≈ Saturday, January 21, 2006
Colgate-Bucknell game blog
We rolled in just in time to plug in the laptop before the tip.
Listening to Villanova smoking Syracuse on the Sirius as we drove here from Easton.
Here, it has the makings of a war early. Colgate up 6-5 with 15:44 to go.
Colgate 6, BU 5 (15:44 first)
McNaughton a strong dunk to open the game. Colgate 3-4 from the field right now. Bucknell 2-6.
Colgate 8, Bucknell 6 (11:47 first)
Let 'em play appears to be the theme. Through 8 minutes, a total of 5 team fouls have been called. Colgate shooting 4-12 (33.3 percent) Bucknell 2-7 (28.6 percent) Both teams have 5 turnovers. Colgate 9-4 edge on the boards.
Colgate 10, Bucknell 6 (9:42 first)
It has been a long time since a Bicon field goal. At least 7 minutes.
Colgate 15, Bucknell 12 (7:09 first)
Bettencourt broke the Bucknell drought with a pull up jumper in the lane at the 8:16 mark
Bucknell 4-6 at the line (with Badmus about to shoot two) Colgate has not shopt a free throw.
Can you hear Emmettt already?
Bucknell 18, Colgate 15
Bison on an 8-0 run. Includes those two Badmus free throws.
Bucknell 22, Colgate 15 (5:06 first)
Remember Pat Flannery talking back in tghe preseason about pressing more? The Bison showing it here, full and half court trap stuff that they have shown little of to date.
It is working, too. Colgate has 10 turnovers.
Bucknell 22, Colgate 19 (2:15 first)
Flannery unhappy after two Colgate buckets inb a row, calls a timeout without waiting for the media timeout that came 35 seconds later.
Colgate now at 9-22 (40.9 percent) ... Bucknell 7-17 (41.2 percent)
Lee with 6 for Bucknell. Reed leads Colgate with 5.
Bucknell 28, Colgate 22 (HALFTIME)
McNaughton's put back rolls in as the buzzer sounds. McNaughton with 4 of his 6 points in the final 2:15 of the half.
Badmus beating his man off the dribble, has two layups and 2 assists, a total that might be higher if the Bison were shooting better.
Donald Brown again a spark off the bench for Bucknell. 4 points, 4 rebounds in the first half.
Points in the paint: BU 10, C 2; Off of turnovers: BU 11, C 4
Rebounds even at 13-13.
Bucknell 31, Colgate 24 (15:50 second)
Not much offense here. Lee hit a three to open the half for Bucknell. Nobody else scored until Simon Knight lofted a rainbow over McNaughton at the 16:06 mark.
Bucknell 43, Colgate 35 (9:02 to play)
14:50 -- Brown called for a foul when he placed his chin in front of Simon Knight's swinging elbow.
McNaughton with 4 of Bucknell's last 6 points. McNaughton now 5-9, 10 points.
Colgate hanging around because Alvin Reed has hit a trio of fallaway, off-balance three-pointers.
Bucknell 47, Colgate 35 (8:12 to play)
Bison now on an 8-0 run.
Bucknell 54, Colgate 35 (6:24 to go)
Daniels has fouled out. McNaughton on the line, hits 2
Bucknell 58, Colgate 41 3:57 to play Somebody fouls McNaughton hard as he goes to the basket. A little pushing and shoving ensues and Donald Brown gets a T. Roemer hits both, but McNaughton cancels it at the other end by making both shots.
Bucknell now shooting 22-42 for the game (52.4 percent) Colgate 16-45 (35.6 percent)
McNaughton with 16 for Bucknell. Brown has 10 from the bench, he's 4-4 from the field
Bucknell 62, Colgate 41 (1:48 left)
Brown has Bucknell's last 4 points. 21 point lead is widest of the game thus far.
Points in the paint: Bucknell 20, Colgate 2.
Bucknell 62, Colgate 43 FINAL
Bison five that put this away -- McNaughton, Lee, Brown, Bettencourt and Badmus check out with about a minute to go, getting thunderous applause
Full game report to follow.
Listening to Villanova smoking Syracuse on the Sirius as we drove here from Easton.
Here, it has the makings of a war early. Colgate up 6-5 with 15:44 to go.
Colgate 6, BU 5 (15:44 first)
McNaughton a strong dunk to open the game. Colgate 3-4 from the field right now. Bucknell 2-6.
Colgate 8, Bucknell 6 (11:47 first)
Let 'em play appears to be the theme. Through 8 minutes, a total of 5 team fouls have been called. Colgate shooting 4-12 (33.3 percent) Bucknell 2-7 (28.6 percent) Both teams have 5 turnovers. Colgate 9-4 edge on the boards.
Colgate 10, Bucknell 6 (9:42 first)
It has been a long time since a Bicon field goal. At least 7 minutes.
Colgate 15, Bucknell 12 (7:09 first)
Bettencourt broke the Bucknell drought with a pull up jumper in the lane at the 8:16 mark
Bucknell 4-6 at the line (with Badmus about to shoot two) Colgate has not shopt a free throw.
Can you hear Emmettt already?
Bucknell 18, Colgate 15
Bison on an 8-0 run. Includes those two Badmus free throws.
Bucknell 22, Colgate 15 (5:06 first)
Remember Pat Flannery talking back in tghe preseason about pressing more? The Bison showing it here, full and half court trap stuff that they have shown little of to date.
It is working, too. Colgate has 10 turnovers.
Bucknell 22, Colgate 19 (2:15 first)
Flannery unhappy after two Colgate buckets inb a row, calls a timeout without waiting for the media timeout that came 35 seconds later.
Colgate now at 9-22 (40.9 percent) ... Bucknell 7-17 (41.2 percent)
Lee with 6 for Bucknell. Reed leads Colgate with 5.
Bucknell 28, Colgate 22 (HALFTIME)
McNaughton's put back rolls in as the buzzer sounds. McNaughton with 4 of his 6 points in the final 2:15 of the half.
Badmus beating his man off the dribble, has two layups and 2 assists, a total that might be higher if the Bison were shooting better.
Donald Brown again a spark off the bench for Bucknell. 4 points, 4 rebounds in the first half.
Points in the paint: BU 10, C 2; Off of turnovers: BU 11, C 4
Rebounds even at 13-13.
Bucknell 31, Colgate 24 (15:50 second)
Not much offense here. Lee hit a three to open the half for Bucknell. Nobody else scored until Simon Knight lofted a rainbow over McNaughton at the 16:06 mark.
Bucknell 43, Colgate 35 (9:02 to play)
14:50 -- Brown called for a foul when he placed his chin in front of Simon Knight's swinging elbow.
McNaughton with 4 of Bucknell's last 6 points. McNaughton now 5-9, 10 points.
Colgate hanging around because Alvin Reed has hit a trio of fallaway, off-balance three-pointers.
Bucknell 47, Colgate 35 (8:12 to play)
Bison now on an 8-0 run.
Bucknell 54, Colgate 35 (6:24 to go)
Daniels has fouled out. McNaughton on the line, hits 2
Bucknell 58, Colgate 41 3:57 to play Somebody fouls McNaughton hard as he goes to the basket. A little pushing and shoving ensues and Donald Brown gets a T. Roemer hits both, but McNaughton cancels it at the other end by making both shots.
Bucknell now shooting 22-42 for the game (52.4 percent) Colgate 16-45 (35.6 percent)
McNaughton with 16 for Bucknell. Brown has 10 from the bench, he's 4-4 from the field
Bucknell 62, Colgate 41 (1:48 left)
Brown has Bucknell's last 4 points. 21 point lead is widest of the game thus far.
Points in the paint: Bucknell 20, Colgate 2.
Bucknell 62, Colgate 43 FINAL
Bison five that put this away -- McNaughton, Lee, Brown, Bettencourt and Badmus check out with about a minute to go, getting thunderous applause
Full game report to follow.
The adventure begins (Lehigh-Lafayette gameblog)
(Note: We were unable to connect inside Kirby and were forced to post the gameblog from the media room following the game)
11:21 AM -- Exit 29 headed east on I-78.
A late start means no stop at Cabella's.
It's not the first time hoops and fly fishing had a conflict. Not the first time the fishing lost, either.
If the choice were go fishing or cover basketball, it would be tough. Cover a game or tie flies that won't see water until after the Final Four anyhow? No brainer. I'll bitch about it in May when I am up until 2 a.m. tying flies the night before a trip because I didn't bother tying any all winter.
No time to stop at Dietrich's either.
Dietrich's is a little butcher shop off the Krumsville exit that has an incredible selection of smoked meats. Their beef jerky is usually a staple of any trip don the valley.
12:17 p.m. Easton, Pa.
Squeeze into the only parking spot open on the street that runs up the hill next to Kirby. It's a strange thing, but somehow, I have never had a tough time finding a good parking spot at Kirby. Probably because of the steep hill, which is a parallel parking challenge.
It's not because of the crowds. Lafayette has consistently been one of the league's best draws at home.
1:07 p.m. Press Row, Kirby
The students are on break, but there is still a decent crowd on hand. They are not a loud crowd, though. During the player introductions, it is a golf clap sort of welcome for the home team. Will the crowd generate any energy for the Leopards?
17:26 first half -- Joe Knight and Jason Mgebroff check in for Lehigh.
16:37 -- Mgebroff has his first turnover
16:05 -- Kyle Neptune fouled trying to dunk . . . goes down hard -- gets up slow -- hits one of two -- Lafayette 7, Lehigh 3
At the first media timeout: 15:49 ... Lehigh shooting 1-3, 3 turnovers. Lafayette 2-4, 2 TOs
Limited number of Zoo Crew on hand. They are sporting black shirts this year ... much better than those ridiculous pink ones last season.
10: 44 Lehigh 15, Lafayette 14
Paul Cummins with a pair of threes, helping keep Lafayette in this one so far. Cummins has 8 of Lafayette's 14 points. Nobody with more than 4 for Lehigh.
9:00 Lafayette 18, Lehigh 15
Andrei Cap[usan has become a matchup problem for Lehigh. HE can step out and shoot the jumper and he is too quick on the blocks for Lehigh's big men so far, He has 6 of Lafayette's last 8 points.
Mgebroff has 4 points for Lehigh, but he is this year's Sean Knitter -- his lack of foot speed makes him a defensive liability.
7:03 Lafayette 21, Lehigh 17
Pat Betley cans a three for Lafayette. The Pards 3-7 from the arc so far.
5:49 Lafayette 23, Lehigh 21-- Capusan gets a breather. As soon as Billy Taylor sees him coming out, he send Mgebroff back in.
3:40 Lafayette 26, Lehigh 21 -- Capusan back in, hits a 12-foot jumper for his 8th point, he also has 2 assists. Knight quiet thus far 0-2 0 pts.; Olivero 2-4, 4 points
HALF TIME
Lehigh 30, Lafayette 28
Matt Betley had a chance to tie it from the free throw line but misses both shots after being hammered going to the hole by Kyle Neptue.
Joe Knight with 1 point at the half for Lehigh -- the back end of a 2-shot foul with 10.5 seconds to go in the half. He does have 2 assists.
Mgebroff with 8 points leads Lehigh. Neptune with 6.
Lehigh shooting 59.1 percent in the first half (13-22) ... 22 of their 30 in the paint.
Lafayette 10-23 (43.5 percent) but they have 3 threes (Lehigh has 2) and are 5-8 at the foul line.
Lehigh 38, Lafayette 28 (18:21 second) -- A quick 8-0 spurt by Lehigh to open the half forces Fran O'Hanlon to call a quick timeout. Back to back three by Olivero and Neptune started it. Olivero followed with an acrobatic, off-balance, one-handed shot off an aborted drive
Lehigh 38, Lafayette 34 (17:14 second) -- Two quick threes by Andrew Brown and it is Billy Taylor's turn to burn a TO.
Lehigh 57, Lafayette 48 (6:35 second)
Lehigh on a 15-7 spurt. Olivero with back to back threes. He has 15 points. Joe Knight's first field goal came at the 11 minute mark when he jumped the passing lane on a capusan kickout and took it the other way for a layin. He drove for another bucket a minute or so later. He is now 2-6, 0-3 threes, 5 assists, 5 points
Lehigh is shooting 24-38 (63.2 percent) from the field
Lehigh 67, Lafayette 50 (3:54 second) The third time is the charm for Lehigh. Twice earlier in the game, the Mountain Hawks went on little runs and threatenbed to pull away. Eash time Lafayette had an answer. But around the 11 minute mark of the second half, the 'Pards jumpers stopped falling. Lehigh stretched it slowly at first, then got its running game in gear to put the 'Pards away.
Lafayette is shooting 40 percent from the field. Usually that is good enough to beat the Hawks, who came in next to last in the league shooting 39.4 percent on the season. But Lehigh is shooting 65.1 percent from the field.
FINAL LEHIGH 76, LAFAYETTE 58
11:21 AM -- Exit 29 headed east on I-78.
A late start means no stop at Cabella's.
It's not the first time hoops and fly fishing had a conflict. Not the first time the fishing lost, either.
If the choice were go fishing or cover basketball, it would be tough. Cover a game or tie flies that won't see water until after the Final Four anyhow? No brainer. I'll bitch about it in May when I am up until 2 a.m. tying flies the night before a trip because I didn't bother tying any all winter.
No time to stop at Dietrich's either.
Dietrich's is a little butcher shop off the Krumsville exit that has an incredible selection of smoked meats. Their beef jerky is usually a staple of any trip don the valley.
12:17 p.m. Easton, Pa.
Squeeze into the only parking spot open on the street that runs up the hill next to Kirby. It's a strange thing, but somehow, I have never had a tough time finding a good parking spot at Kirby. Probably because of the steep hill, which is a parallel parking challenge.
It's not because of the crowds. Lafayette has consistently been one of the league's best draws at home.
1:07 p.m. Press Row, Kirby
The students are on break, but there is still a decent crowd on hand. They are not a loud crowd, though. During the player introductions, it is a golf clap sort of welcome for the home team. Will the crowd generate any energy for the Leopards?
17:26 first half -- Joe Knight and Jason Mgebroff check in for Lehigh.
16:37 -- Mgebroff has his first turnover
16:05 -- Kyle Neptune fouled trying to dunk . . . goes down hard -- gets up slow -- hits one of two -- Lafayette 7, Lehigh 3
At the first media timeout: 15:49 ... Lehigh shooting 1-3, 3 turnovers. Lafayette 2-4, 2 TOs
Limited number of Zoo Crew on hand. They are sporting black shirts this year ... much better than those ridiculous pink ones last season.
10: 44 Lehigh 15, Lafayette 14
Paul Cummins with a pair of threes, helping keep Lafayette in this one so far. Cummins has 8 of Lafayette's 14 points. Nobody with more than 4 for Lehigh.
9:00 Lafayette 18, Lehigh 15
Andrei Cap[usan has become a matchup problem for Lehigh. HE can step out and shoot the jumper and he is too quick on the blocks for Lehigh's big men so far, He has 6 of Lafayette's last 8 points.
Mgebroff has 4 points for Lehigh, but he is this year's Sean Knitter -- his lack of foot speed makes him a defensive liability.
7:03 Lafayette 21, Lehigh 17
Pat Betley cans a three for Lafayette. The Pards 3-7 from the arc so far.
5:49 Lafayette 23, Lehigh 21-- Capusan gets a breather. As soon as Billy Taylor sees him coming out, he send Mgebroff back in.
3:40 Lafayette 26, Lehigh 21 -- Capusan back in, hits a 12-foot jumper for his 8th point, he also has 2 assists. Knight quiet thus far 0-2 0 pts.; Olivero 2-4, 4 points
HALF TIME
Lehigh 30, Lafayette 28
Matt Betley had a chance to tie it from the free throw line but misses both shots after being hammered going to the hole by Kyle Neptue.
Joe Knight with 1 point at the half for Lehigh -- the back end of a 2-shot foul with 10.5 seconds to go in the half. He does have 2 assists.
Mgebroff with 8 points leads Lehigh. Neptune with 6.
Lehigh shooting 59.1 percent in the first half (13-22) ... 22 of their 30 in the paint.
Lafayette 10-23 (43.5 percent) but they have 3 threes (Lehigh has 2) and are 5-8 at the foul line.
Lehigh 38, Lafayette 28 (18:21 second) -- A quick 8-0 spurt by Lehigh to open the half forces Fran O'Hanlon to call a quick timeout. Back to back three by Olivero and Neptune started it. Olivero followed with an acrobatic, off-balance, one-handed shot off an aborted drive
Lehigh 38, Lafayette 34 (17:14 second) -- Two quick threes by Andrew Brown and it is Billy Taylor's turn to burn a TO.
Lehigh 57, Lafayette 48 (6:35 second)
Lehigh on a 15-7 spurt. Olivero with back to back threes. He has 15 points. Joe Knight's first field goal came at the 11 minute mark when he jumped the passing lane on a capusan kickout and took it the other way for a layin. He drove for another bucket a minute or so later. He is now 2-6, 0-3 threes, 5 assists, 5 points
Lehigh is shooting 24-38 (63.2 percent) from the field
Lehigh 67, Lafayette 50 (3:54 second) The third time is the charm for Lehigh. Twice earlier in the game, the Mountain Hawks went on little runs and threatenbed to pull away. Eash time Lafayette had an answer. But around the 11 minute mark of the second half, the 'Pards jumpers stopped falling. Lehigh stretched it slowly at first, then got its running game in gear to put the 'Pards away.
Lafayette is shooting 40 percent from the field. Usually that is good enough to beat the Hawks, who came in next to last in the league shooting 39.4 percent on the season. But Lehigh is shooting 65.1 percent from the field.
FINAL LEHIGH 76, LAFAYETTE 58
On the road again
A special thanks to the folks who put together Saturday's schedule for starting the Lehigh-Lafayette game at 1 p.m. and the Colgate-Bucknell matchup at 7. That ought to give us enough time to dash from Easton to Lewisburg for the first of what we expect to be three double dips this season.
The last time we tried this, we got to Lewisburg a few minutes into the nightcap, in plenty of time to catch Chris Niesz's dramatic game-winning three-pointer, capping off a day of two exciting down-to-the-wire ballgames.
The good Lord willing, the Jetta don't break down, and the johnnies don't catch us speeding, we are going to do it again. Let's hope Lehigh-Lafayette doesn't go to overtime.
We will blog the whole day's adventures, updating as frequent as possible. Between our posts, you can use the scoreboards to keep tabs on what is going on around the league.
Patriot League scoreboards
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Lehigh at Lafayette, 1 p.m.: Throw out the records. Forget about scholarships vs. non-scholarships. All bets are off when these two get together.
It is the 203rd meeting between these two Lehigh Valley neighbors, who first hooked up back in 1902. Lafayette has actually dominated the series, leading 133-69. Especially in Easton, where the 'Pards hold a 73-21 edge over the Mountain Engineers.
That homecourt advantage is a factor that cannot be overstated. Folks who only follow the two teams casually would probably figure the balance to have shifted in the last few years, given Lehigh's scholarship advantage. But like we said, when these two teams meet, you can throw such conventional wisdom out the window.
Over the past four seasons, the two have split down the middle each year. In each of those eight games, it has been the home team coming out on top, including an by the Leopards back in February 2005.
The casts have changed since then. Especially for Lafayette, which no longer has the services of the two guys who led them in scoring in that game-- Sean Knitter and Jamaal Douglas (16 points each). But Jamaal Hilliard, who had 15 in that game, and Bilal Abdullah (12) are still around, and the game is still being played in Kirby, where the 'Pards are 6-2 this season.
Lafayette is averaging almost 79 points per game at home. It is tough to imagine that kind of offensive pace against a defensive-minded team like Lehigh. Then again, Lehigh has been defensive-minded since Billy Taylor arrived in Bethlehem and Lafayette has still averaged almost 93 points per game when Lehigh has come to visit. Even if you toss out the 111 they scored in a double-overtime epic two years ago, they still have averaged 83.5 in the other two gamesin Easton against Taylor-coached Lehigh teams.
On paper, Lehigh would appear to be the better team this season. The gap would appear to be significant. But until they show they can win in Easton, only a fool would bet the mortgage payment on the Hawks.
Lehigh ended a 14-game losing streak in Hamilton when they beat Colgate Wednesday. The Mountain Hawks shot just 38 percent in that game. Odds are they will have to shoot significantly better to end their losing ways in Easton.
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Colgate at Bucknell, 7 p.m.: Just like the Lafayette-Lehigh series, records don't always mean a lot when these two meet. Bucknell swept the two-game series between the two last year, but those two wins came by a total of 3 points. That is the way this series has gone. In 10 meetings this century, Bucknell has won 7. But three of those games were decided by a single point and three more by 5 or less.
Colgate is 1-7 in away games this season, the only win coming at Army and the Raiders have lost 6 of their last 8. Bucknell comes in on a three-game win streak since losing at Duke on Jan. 2. The Bison have won 7 straight Patriot League games, dating back to a 60-59 win over Colgate in last season's final regular season game and they have a won 18 straight league games in Sojka Pavilion.
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American at Holy Cross, 3:30 p.m.: Since joining the Patriot League, the AU Eagles have posted a 46-25 record in league games. AU is .500 or better against everybody in the league, except Holy Cross, which has pretty much had AU's number.
The Crusaders are 8-3 against the Eagles, and have lost only once at home against AU.
American's chances of getting a second win in Worcester likely depend on the health of HC's Keith Simmons. Simmons' cramping problem returned in the second half of HC's loss at Bucknell and were worse in Tuesday's game against Boston College.
With Simmons on the floor, HC's backcourt has a clear edge in a game between two teams who have not gotten much from their big men. Without Simmons, the matchup is much closer. Kevin Hamilton and Torey Thomas still give HC an advantage on AU's starters, but AU is a little deeper on the perimeter.
If either team has a big guy step up, it could turn the table. Given the absolute inconsistent showings by both frontcourts, that is not something either would want to depend on, though.
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The last time we tried this, we got to Lewisburg a few minutes into the nightcap, in plenty of time to catch Chris Niesz's dramatic game-winning three-pointer, capping off a day of two exciting down-to-the-wire ballgames.
The good Lord willing, the Jetta don't break down, and the johnnies don't catch us speeding, we are going to do it again. Let's hope Lehigh-Lafayette doesn't go to overtime.
We will blog the whole day's adventures, updating as frequent as possible. Between our posts, you can use the scoreboards to keep tabs on what is going on around the league.
| | | |
Lehigh at Lafayette, 1 p.m.: Throw out the records. Forget about scholarships vs. non-scholarships. All bets are off when these two get together.
It is the 203rd meeting between these two Lehigh Valley neighbors, who first hooked up back in 1902. Lafayette has actually dominated the series, leading 133-69. Especially in Easton, where the 'Pards hold a 73-21 edge over the Mountain Engineers.
That homecourt advantage is a factor that cannot be overstated. Folks who only follow the two teams casually would probably figure the balance to have shifted in the last few years, given Lehigh's scholarship advantage. But like we said, when these two teams meet, you can throw such conventional wisdom out the window.
Over the past four seasons, the two have split down the middle each year. In each of those eight games, it has been the home team coming out on top, including an by the Leopards back in February 2005.
The casts have changed since then. Especially for Lafayette, which no longer has the services of the two guys who led them in scoring in that game-- Sean Knitter and Jamaal Douglas (16 points each). But Jamaal Hilliard, who had 15 in that game, and Bilal Abdullah (12) are still around, and the game is still being played in Kirby, where the 'Pards are 6-2 this season.
Lafayette is averaging almost 79 points per game at home. It is tough to imagine that kind of offensive pace against a defensive-minded team like Lehigh. Then again, Lehigh has been defensive-minded since Billy Taylor arrived in Bethlehem and Lafayette has still averaged almost 93 points per game when Lehigh has come to visit. Even if you toss out the 111 they scored in a double-overtime epic two years ago, they still have averaged 83.5 in the other two gamesin Easton against Taylor-coached Lehigh teams.
On paper, Lehigh would appear to be the better team this season. The gap would appear to be significant. But until they show they can win in Easton, only a fool would bet the mortgage payment on the Hawks.
Lehigh ended a 14-game losing streak in Hamilton when they beat Colgate Wednesday. The Mountain Hawks shot just 38 percent in that game. Odds are they will have to shoot significantly better to end their losing ways in Easton.
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Colgate at Bucknell, 7 p.m.: Just like the Lafayette-Lehigh series, records don't always mean a lot when these two meet. Bucknell swept the two-game series between the two last year, but those two wins came by a total of 3 points. That is the way this series has gone. In 10 meetings this century, Bucknell has won 7. But three of those games were decided by a single point and three more by 5 or less.
Colgate is 1-7 in away games this season, the only win coming at Army and the Raiders have lost 6 of their last 8. Bucknell comes in on a three-game win streak since losing at Duke on Jan. 2. The Bison have won 7 straight Patriot League games, dating back to a 60-59 win over Colgate in last season's final regular season game and they have a won 18 straight league games in Sojka Pavilion.
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American at Holy Cross, 3:30 p.m.: Since joining the Patriot League, the AU Eagles have posted a 46-25 record in league games. AU is .500 or better against everybody in the league, except Holy Cross, which has pretty much had AU's number.
The Crusaders are 8-3 against the Eagles, and have lost only once at home against AU.
American's chances of getting a second win in Worcester likely depend on the health of HC's Keith Simmons. Simmons' cramping problem returned in the second half of HC's loss at Bucknell and were worse in Tuesday's game against Boston College.
With Simmons on the floor, HC's backcourt has a clear edge in a game between two teams who have not gotten much from their big men. Without Simmons, the matchup is much closer. Kevin Hamilton and Torey Thomas still give HC an advantage on AU's starters, but AU is a little deeper on the perimeter.
If either team has a big guy step up, it could turn the table. Given the absolute inconsistent showings by both frontcourts, that is not something either would want to depend on, though.
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Friday, January 20, 2006
Friday morning readaround
"I still can't understanding what all of the fuss is about regarding the Bucknell women's basketball team celebrating a win earlier this month at Navy with a post-game gathering near the center of the court.?Tom's take: Much ado about next to nothing.
Nothing directed at the Navy players and coaches. No beating chests. No tugging jerseys.
Just a brief bonding ritual after an 88-51 rout of the Midshipmen.
But, the way Navy officials responded, you would have sworn Bucknell players ran around Alumni Hall concourse shouting, 'Go Army.'"
"And I thought it was officiated very inconsistently. I thought we were the aggressors and (Lehigh) gets to the line 15 times in the first half and we don?t get any. But we certainly had our opportunities at the offensive end."When we saw the box score from that game -- Lehigh shot 31 free throws, Colgate 6 -- we actually started to write "If anybody had covered the game, Davis would probably have rolled out his familiar whine about the officials."
We opted not to include that line in our recap because it didn't seem fair to speculate about what Davis would say, despite the fact that we have heard that lament so many times now that we suspect the guy has one of those little microchips that repeats it at the push of a button.
Is it just us? Or are other people getting tired of hearing how Davis' merry band of jump shooters can't get to the foul line?
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Morning readaround
We don't cover the women's side of the league here at Hoop Time. No disrespect for the ladies, who have serious game. There's just a limit to what a small (one-man) staff can do.
But we stumbled across that we feel a need to comment on.
Seems the Capital felt the need to make a big deal out of Bucknell women's coach Kathy Fedorjaka apologizing to Navy for her team's postgame celebration when they thumped the Midshipmen (Midshipwomen?) 88-51 back on Jan. 7 in Navy's Alumni Hall.
After the win, the first league win for five of the ladies on Bucknell's young (2 juniors, no seniors) team, the Bison huddled at midcourt, bouncing up and down and chanting "This is our house."
Navy was offended. Very offended. How dare they celebrate on the Navy logo, they asked, as if it were Terrell Owens celebrating a touchdown on the Dallas Cowboys' star. How dare they celebrate while our team is standing at attention for the alma mater, the oh-so bothered Navy folks asked.
Our response is simple: Get over yourselves.
Now understand, we are big believers in acting like you have been there before. A celebration like that makes it look like you didn't expect to win; like winning a regular season game is as big as winning the championship.
But this was no intentional insult. This was an enthusiastic group of inexperienced players who had not been there before.
The chant, by the way, is one the Bison women use as a pregame psych when they are waiting back in the corridors under the stands before a game. It was not trash talking. And it was not an attempt to insult Navy by dancing on its logo. It was a spontaneous gathering at center court. The logo just happened to be there.
Navy folks have applauded Fedorjaka's apology. It was a class act, which is to be expected from a lady who has been a class act since her days as a graduate assistant at Bucknell.
It was also unnecessary.
Sorry Navy, with all due respect for your institution, its traditions and the brave and honorable men and ladies who play for the school (and those who don't play, too), the righteous indignation was hypocritical.
When the Midshipmen in the stands stop being college kids yelling the same sorts of taunts at opposing teams that you hear anywhere and just clap politely to support their teams, maybe other teams should react to winning in your gym differently.
But that ain't going to happen. Why? Because they are young kids full of youthful enthusiasm, blowing off steam as a welcome relief from a rigorous, demanding educational and institutional regimen.
Just like Bucknell's ladies are young women who were letting loose after a big win.
There was no taunting, no in your face behavior. Just a healthy celebration by a team too young and inexperienced to know better.
Besides, as some of the Cowboys mentioned after that infamous TO exhibition, if you don't want them to celebrate, don't let them have a reason to.
Elsewhere:
Chuck Woodling, of the Lawrence, Kans. Journal-World, is no stranger to Patriot League basketball, Woodling covers Kansas for a living. Bucknell's win over the Jayhawks is fresh in his memory. He remembers Holy Cross putting a scare into the Jayhawks, too.
In New York recently for his grandson's birthday, Woodling took a side trip to West Point to catch the Holy Cross-Army game. He to the anti-Kansas in a column this morning.
In Wednesday's Morning Call, beat writer Andre Williams , finally, for its handling of the Joe Knight situation. It's about time somebody in the so-called "mainstream media" wrote something about that debacle. Unfortunately, the paper's site had some tech glitch and it cuts off some of the column, so we don't know if Williams calls for sanctions against the school, which thus far has skated while Knight has been punished for its mistakes.
R-E-S-P-E-C-T . . . that is what the gives Holy Cross in a gamer on last night's Radford-High Point game. It is a brief, but telling, mention:
We missed this in the Express-Times the other day, but it is still worth a read. Ed is one of two guys (aside from us) still around who were covering the league when it started play back in 1990 (the other is Don Bostrom who now covers the Phillies beat for the Morning Call). Ed is the sports editor at that paper these days, and his managerial duties don't allow him to write as much as he used to. That is too bad. The guy knows his stuff.
But we stumbled across that we feel a need to comment on.
Seems the Capital felt the need to make a big deal out of Bucknell women's coach Kathy Fedorjaka apologizing to Navy for her team's postgame celebration when they thumped the Midshipmen (Midshipwomen?) 88-51 back on Jan. 7 in Navy's Alumni Hall.
After the win, the first league win for five of the ladies on Bucknell's young (2 juniors, no seniors) team, the Bison huddled at midcourt, bouncing up and down and chanting "This is our house."
Navy was offended. Very offended. How dare they celebrate on the Navy logo, they asked, as if it were Terrell Owens celebrating a touchdown on the Dallas Cowboys' star. How dare they celebrate while our team is standing at attention for the alma mater, the oh-so bothered Navy folks asked.
Our response is simple: Get over yourselves.
Now understand, we are big believers in acting like you have been there before. A celebration like that makes it look like you didn't expect to win; like winning a regular season game is as big as winning the championship.
But this was no intentional insult. This was an enthusiastic group of inexperienced players who had not been there before.
The chant, by the way, is one the Bison women use as a pregame psych when they are waiting back in the corridors under the stands before a game. It was not trash talking. And it was not an attempt to insult Navy by dancing on its logo. It was a spontaneous gathering at center court. The logo just happened to be there.
Navy folks have applauded Fedorjaka's apology. It was a class act, which is to be expected from a lady who has been a class act since her days as a graduate assistant at Bucknell.
It was also unnecessary.
Sorry Navy, with all due respect for your institution, its traditions and the brave and honorable men and ladies who play for the school (and those who don't play, too), the righteous indignation was hypocritical.
When the Midshipmen in the stands stop being college kids yelling the same sorts of taunts at opposing teams that you hear anywhere and just clap politely to support their teams, maybe other teams should react to winning in your gym differently.
But that ain't going to happen. Why? Because they are young kids full of youthful enthusiasm, blowing off steam as a welcome relief from a rigorous, demanding educational and institutional regimen.
Just like Bucknell's ladies are young women who were letting loose after a big win.
There was no taunting, no in your face behavior. Just a healthy celebration by a team too young and inexperienced to know better.
Besides, as some of the Cowboys mentioned after that infamous TO exhibition, if you don't want them to celebrate, don't let them have a reason to.
Elsewhere:
In New York recently for his grandson's birthday, Woodling took a side trip to West Point to catch the Holy Cross-Army game. He to the anti-Kansas in a column this morning.
So far this basketball season, nobody has poured the points on the Panthers like Radford did Wednesday night at the Dedmon Center -- not Kentucky, not Utah, not Holy Cross. The Highlanders turned this Big South Conference game into a rout, winning 96-76.When writers praise a team's showing like that, by comparing it to what you did, it says something. Heck, you don't see anybody writing "They beat them worse than Savannah State did," do you?
Bucknell D-owns Lafayette
(Originally posted Wed. at 9:47 p.m., Links added at 8:03 a.m.)
Lafayette's high-octane offensive act ran out of fuel in Lewisburg Wednesday night.
Big time.
The Patriot League's second highest scoring team coming in, the Leopards had scored over 70 points their last three games, including 85- and 80-point outbursts in wins over Colgate and Navy in their last two league games.
Even in a 32-point loss at Penn Monday, scoring had not been the Leopards problem. They put up 73 points against the Quakers.
Playing against Bucknell, though, is a little different than playing Navy and Colgate. The Bison have played a schedule full of quality teams and national powers all season, and still came in leading the league in defense. That standing will only be bolstered after they throttled the Leopards 62-32.
It was Lafayette's lowest scoring Patriot League game ever and their lowest scoring of the season by 15 points. The 'Pards' 13-point first half was easily its worst this season. The 19 they scored in the second half was just one more than their previous low half (18 against St. Joe's).
Bucknell held Lafayette to 22.9 percent shooting, a full 6 percentage points below its worst showing of the season and forced 27 Lafayette turnovers, their most thus far.
"We knew how well they had been scoring. We felt we had to go out and establish ourselves defensively," said Bucknell coach Pat Flannery.
Establish they did. After Lafayette hit three field goals in the first 7 minutes of the game, they managed only three more the rest of the half.
When Lafayette's Jamaal Hilliard scored with 9:05 to go in the half, it cut Bucknell's lead to 14-11. By the time Andrrei Capusan scored Lafayette's only other bucket of the half, almost six minutes later, the Bison had methodically built the lead to double digits.
And when Bucknell's Kevin Bettencourt stole an outlet pass and nailed his fourth three-pointer of the game, just before the buzzer, the Bison had scored as many points -- 27 -- as Lafayette would get in 39 minutes. Only a 5-point flurry in the final minute against the deep end of Bucknell's bench allowed the 'Pards to escape the embarrassment of finishing with under 30 points.
It was a night when Bucknell's defense more than made up for a sluggish first half offensively. With Lafayette packing it in on Chris McNaughton, the Bison struggled to get in sync in the first half. Only Bettencourt, who broke out of a recent slump with his 16-point first half (19 for the game), seemed to have any kind of offensive rhythm for the Bison, who turned it over nine times in the opening stanza.
Of course the way they played defense, Bettencourt was enough. It was reminiscent of the Bison game at Duke, where at one point the Cameron Crazies were chanting "J.J. is winning" because Reddick had more points than the Busknell team. The Sojka Pscyhos were not quite that creative, but at the half it was Bettencourt 16, Lafayette 13.
"I got some open looks early, knocked them down and got my confidence going," said the Bison's senior captain.
Lafayette coach Fran O'Hanlon said some of those looks were the result of the good defense his team played on McNaughton. The Leopards held the pre-season Patriot League Player of the Year to 2 first half points on 1-of-5 shooting (4 points, 2-8 overall).
"That was a product of helping out on McNaughton," said O'Hanlon. "They are good. They find Bettencourt. They know where he is and he knows where the basket is."
The rest of the Bison found the basket in the second half. the Bison came out after the break and went on a 14-5 run, allowing just one Lafayette field goal the first 6:27 of the half. From there the only suspense was whether or not Lafayette would score 30 points.
They did, thanks to a Paul Cummins three-pointer with 36 seconds to play. Along with an Andrew Brown bucket 20 seconds erlier, it gave the 'Pards two of their five second half field goals in the final minute.
Cummins finished with 7 points to lead Lafayette. Nobody else had more than 5.
Bettencourt was the only Bison in double figures. That was in part due to the fact that Bettencourt was the only Bison to play more than 26 minutes. The Bison bench combined for 20 points. Lafayette's starting five only scored 14.
Game Blog
Lafayette's high-octane offensive act ran out of fuel in Lewisburg Wednesday night.
Big time.
The Patriot League's second highest scoring team coming in, the Leopards had scored over 70 points their last three games, including 85- and 80-point outbursts in wins over Colgate and Navy in their last two league games.
Even in a 32-point loss at Penn Monday, scoring had not been the Leopards problem. They put up 73 points against the Quakers.
Playing against Bucknell, though, is a little different than playing Navy and Colgate. The Bison have played a schedule full of quality teams and national powers all season, and still came in leading the league in defense. That standing will only be bolstered after they throttled the Leopards 62-32.
It was Lafayette's lowest scoring Patriot League game ever and their lowest scoring of the season by 15 points. The 'Pards' 13-point first half was easily its worst this season. The 19 they scored in the second half was just one more than their previous low half (18 against St. Joe's).
Bucknell held Lafayette to 22.9 percent shooting, a full 6 percentage points below its worst showing of the season and forced 27 Lafayette turnovers, their most thus far.
"We knew how well they had been scoring. We felt we had to go out and establish ourselves defensively," said Bucknell coach Pat Flannery.
Establish they did. After Lafayette hit three field goals in the first 7 minutes of the game, they managed only three more the rest of the half.
When Lafayette's Jamaal Hilliard scored with 9:05 to go in the half, it cut Bucknell's lead to 14-11. By the time Andrrei Capusan scored Lafayette's only other bucket of the half, almost six minutes later, the Bison had methodically built the lead to double digits.
And when Bucknell's Kevin Bettencourt stole an outlet pass and nailed his fourth three-pointer of the game, just before the buzzer, the Bison had scored as many points -- 27 -- as Lafayette would get in 39 minutes. Only a 5-point flurry in the final minute against the deep end of Bucknell's bench allowed the 'Pards to escape the embarrassment of finishing with under 30 points.
It was a night when Bucknell's defense more than made up for a sluggish first half offensively. With Lafayette packing it in on Chris McNaughton, the Bison struggled to get in sync in the first half. Only Bettencourt, who broke out of a recent slump with his 16-point first half (19 for the game), seemed to have any kind of offensive rhythm for the Bison, who turned it over nine times in the opening stanza.
Of course the way they played defense, Bettencourt was enough. It was reminiscent of the Bison game at Duke, where at one point the Cameron Crazies were chanting "J.J. is winning" because Reddick had more points than the Busknell team. The Sojka Pscyhos were not quite that creative, but at the half it was Bettencourt 16, Lafayette 13.
"I got some open looks early, knocked them down and got my confidence going," said the Bison's senior captain.
Lafayette coach Fran O'Hanlon said some of those looks were the result of the good defense his team played on McNaughton. The Leopards held the pre-season Patriot League Player of the Year to 2 first half points on 1-of-5 shooting (4 points, 2-8 overall).
"That was a product of helping out on McNaughton," said O'Hanlon. "They are good. They find Bettencourt. They know where he is and he knows where the basket is."
The rest of the Bison found the basket in the second half. the Bison came out after the break and went on a 14-5 run, allowing just one Lafayette field goal the first 6:27 of the half. From there the only suspense was whether or not Lafayette would score 30 points.
They did, thanks to a Paul Cummins three-pointer with 36 seconds to play. Along with an Andrew Brown bucket 20 seconds erlier, it gave the 'Pards two of their five second half field goals in the final minute.
Cummins finished with 7 points to lead Lafayette. Nobody else had more than 5.
Bettencourt was the only Bison in double figures. That was in part due to the fact that Bettencourt was the only Bison to play more than 26 minutes. The Bison bench combined for 20 points. Lafayette's starting five only scored 14.
Lehigh, AU are winners
(Originally posted Wed. at 11:28 p.m., Updated at 7:51 a.m.)
American 65, Army 63, 2OT -- It took two extra periods, but American eventually managed to get past stubborn Army. You might also argue it took a little luck, since the Eagles only managed to force the two extra periods thanks to three-pointers by Andre Ingram, who fouled out in the second OT, leaving with 13 points. Linas Lekavicius led AU with 15, including 4 in the second OT. Freshman sniper Derrick Mercer added 13.
Jarrell Brown led Army with 22 points.
From the sound of Dan Steinberg's , it was a game neither team seemed to want to win at times. The two teams combined shot 38.7 percent from the field, leading Steinberg to refer to the rim in Bender as "much abused."
From Steinberg's account:
Meanwhile, in the sopa opera called "Which Patriot League Big Man is in His Coach's Dog House Now," Army's 6-11 junior stringbean Jimmy Sewell had 5 rebounds, 4 points and 3 blocks in 28 minutes while American's 6-11 Paulius Joneliunas only got off the bench for 7 minutes of a game that lasted 50.
Sewell's minutes were his most all season. Sewell, a starter early in the season, had clearly fallen out of favor with Jim Crews. Before the American game, he had seen more than 10 minuts just once in the Cadets prior 10 games, getting 12 minuts at Lehigh. In the 9 games before Lehigh, Sewell averaged 2.2. minutes with three DNPs.
Lehigh 53, Colgate 45 -- Lehigh's first win in Hamilton since the first season the Patriot League played hoops (1990-91) snaps a 14-game losing streak for the Engineers and Mountain Hawks at Colgate.
It was an ugly, defensive affair with the two teams combining for nearly as many turnovers (31) as field goals (36). Lehigh was 16-for-42 from the field (38.1 percent), 1-of-11 from the arc. Colgate had more field goals, but also missed more shots, going 20-for-56 (35.7 percent), 2-for-18 on three-point tries.
The big difference: Lehigh went to the foul line 31 times and made 20. Colgate only got to the line 6 times all night, making 3.
Joe Knight had 14 for Lehigh, which won its sixth in a row. Jose Olivero added 13.
Alvin Reed (14) and Kendall Chones (12) in double figures for Colgate, which has lost three in a row and six of its last eight. The loss spoiled the night for Reed, who became the 24th player in 'Gate history to score 1,000 career points.
American 65, Army 63, 2OT -- It took two extra periods, but American eventually managed to get past stubborn Army. You might also argue it took a little luck, since the Eagles only managed to force the two extra periods thanks to three-pointers by Andre Ingram, who fouled out in the second OT, leaving with 13 points. Linas Lekavicius led AU with 15, including 4 in the second OT. Freshman sniper Derrick Mercer added 13.
Jarrell Brown led Army with 22 points.
From the sound of Dan Steinberg's , it was a game neither team seemed to want to win at times. The two teams combined shot 38.7 percent from the field, leading Steinberg to refer to the rim in Bender as "much abused."
From Steinberg's account:
Army had the ball and a three-point lead with less than 30 seconds remaining in regulation. The Black Knights (4-12, 0-4) had the ball and a three-point lead with less than 30 seconds left in the first overtime.Even after AU went up 7 in the second OT, they nearly gave it away by shooting 1-for-6 at the free throw line in the final 30 seconds.
Meanwhile, in the sopa opera called "Which Patriot League Big Man is in His Coach's Dog House Now," Army's 6-11 junior stringbean Jimmy Sewell had 5 rebounds, 4 points and 3 blocks in 28 minutes while American's 6-11 Paulius Joneliunas only got off the bench for 7 minutes of a game that lasted 50.
Sewell's minutes were his most all season. Sewell, a starter early in the season, had clearly fallen out of favor with Jim Crews. Before the American game, he had seen more than 10 minuts just once in the Cadets prior 10 games, getting 12 minuts at Lehigh. In the 9 games before Lehigh, Sewell averaged 2.2. minutes with three DNPs.
Lehigh 53, Colgate 45 -- Lehigh's first win in Hamilton since the first season the Patriot League played hoops (1990-91) snaps a 14-game losing streak for the Engineers and Mountain Hawks at Colgate.
It was an ugly, defensive affair with the two teams combining for nearly as many turnovers (31) as field goals (36). Lehigh was 16-for-42 from the field (38.1 percent), 1-of-11 from the arc. Colgate had more field goals, but also missed more shots, going 20-for-56 (35.7 percent), 2-for-18 on three-point tries.
The big difference: Lehigh went to the foul line 31 times and made 20. Colgate only got to the line 6 times all night, making 3.
Joe Knight had 14 for Lehigh, which won its sixth in a row. Jose Olivero added 13.
Alvin Reed (14) and Kendall Chones (12) in double figures for Colgate, which has lost three in a row and six of its last eight. The loss spoiled the night for Reed, who became the 24th player in 'Gate history to score 1,000 career points.
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Bucknell-Lafayette gameblog
Bucknell 12, Lafayette 7 (10:47 first)
Slow start offensively for the Bison, who missed 4 of their first 6 shots and turned the ball over 5 times in the first 6:22.
Lafayette also 2-for-its first 6 with 5 turnovers.
The difference, Bucknell missing good looks, Lafayette getting few and Bucknell's turnovers for the most part self-inflicted while the Bison defense has forced most of Lafayette's.
Kevin Bettencourt, who has struggled offensively of late, on fire early, 4-5, 2-3 from 3-point arc -- 10 points.
Bucknell 16, Lafayette 11 (7:46 first)
Tarik Viaer-McClymont back in the Bucknell rotation after missing two games with an ankle injury.
Bucknell with an 11-7 edge on the boards.
Lafayette shooting 5-13 (38.5 percent) with 7 turnovers.
Bucknell 7-17 (41.2 percent) and 7 turnovers. The most recent by Charles Lee who led a wide open McNaughton by an extra step on what would have been a likely dunk had the pass been on the money.
Bucknell 21, Lafayette 11 (3:54 first)
Is there a player in the league that has taken more charges than Darren Mastropaolo?
His most recent just before the media timeout, Jamaal Hilliard called for the foul.
Lafayette now shooting 29.4 percent (5-17) with 11 turnovers.
Tight rims for Bucknell, too. 9-23 (39.1 percent)
Bettencourt with 13 points.
Bucknell 27, Lafayette 13 (Halftime)
Bettencourt ends the half with a three at the buzzer after stealing a Lafayette outlet pass in the backcourt. He now has 16 on 6-9 shooting, 4-6 from the arc.
McNaughton struggling against Lafayette's constant double and triple teams down low. He is 1-5, including a miss when he was stuffed by 6-4 Jamaal Hilliard, who came from the weakside and skyed for the block.
Bucknell's offense anything but stellar -- 11-29 (37.9 percent) in the first half against Lafayette's zone. It hardly matters, though, because Lafayette cannot score. The Leopards with one bucket in the final 10 minutes of the half, 6-23 (26.1 percent) from the field.
This is the second game in a row a team failed to reach 20 against BU in the first half. Holy Cross had 14 Saturday. Lafayette has 11 turnovers, 5 on Bucknell steals. Of BU's 27 points, 18 off turnovers.
Charles Lee is the only Bison other than Bettencourt with more than 2 points. He was 1 for his first 5 and looking frustrated as easy looks kept rimming out or bouncing around the tin and falling off. When he hit a long three late in the half, you could sense his relief as he pumped his fist running back to play D.
Bucknell's students are back and have the stands behind both baskets packed. The townies stayed home to watch whatever it is people who veg on the couch in front of the tube on Wednesday nights watch. Plenty of empty seats on both sides.
A BU student just hit a halfcourt shot to win a $100 gift certificate to the Towne Tavern in Lewisburg.
Quirky stat of the half -- the two teams are a combined 0-5 from the free throw line. The cold is not all outside of Sojka Pavilion tonight.
Bucknell 37, Lafayette 18 (15:36 second)
Abe Badmus picks Andre Brown clean near midcourt to open the second half. Brown fouled him going to the hoop and Badmus hit both shots to end the free throw drought.
Lafayette with turnovers on its first three possessions, leading to four Badmus points.
Badmus also with a slam that gets the crowd chanting Holy S***, Holy S*** in amazement at the 6-0 guard's leaping ability.
McNaughton still struggling, now 1-7, but Mastropaolo is picking up the slack inside. he is 2-2, with a pair of free throws for 6 points.
Lafayette with 5 turnovers already this half.
Bucknell 43, Lafayette 20 (11:02 second)
When Lafayette misses, which has been frequent, it is not even contesting the boards, falling back to keep Bucknell from running on them, which is odd since the Bison are not known for the fast break these days.
Lafayette is now 2-11 in the second half with 6 turnovers. Bucknell heating up, has hit 6-13 in the second half.
Bucknell 52, Lafayette 20 (8:43 second)
Bison smell blood. They have now outscored Lafayette 25-7 in the second half.
Leopards shooting percentage continues to head south. They are now 8-36 (22.2 percent) for the game. This half the 'Pards are 2-13.
Bucknell 57, Lafayette 22 (5:58 second)
With 7 minutes to play, Bucknell students started chanting "It's all over." In reality, they were at least three minutes late with that chant.
Pat Flannery has now gone to the deep end of his bench, with Andrew Morrison, Josh Linthicum and Rob Thomas just in for BU.
Bucknell 59, Lafayette 23 (3:39 second)
With 4:24 to go, students chating "Holland Mack, Holland Mack." If Mack could play the three, he would probably be in already. Flannery has him sitting beside him on the bench, but probably wants to get Morrison a few more minutes before inserting him.
Bucknell now has all three freshmen and sophomores Thomas and Morrison on the floor.
Only mystery left is when will Mack get in and will Lafayette reach 30.
Bucknell 62, Lafayette 32 (FINAL)
Mack checks in for vegotsky at the 2:55 mark. Fans go wild.
Seconds later he skies to tip home a Thomas miss, more craziness.
Leopards manage to score 5 in final minute against Bucknell's deep bench to hit the 30 point mark.
Those two baskets give Lafayette an 11-44 night (25 percent) with 26 turnovers.
After turning it over 9 times in the first half, the Bison with just three giveaways after intermission.
Slow start offensively for the Bison, who missed 4 of their first 6 shots and turned the ball over 5 times in the first 6:22.
Lafayette also 2-for-its first 6 with 5 turnovers.
The difference, Bucknell missing good looks, Lafayette getting few and Bucknell's turnovers for the most part self-inflicted while the Bison defense has forced most of Lafayette's.
Kevin Bettencourt, who has struggled offensively of late, on fire early, 4-5, 2-3 from 3-point arc -- 10 points.
Bucknell 16, Lafayette 11 (7:46 first)
Tarik Viaer-McClymont back in the Bucknell rotation after missing two games with an ankle injury.
Bucknell with an 11-7 edge on the boards.
Lafayette shooting 5-13 (38.5 percent) with 7 turnovers.
Bucknell 7-17 (41.2 percent) and 7 turnovers. The most recent by Charles Lee who led a wide open McNaughton by an extra step on what would have been a likely dunk had the pass been on the money.
Bucknell 21, Lafayette 11 (3:54 first)
Is there a player in the league that has taken more charges than Darren Mastropaolo?
His most recent just before the media timeout, Jamaal Hilliard called for the foul.
Lafayette now shooting 29.4 percent (5-17) with 11 turnovers.
Tight rims for Bucknell, too. 9-23 (39.1 percent)
Bettencourt with 13 points.
Bucknell 27, Lafayette 13 (Halftime)
Bettencourt ends the half with a three at the buzzer after stealing a Lafayette outlet pass in the backcourt. He now has 16 on 6-9 shooting, 4-6 from the arc.
McNaughton struggling against Lafayette's constant double and triple teams down low. He is 1-5, including a miss when he was stuffed by 6-4 Jamaal Hilliard, who came from the weakside and skyed for the block.
Bucknell's offense anything but stellar -- 11-29 (37.9 percent) in the first half against Lafayette's zone. It hardly matters, though, because Lafayette cannot score. The Leopards with one bucket in the final 10 minutes of the half, 6-23 (26.1 percent) from the field.
This is the second game in a row a team failed to reach 20 against BU in the first half. Holy Cross had 14 Saturday. Lafayette has 11 turnovers, 5 on Bucknell steals. Of BU's 27 points, 18 off turnovers.
Charles Lee is the only Bison other than Bettencourt with more than 2 points. He was 1 for his first 5 and looking frustrated as easy looks kept rimming out or bouncing around the tin and falling off. When he hit a long three late in the half, you could sense his relief as he pumped his fist running back to play D.
Bucknell's students are back and have the stands behind both baskets packed. The townies stayed home to watch whatever it is people who veg on the couch in front of the tube on Wednesday nights watch. Plenty of empty seats on both sides.
A BU student just hit a halfcourt shot to win a $100 gift certificate to the Towne Tavern in Lewisburg.
Quirky stat of the half -- the two teams are a combined 0-5 from the free throw line. The cold is not all outside of Sojka Pavilion tonight.
Bucknell 37, Lafayette 18 (15:36 second)
Abe Badmus picks Andre Brown clean near midcourt to open the second half. Brown fouled him going to the hoop and Badmus hit both shots to end the free throw drought.
Lafayette with turnovers on its first three possessions, leading to four Badmus points.
Badmus also with a slam that gets the crowd chanting Holy S***, Holy S*** in amazement at the 6-0 guard's leaping ability.
McNaughton still struggling, now 1-7, but Mastropaolo is picking up the slack inside. he is 2-2, with a pair of free throws for 6 points.
Lafayette with 5 turnovers already this half.
Bucknell 43, Lafayette 20 (11:02 second)
When Lafayette misses, which has been frequent, it is not even contesting the boards, falling back to keep Bucknell from running on them, which is odd since the Bison are not known for the fast break these days.
Lafayette is now 2-11 in the second half with 6 turnovers. Bucknell heating up, has hit 6-13 in the second half.
Bucknell 52, Lafayette 20 (8:43 second)
Bison smell blood. They have now outscored Lafayette 25-7 in the second half.
Leopards shooting percentage continues to head south. They are now 8-36 (22.2 percent) for the game. This half the 'Pards are 2-13.
Bucknell 57, Lafayette 22 (5:58 second)
With 7 minutes to play, Bucknell students started chanting "It's all over." In reality, they were at least three minutes late with that chant.
Pat Flannery has now gone to the deep end of his bench, with Andrew Morrison, Josh Linthicum and Rob Thomas just in for BU.
Bucknell 59, Lafayette 23 (3:39 second)
With 4:24 to go, students chating "Holland Mack, Holland Mack." If Mack could play the three, he would probably be in already. Flannery has him sitting beside him on the bench, but probably wants to get Morrison a few more minutes before inserting him.
Bucknell now has all three freshmen and sophomores Thomas and Morrison on the floor.
Only mystery left is when will Mack get in and will Lafayette reach 30.
Bucknell 62, Lafayette 32 (FINAL)
Mack checks in for vegotsky at the 2:55 mark. Fans go wild.
Seconds later he skies to tip home a Thomas miss, more craziness.
Leopards manage to score 5 in final minute against Bucknell's deep bench to hit the 30 point mark.
Those two baskets give Lafayette an 11-44 night (25 percent) with 26 turnovers.
After turning it over 9 times in the first half, the Bison with just three giveaways after intermission.
Trio of games on tap
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Lafayette at Bucknell, 7 p.m.: Lafayette comes in off a 32-point spanking at the hands of Ivy Power Penn. It won't get any easier for the Leopards in Lewisburg. The last time these two met, Bucknell put a 70-34 hurting on Lafayette, holding the 'Pards to 25.6 percent shooting from the field. Jamaal Douglas accounted for 12 of Lafayette's points in that game. He is no longer a Leopard, having left for the greener (read scholarship) pastures of Eastern Kentucky.
The Leopards showed an ability to put points on the board in their two wins prior to the loss at Penn, scoring 80 in the win over Navy and 84 in beating Colgate. But last year the 'Pards had averaged 77 per game in the five games leading up to that season-ending tournament loss at Bucknell. Bucknell's defense has been even tougher this season, and without an inside threat like Douglas to hold them at bay, expect the Bison perimeter players to apply suffocating pressure on Lafayette's shooters.
Lafayette has never won in Sojka Pavilion (0-4) losing by an average score of 72-49.
Five Bucknell players are averaging in double figures against Lafayette over their careers. Chris McNaughton, Kevin Bettencourt and Charles Lee have each averaged around 14 points per game against the 'Pards. John Griffin has averaged 11 ppg.
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Lehigh at Colgate, 7 p.m.: The Mountain Hawks are on a five-game win streak. The Raiders are reeling, having lost two in a row and seven of their last nine against Division I opponents. But all bets are off when Lehigh visits Hamilton. The last time Lehigh won up on the tundra, they were still called the Engineers. Since that win in the 1990-91 season, Lehigh has lost 14 in a row at Colgate.
Of course if Joe Knight drops 45 on Colgate like he did in Worcester during the league tournament last March, that streak ought to end.
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Army at American, 7:30 p.m.: The Eagles look to even their league record, a feat they ought to be able to achieve when they host lowly Army, a team they have beaten nine times in a row.
That does not mean AU won't need to come to play. While the Eagles got a boost with their win at Colgate Saturday, they still are very much a work in progress.
Army, despite only two wins over D-I foes, is a better team than it was last season, especially now that Jarrell Brown is back in the lineup. The Cadets played Lehigh tough their last time out and even in their worst seasons, have never backed down from anyone.
But AU's frontcourt, with Paulius Joneliunas and Brayden Billbe, should be tough for Army to handle, especially on the road.
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Readaround:
BC wins, Skinner whines
Boston College 63, Holy Cross 53 -- The Crusaders gave No. 21 Boston College all it could handle in the DCU Center before running out of gas in the second half. HC was tied with the Eagles 39-39 with 12:38 to play. Then BC went on a 7-0 run to take control.
Craig Smith, BC's 6-7 All-America candidate, had a dominate second half, scoring 17 of his 19 points and grabbing 12 of his 17 rebounds after the break.
Kevin Hamilton finished with 17 points, 7 rebounds and 6 steals for HC. Torey Thomas added 16 and Tim Clifford finally showed signs of being the kind of player inside many had expected him to be this season, scoring 11 points before fouling out late in the game. Kevin Hyland, on the other hand, was invisible, playing only 12 minutes, finishing with 4 fouls, 1 rebound, 2 turnovers, 3 blocks and 0 points.
Depth was a definite issue for the Crusaders, especially with Keith Simmons sitting out most of the second half after a recurrence of the cramping problem that hampered him earlier in the season. Simmons played only 23 minutes.
According to the , after the game, BC coach Al Skinner whined about the physical play in the game:
Ralph Willard had a different take:
Look at . The Eagles have 13 wins, but only two over schools from name conferences -- Oklahoma State and Florida State. They have lost to every ranked opoponent they have played and spent the non-conference schedule fattening up on the likes of Dartmouth, Sacred Heart and Texas Southern. No wonder they are 1-3 in the ACC.
In a , Lenny Megliola of the Milford Daily News points out, it wasn't a game for the meek.
Maybe next year Skinner would prefer to schedule the Lady Crusaders.
Craig Smith, BC's 6-7 All-America candidate, had a dominate second half, scoring 17 of his 19 points and grabbing 12 of his 17 rebounds after the break.
Kevin Hamilton finished with 17 points, 7 rebounds and 6 steals for HC. Torey Thomas added 16 and Tim Clifford finally showed signs of being the kind of player inside many had expected him to be this season, scoring 11 points before fouling out late in the game. Kevin Hyland, on the other hand, was invisible, playing only 12 minutes, finishing with 4 fouls, 1 rebound, 2 turnovers, 3 blocks and 0 points.
Depth was a definite issue for the Crusaders, especially with Keith Simmons sitting out most of the second half after a recurrence of the cramping problem that hampered him earlier in the season. Simmons played only 23 minutes.
According to the , after the game, BC coach Al Skinner whined about the physical play in the game:
"I thought the game was quite physical, and not in a positive sense," said Skinner, who sniped at the officiating crew for not containing the physical play. "Sean Marshall got smacked in the face, Craig's got a bruised hand, and Louis [Hinnant] has a sprain in his [left] wrist and his arm. So it's not good."Skinner had more to say in the :
What I think happens at times when you look at two players and one is less talented than the other, you give him some leeway. I think that leeway led to a lot of aggression and a lot of non-calls, and I just have a problem with that. We’ve got guys walking out of here hurt. We’ve played a lot of games and we haven’t played any where three or four guys get hurt in one game. It’s just unfortunate.We've seen enough of these Patriot League vs. The Big Time type games to know how they go. We have yet to witness the officials give the smaller team from the lowly league the breaks in a game against a ranked team from a BCS conference. The fact that HC got hit with 22 fouls, BC only 15, pretty much confirms our suspicions.
“This game didn’t do anything for us if you want to know the truth. I don’t think a game like this gets played very often and played in this manner. If we lose it’s bad — if we win that’s what people expected."
Ralph Willard had a different take:
"BC's a very physical basketball team. I didn't think it was tremendously overly physical, to be honest about it. They run a very interior-oriented offense and we packed the lane. I didn't think it was physical."Sounds to us like Skinner, after losing to HC in 2002, going to OT last year and barely surviving this year, is trying to set it up to start ducking his instate rivals in future years.
Look at . The Eagles have 13 wins, but only two over schools from name conferences -- Oklahoma State and Florida State. They have lost to every ranked opoponent they have played and spent the non-conference schedule fattening up on the likes of Dartmouth, Sacred Heart and Texas Southern. No wonder they are 1-3 in the ACC.
In a , Lenny Megliola of the Milford Daily News points out, it wasn't a game for the meek.
Maybe next year Skinner would prefer to schedule the Lady Crusaders.
Navy prevails
Navy 71, Longwood 65 -- Greg Sprink with a 16 point, 10 rebound double-double to lead the Midshipmen. Sprink also had 6 assists and a pair of steals. Corey Johnson had 19 points for Navy. Kaleo Kina added 13.
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Two for Tuesday
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Holy Cross vs. No. 21 Boston College, DCU Center, 7 p.m.: Boston College has won 14 of the last 15 meetings between these two, including three of four at the DCU Center. Holy Cross' win in that period came in Dec. 2002. That was the current HC seniors freshman year, but neither was a factor in that game. Kevin Hamilton played 11 minutes and had as many fouls as points (3). Kevin Hyland didn't even get off the bench.
The Crusaders can count on much more from Hamilton this time. Whether the same can be said for Hyland remains to be seen. He will have to be more of a factor in this one than he was Saturday at Bucknell if the Crusaders expect to pull an upset.
Boston College presents a matchup nightmare for Holy Cross, with a pair of 6-7 forwards that each score in double figures. Senior Craig Smith is the best known of the three A legitimate All-America candidate (he was third team on the NABC squad, honorable mention AP last season), the three-time All-Big East selection will hit the 2,000 career points mark with his first bucket tonight. Smith is averaging 22.8 points and 9.5 rebounds per game. His last time out he dropped 28 points and grabbed 14 boards against Florida State.
Joining him in the frontcourt is 6-7 junior Jared Dudley, a star in his own right. Dudley, last year's Big East Most Improved Player (and a first team all-league pick) averages 16.8 points and 7.3 rebounds.
Toss in 6-6 swingman Sean Marshall (13.3 ppg) and you start to see all kinds of headaches for Holy Cross. (Did we mention they also have a 6-10 kid in the starting lineup and a 6-8 and another 6-10 also in the rotation?)
Holy Cross ought to be able to neutralize some of that size by playing a lot of zone. Ralph Willard's matchup can give teams fits, especially teams that are not familiar with the Crusaders. But BC also has three guys shooting better than 37.8 percent from three-point range and shoots 35.8 percent from the arc as a team.
If the Crusaders get solid contributions from the frontcourt -- obviously a huge if -- and can stay in the game early, they could pull an upset. Their three guards -- Hamilton, Keith Simmons and Torey Thomas -- have shown they can play with anybody. But if they are forced to play 3 on 5, it will be a very long night
.
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Longwood at Navy, 7:30 p.m.: The Lancers visit to Annapolis couldn't come at a better time for the Mids, who have dropped four straight since losing forward Matt Fannin to an injury. Longwood is in the third year of the five year process of moving from Division 2 to Division 1 and the transition has not been easy for its hoopsters, who come into this one 3-14, having lost 10 of their last 11 and yet to win in 8 road games. The Lancers have been giving up 81 points per game, allowing the opposition to shoot 48 percent from the field in the process.
None of this means Navy can afford to take them lightly. The Mids have done a little scuffling themselves of late, and Longwood's schedule has been pretty challenging, with Villanova, Kansas State, Nebraska among the bigger names they have lost to.
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Penn pounds 'Pards
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Pennsylvania 105, Lafayette 73 -- Lafayette shot 53 percent in the first half and still trailed by 19 points at the break. It was that kind of a night for the Leopards, who saw their modest two-game win streak come to a halt.
The Quakers hit 22 of 34 (64.7 percent) on the first half, before cooling off in the second half, when they made only 30-of-34 (58.8 percent), a stat most likely attributable to guys like Mark Zoller and Ibrahim Jaaber sitting down much of the second half as Penn coach Fran Dunphy emptied his bench. Zoller was 9-11 for 19 points. Jaaber had 21 points on 8-14 shooting. Steve Danley (5-6, 13 points) David Whitehurst (5-1, 11 points) and Eric Osmundson (7-13, 18 points) also had big nights, putting all five Penn starters in double figures.
Penn also dominated the boards, outrebounding Lafayette 38-27.
Freshman guard Andrew Brown hit 5 three-pointers, finishing with 16 points to lead Lafayette, which goes from the frying pan to the fire by visiting Bucknell Wednesday night.
Monday, January 16, 2006
Latest polls
Gonzaga is back to its accustomed status as the unanimous first place choise of all 31 voters in the latest . Last week Northern Iowa had received votes for the top spot as well, but the Panthers loss to Creighton cost them. It also cost UNI the second spot in that poll, with Bucknell, last week's No. 3 team, edging them for the second spot by 4 votes this week.
Those two are reversed in the others receiving votes category of the , with UNI getting 16 votes, Bucknell 14, making them No. 33 and 34 in that poll. Syracuse jumps into the top 25 at the No. 20 spot this week -- don't get us started.
In the new , Bucknell and Northern Iowa each picked up 10 votes, sharing the 33rd spot.
Perhaps the most entirely bogu excuse for a poll is the CBS Sportsline Top 25. In ranking Maryland No. 25, they say "you can't hold a loss to Duke against them, everybody is losing to the Blue Devils." Fair enough. But Syracuse being ranked No. 10 and Bucknell being unranked is even harder to fathom if losses to Duke don't count.
Not saying Bucknell should or should not be in the Top 25, just that after beating Syracuse on its own floor, they certainly deserve as much consideration as the Orangemen.
And then there is Louisville, ranked No. 19, with a comment "The Cardinals need a statement win. They've faced three teams ranked in the Top 25 at the time of their meeting and they've lost all three." Actually, none of the Cardinals wins are very impressive
If that lack of a win over a Top 25 team still allows them to be No. 19, then what about the team that beat your No. 10 team?
Those two are reversed in the others receiving votes category of the , with UNI getting 16 votes, Bucknell 14, making them No. 33 and 34 in that poll. Syracuse jumps into the top 25 at the No. 20 spot this week -- don't get us started.
In the new , Bucknell and Northern Iowa each picked up 10 votes, sharing the 33rd spot.
Perhaps the most entirely bogu excuse for a poll is the CBS Sportsline Top 25. In ranking Maryland No. 25, they say "you can't hold a loss to Duke against them, everybody is losing to the Blue Devils." Fair enough. But Syracuse being ranked No. 10 and Bucknell being unranked is even harder to fathom if losses to Duke don't count.
Not saying Bucknell should or should not be in the Top 25, just that after beating Syracuse on its own floor, they certainly deserve as much consideration as the Orangemen.
And then there is Louisville, ranked No. 19, with a comment "The Cardinals need a statement win. They've faced three teams ranked in the Top 25 at the time of their meeting and they've lost all three." Actually, none of the Cardinals wins are very impressive
If that lack of a win over a Top 25 team still allows them to be No. 19, then what about the team that beat your No. 10 team?
'Pards visit Penn
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Lafayette at Penn, 7 p.m.: A week or two ago, this didn't look like much of a matchup. But after Lafayette's back-to-back wins last week, the Leopards visit to the famed Palestra looks a lot more interesting. The Leopards have been lighting up the scoreboard, averaging 83 points in those two wins. Toss in the Mount Saint Mary's game and they have scored over 75 in three of the last four.
Those last two were at home, where the Leopards are 6-2 on the season. The road has been a different matter. Lafayette has won only two of seven away from Kirby.
Penn, meanwhile, comes in having won five of its last six. The lone loss in that stretch was at Fordham, where Lafayette has also lost, by the way. The Quakers are only 5-3 at home, but the losses were to Temple, Villanova and Colorado. Penn's other loss thus far was to Duke.
But the Quakers wins have not been all that impressive either. Aside from a win at 8-6 Hawaii, the Quakers' victims in the recent hot streak were just a notch above the Little Sisters of the Poor -- BYU-Hawaii, The Citadel and a sweep of two mediocre Ivy League teams-- Cornell and Columbia-- over the weekend.
In those two Ivy games, the Quakers two top guns -- 6-2 junior guard Ibrahim Jaaber and 6-7 junior forward Mark Zoller -- were on fire. Jaaber, who averages 18.8 ppg, was 7-10 in both games, scoring 18 against Cornell, 20 against Columbia. Zoller went 8-9 for 21 against Cornell, 6-9 for 12 against Columbia.
The Quakers shot better than 50 percent in both and won both of those games by over 30 points, downing Cornell 84-44 on Friday night and winning 87-55 at Columbia on Saturday.
Those lopsided wins allowed Penn coach Fran Dunphy to spread out the minutes. Jaaber (32) was the only Quaker to play more than 26 minutes Friday night. Guard Eric Osmundson (31) was the only Penn player who saw more than 26 minutes at Columbia. That probably means Lafayette won't have the better legs advantage it might have hoped for with the Quakers playing for the third time in four days.
But it does mean the Quakers will have had very little preparation time to get ready for the Leopards, who like to switch things up a lot on defense.
The limited preparation time won't mean the coaches are not prepared. Lafayette's Fran O'Hanlon used to be a Dunphy assistant. They don't need to watch a whole lot of film to know what the other guy is going to try to do.
A win could do wonders for the Leopards confidence level, with a trip to Bucknell on Wednesday, followed by a Saturday home date with Lehigh.
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Sunday, January 15, 2006
Early edition
(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.
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.
Around the league
(Originally posted Saturday at 10:17 p.m., updated at 7:43 a.m.)
Lafayette 80, Navy 67 -- Navy was up 31-20 with 6:53 to go in the first half. Then the bottom dropped out, as Lafayette went on a 43-8 run through the end of he first half and 9:42 into the second, building a 25-point lead.
Lafayette 12-23 from three-point range, including 4 by freshman Andrew Brown, who finished with a team-high 17 points.
The Leopards won despite 24 turnovers and 23 Navy offensive rebounds. Of course the Midshipmen had plenty of chances on their offensive glass since they shot just 32 percent from the field.
The win puts Lafayette (8-7. 2-1) over .500 overall and in the league. It will be tough for the Leopards to stay there for long, though. They travel Monday to Ivy League leader Penn, then are at Bucknell Wednesday and at Lehigh Saturday.
As Leopards coach Fran O'Hanlon told Corky Blake of the :
Lehigh 63, Army 60 -- Lehigh only shot 34.7 percent from the field and Army hit 42 percent. But the Mountain Hawks went to the foul line 34 times, making 21. Joe Knight had 13 of those made free throws (and 5 of the missed ones) en route to a 28-point night for Lehigh.
American 74, Colgate 66 -- Colgate scored first, then AU scored the next 6 points and never trailed the rest of the afternoon.
Paulius Joneliunas had his coming out for American, scoring 12 points for his first double figures game as an Eagle. Arvydas Eitutavicius led all scorers with 20 points. Andre Ingram added 15.
Kyle Roemer with 16 points, including four 3-pointers, to lead Colgate. Kendall Chones had a 14-point, 10-boards double-double. Alvin Reed added 10 points.
American won the game at the foul line, going 30-41 there. Colgate only shot 15 free throws, making 10.
©2005 Hoop Time. All rights reserved.
Lafayette 80, Navy 67 -- Navy was up 31-20 with 6:53 to go in the first half. Then the bottom dropped out, as Lafayette went on a 43-8 run through the end of he first half and 9:42 into the second, building a 25-point lead.
Lafayette 12-23 from three-point range, including 4 by freshman Andrew Brown, who finished with a team-high 17 points.
The Leopards won despite 24 turnovers and 23 Navy offensive rebounds. Of course the Midshipmen had plenty of chances on their offensive glass since they shot just 32 percent from the field.
The win puts Lafayette (8-7. 2-1) over .500 overall and in the league. It will be tough for the Leopards to stay there for long, though. They travel Monday to Ivy League leader Penn, then are at Bucknell Wednesday and at Lehigh Saturday.
As Leopards coach Fran O'Hanlon told Corky Blake of the :
"If you look at those three as a lump sum you shouldn't want to get out of bed. That's why you rely on the old cliché of playing them one at a time."
Lehigh 63, Army 60 -- Lehigh only shot 34.7 percent from the field and Army hit 42 percent. But the Mountain Hawks went to the foul line 34 times, making 21. Joe Knight had 13 of those made free throws (and 5 of the missed ones) en route to a 28-point night for Lehigh.
American 74, Colgate 66 -- Colgate scored first, then AU scored the next 6 points and never trailed the rest of the afternoon.
Paulius Joneliunas had his coming out for American, scoring 12 points for his first double figures game as an Eagle. Arvydas Eitutavicius led all scorers with 20 points. Andre Ingram added 15.
Kyle Roemer with 16 points, including four 3-pointers, to lead Colgate. Kendall Chones had a 14-point, 10-boards double-double. Alvin Reed added 10 points.
American won the game at the foul line, going 30-41 there. Colgate only shot 15 free throws, making 10.
