LATEST HEADLINES

Saturday, November 04, 2006
Easy exhibition run for Bison
News and notes from Bucknell's 86-43 exhibition win over Division II Mansfield Saturday night:

In double figures for Bucknell -- Chris McNaughton 10 points on 3 for 5 shooting from the field, 4 rebounds and a pair of blocks in a 17-minute run. Jason Vegotsky with 10 points despite and off (2 for 8) night from the floor. As you might expect, both the field goals from the arc. Vegotsky also added 8 rebounds, 4 on the offensive end. Leading scorer for Bucknell was Rob Thomas, who finished with 15 off the bench on a red-hot 6 for 8 shooting night , including 2 of 3 from three-point range. Josh Linthicum also in double figures with 11, mostly in mop-up time.


  • Donald Brown and John Griffin each added 9 for the Bison

  • Bucknell shot 72.7 percent from the field in the second half and held mansfield to 34.7 percent for the game. Even more dominant was the rebounding edge -- 51-13 for the Bison.

  • No surprises in the stating five. Chris McNaughton and Darren Mastropaolo up front, Donald Brown at the three, Abe Badmus at the point and John Griffin at the off guard. A bit of a surprise in the rotation, though, with junior Andrew Morrison the first big guy off the bench, spelling Mastropaolo at the four.

    As in the past two seasons, Griffin slid over to the point when Badmus took a breather. Vegotsky first off the bench in the backcourt, as expected.

    Junior Rob Thomas spelled Brown at the three, and stayed there later when Brown came back in at the four, something you are likely to see a lot of this season.

    Sophomore big man Josh Linthicum also saw minutes relatively early, but not many. Linthicum picked up two quick fouls and returned to the bench in short order.

    Stephen Tyree was the first freshman and the 10th guy to see action, Patrick Behan was the next freshman to see action.

    Sophomore Justin Castleberry also got some first half run at the point.

    While it is unlikely Pat Flannery will go more than 8 or 9 deep in his regular rotation, Tyree and Behan's minutes could be signs they have a chance to work their way into that rotation as the season wears on.

    The other scholarship freshman, 6-5 guard Zach Evans, did not play in the first half. Evans and walk-on George Medrano were the only Bison to not see action in the opening half Evans and Medrano finally got off the bench with 3:31 left in the game.

  • Wondering where the production that graduated with Kevin Bettencourt and Charles Lee will come from? Expect some points to come from Thomas, who showed a nice touch from the arc. Thomas also showed an ability to go to the hole, showing off his hops on a second half play where he hung in the air to make a little jump-hook over 6-8 Brandon Smith while being fouled. A few minutes later he excited the crowd with a slam to finish on the break.

    Morrison might pick up some of the slack on the boards. The 6-7 junior went hard to the glass when he was in the game, tying Vegotsky for team honors with 8 rebounds. But he appears to be locked in a battle with Behan for minutes at the four. Behan looked a little better on offense, scoring 9 points on 3 for 3 shooting. Morrison 1 for 1 from the field, finished with 4 points.

  • Let's hope the Bison's bright, shiny, new orange patent leather sneakers get dirty in a hurry. Either that or consider wearing sunglasses to Sojka Pavilion this season.

  • Mansfield proved a game opponent the first 10 minutes or so. The Mountaineers led early and trailed only 15-14 at the 11-minute mark. Then Bucknell went on a 13-1 run to blow it open and didn't slow down the rest of the half.

  • Expect Mastropaolo to be more involved in the offense this season. In the first half he actually took more shots than McNaughton, though his 0 for 4 start kept his efforts from having much impact on the scoreboard. Unlike past seasons, when he seemed to look to pass first when he touched the ball, he seems more determined to go to the hole when he has position on the blocks. Mastropaolo even put the ball on the floor with his left hand to beat his man off the dribble for a second half score.

  • How much a handful were Bucknell's starting big men? Mansfield's starters at the four and the five played only 12 minutes combined in the first half after both picked up three fouls in short order. Between them, the pair had no rebounds and one bucket the first half.

  • Looking for a dark cloud in an otherwise silver lining kind of run for Bucknell, look no further than Badmus' line in the boxscore. The 6-0 senior, who is expected to provide more scoring this season, played only 7 minutes in the first half due to two personals, and did not take a shot from the field in that span. And he picked up his third personal just 36 seconds into the second half, forcing him back to the bench. In the regular season, Bucknell can ill afford to have its senior point guard in that kind of foul trouble.

  • Bucknell is scheduled for seven television appearances this season, starting with the home opener Nov. 14 against Wake Forest, which will be shown on CN8 (Comcast) and Fox Sports Net South. The George Mason game Dec. 3 will be on Comcast Sports Net Mid-Atlantic (Baltimore-Washington region) and ESPN2 will carry the Bucknell-Texas Tech game Dec. 23. The other four are ESPNU telecasts as part of the Patriot League package.
    • Published at 9:00 PM by Hoop Time.
    Help Hoop Time