the second half.
AU 17-47 (36.2 percent) from the field. 12-15 at the line.
About 200 tickets still remain for this afternoon's game. The 200 remaining is approximately the number of tickets turned back by American Saturday.
Approximately 500 tickets that were available went on sale at 11 a.m., and the line stretched around the corner of Sojka Pavilion towards Seventh Street in Lewisburg when the box office opened.
A quick check about five minutes ago showed the line was gone, so if you are in near Lewisburg and thought the game was already sold out, there is still a chance to get tickets.
30 minutes to game time
If you are planning to tune in at 1 o'clock to watch American and Bucknell, you might be in for a shock. CSTV, in what might be a breach of its contract with the league, is showing a Big East women's quarterfinal live in that time slot. The Bucknell-American game has been shifted to tape delay.
The Bucknell officials, who asked not to be identified, are furious with the shift, which the league and the school were not informed of until this morning.
"We have people gathering at alumni clubs all over the country to watch the game," said one BU official.
League executive director Carolyn Schlie Femovich said contractually the network is supposed carry the game live. The league will examine its legal options, but there is nothing it can do to change things at this point.
A check of the broadcast schedule on the CSTV Web site does say when the game will be shown. We will try to find a producer or someone to get that answer.
23 minutes to game time
A group of three AU blue shirts are seated directly behind us in the first row.
We take back what we said earlier in the season about them not getting dates -- one is a very cute young lady. (Wonder if that comment will bring that AU guy who complained about the mentions of girls and dating in an AU recruiting brochure to our doorstep for protests).
Speaking of that, in our chat Wednesday with Kevin Bettencourt of Bucknell, he said girls are the subject of a lot of questions when recruits visit a campus. Seems to us that makes those brochures even more legitimate, not that we thought they were the least bit offensive to begin with.
19 minutes to game time
Among other subjects of conversation with Schlie Femovich:
Schlie Femovich said she had hoped it would all be resolved by now, but the league presidents do not meet in person until June and it has been difficult coordinating their schedules for a conference call or other consultations.
That does not mean it will not be settled until that June meeting, though. It should be sooner.
"We want to put the issue to rest," she said. "We are close."
Lacking such a site, the higher seeds hosting is preferable to a single, on-campus site because, as a one-bid league, the conference wants to give its best teams the best chances of advancing.
"Annapolis would be a great site. The fans love going there. But nobody wants to play Navy on its home floor in the tournament," Schlie Femovich noted.
2 minutes till game time
Finally tracked down a time for the tape-delay broadcast of this game on CSTV. It is supposed to be shown tonight at 10:30.
Davis nearly full, except for an almost empty section that was part of the Au allotment and some scattered seats in the section that was occupied by Army fans in the first round.
Bucknell 6, AU 0 (16:11 first)
Bucknell students begin pogoing before the tip.
First possession Bucknell runs a high-low set to Mastropaolo, who scores off the assist from McNaughton. Mastropaolo also helps create a turnover on AU's first possession.
The "Gary Coleman" chant is heard each time AU's Derrick Mercer touches the ball.
AU with turnovers on three of their first five possessions. A missed shot on the other two.
Charles Lee with four of BU's first 6 points, the last bucket, a short baseline jumper in a crowd, brings a quick AU timeout
Bucknell 8, AU 0 (15:09 first)
Andre Ingram's first shot is an air ball, and results in a thunderous dunk by McNaughton in transition.
In 7 career games against BU, Ingram has shot 23.8 percent from the field.
Bucknell 11, AU 6 (10:46 first)
Derrick Mercer's runner at 15:03 is AU's first bucket.
Three's the charm for Bettencourt, who drains a trey after missing the first two he took. Puts BU up 11-2.
Through the first 8 minutes, AU has 1 field goal and 4 turnovers.
Arvydas Eitutavicius gives AU an offensive spark with back-to-back buckets just before the second media timeout.
AU now shooting 3 for 8 (37.5 percent) Bucknell at 5-11 (45.5 percent) 4 of BU's 6 misses are from the arc, where they are 1-5 so far.
Bucknell 20, AU 14 (5:58 first)
After Eitutavicius adds another Bucket to make it 11-10, Lee checks back in to guard him.
Travis Lay hits one of two free throws to tie it 11-11 at the 9:15 mark, but BU right back on top when Mastropaolo hits a hook shot over Joneliunas.
Bucknell's guards being aggressive taking smaller AU guards to the hole.
After the tie, Bucknell on a 9-3 run, 4 points from Mastropaolo and 5 from Bettencourt, who just hit his second three in a row after missing his first two.
Bucknell 24, AU 19 (3:22)
AU's mascot takes the floor during the media timeout. If the Eagle was any shorter it would be Derrick Mercer. It wears a 5 on its jersey, same as Garrison Carr, who is taller than nobody else in uniform except his teammate Mercer.
Ingram hit his last two shots, the second a three-pointer. He is now 2-5.
AU shooting 7-20 (35 percent), Bucknell 11-21 (52.4 percent).
Bucknell 35, AU 22 (Halftime)
When Billbe picks up his second personal, AU goes small, with 6-8 Brian Gilmore and 6-5 Jordan Nichols up front. Bucknell goes to McNaughton two straight trips and Jeff Jones hustles 6-11 Joneliunas back in.
With 22 seconds to go, Bettencourt chases down a loose ball after an Ingram miss and gets the timeout while falling out of bounds to give Bucknell the last possession. Lee's three-pointer bounces around the rim and falls in, sending the Bison off the floor at intermission to a thunderous roar.
At the half:
Bucknell 15 of 26 from the field (57.7 percent), 4-9 from three-point range.
Bettencourt with 11 points leads all scorers. McNaughton has 8 on 4-4 shooting. Lee 7. Mastropaolo 3 for 3, 6 points.
AU 8 for 23 (34.8 percent), 2-5 from the arc. Eitutavicius and Lekavicius with 6 each. Ingram with 5.
Interesting note: neither team reached the 1 and 1 in the first half. Both teams with 6 team fouls. Mastropaolo and Billbe each have 2, nobody else with more than 1 foul in the half.
AU did get to the line 5 times, making 4. Bucknell 1 for 2 (Donald Brown).
Rebounds are 15-12 Bucknell. Turnovers: Bucknell 5, AU 7.
Points in the paint: BU 12, AU 6.
Elsewhere, Holy Cross leads Lehigh 32-26 at the half in Worcester.
Bucknell 41, AU 30 (15:46 left)
McNaughton can't miss. His first shot of the second half a step out jumper from the top of the key finds nothing but twine. He is now 6 for 6, 12 points
AU got within single digits at 37-28 on a trey by Lekavicius, but Brown answered and the lead was back to double digits.
Bucknell 43, AU 30 (14:34 left)
McNaughton finally has a miss, but not without controversy. His shot was blocked by Nichols, and appeared to be goaltending, at least to Pat Flannery, who reacted in disbelief at the no call.
Bucknell 46, AU 35 (11:27 left)
By the way, should Bucknell win and advance to the final, it would host that game at 4:30 p.m. on ESPN2. Bucknell starts spring break that afternoon, but school officials have made arrangements already to provide an extra night of housing in the dorms for students staying for the game.
Officials using the whistles more this half. Nichols third personal at 12:36 is AU's sixth team foul, matching their first half total.
Bucknell has 4 fouls so far. Badmus and Mastropaolo each with three.
Billbe and Nichols with three each for AU.
Where would AU be without Lekavicius. He has 15 points, almost half of AU's total.
Three Bison in double figures already: McNaughton (7-8, 14 points), Bettencourt (11) and Lee (10).
Bucknell 56, AU 42 (7:04 to play)
Bucknell in the 1 and 1 at the 10:55 mark.
Lekavicius hits a trey to get AU back within single digits at 49-41 with about 9:10 to go.
Lee answers with two free throws to push it back to 51-41.
Bucknell playing a very small lineup in this stretch, with McNaughton, Lee, Badmus, Vegotsky and Bettencourt.
During their shootaround Saturday, Bucknell worked on attacking traps, anticipating AU would try that tactic. The Eagles trapped once in the first half, resulting in an easy bucket for McNaughton, and have not tried it since.
Bettencourt his a three right before this timeout, his fourth straight after missing his first two. He now has 14 points.
Bucknell will be in the double bonus with American's next foul. Bucknell's next personal will have AU shooting 1 and 1.
Bucknell 58, AU 45 (3:26 left)
Badmus picks up his fourth personal with 6:45 to go. AU immediately tries full court pressure when John Griffin replaces Badmus at the point.
At the 3:58 mark, Ingram pump fakes, gets Lee in the air, takes two dribbles around him and bricks a pull up J off the front of the rim. Ingram now 2 for 8 from the field.
Bucknell down to 47.9 percent from the field after a couple misses in a row. Lee (5 for 12) and Brown (2-7) the only Bison below 50 percent who have more than 2 shots.
Lekavicius now has 20 of AU's 45 points.
Bucknell 60, AU 49 (1:43 left)
With 2:44 to go, Travis Lay makes a pair of free throws to get Au back to single digits once more at 58-49. McNaughton answers with an 8-foot baseline jumper to push it back to double digits.
Bucknell 64, AU 50 (FINAL)
Crowd on its feet roaring approval the final 22 seconds. Bucknell mercifully takes a 35 second shot clock violation with 3 seconds to go, not even looking at the hoop.
McNaughton (8-9) and Bettencourt each with 16 for Bucknell. Lee with 15.
Lekavicius' 21 the only double figures for AU.
Bucknell finishes 24-50 from the field (48 percent). Bison 11 for 12 from the foul line, 10-10 in the second half.
AU 17-47 (36.2 percent) from the field. 12-15 at the line.
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