≈ Saturday, February 25, 2006
Army-Bucknell Gameblog
Twenty-five minutes to game time, Bucknell comes out to start final pregame rituals to a roar from the crowd in Sojka, about half full at the moment.
Senior night note: Bucknell's lineup will look like this to start: Tarik Viaer McClymont at the five; Holland Mack the 4; Charles Lee, Kevin Bettencourt and Abe Badmus in their usual 3,2,1 alignment.
The Sewell watch is on. The big redhead from Florida has been in and out of the doghouse more than Snoopy. Watch the Army box scores, Sewell is as likely to get a start as a DNP.
The 6-11 junior has played in 21 games, averaging 10.5 minutes. Sewell has started 7 times. Four times he has not left the bench, including Wednesday at Lafayette. His last start came when these two met at West Point three weeks ago. Sewell played 15 minutes in that one, and 16 off the bench against Navy the next game. Since then he has seen single digits three straight games, seven against both Holy Cross and Lehigh and four against American.
Ten minutes till tip ...
With Chris McNaughton and Darren Mastropaolo both bumped from the starting lineup in deference to seniors, there were rumors in the media room of a press pool on how long it would be until one, or both, were at the scorers table. The idea never took off though. Too many people wanted to bet on somebody reporting immediately after the tip.
Here's a stat line to ponder: Army's Erik Engstrom -- 20 games, 12 starts, he has taken 10 shots (mad half of 'em) 45 rebounds, 56 fouls.
If this one gets out of hand, we may well stop blogging and join the crew over in the .
Bison band out in force and sounds as though they have been practicing (so as not to embarrass themselves on national TV, perhaps?). Got to give them their props when they deserve them.
Bucknell cheerleaders say they have had to try to step up their game to keep pace with the team, too. "We've incorporated more stunts," says one of the Rah Rahs in a courtside conversation. She says they also can't understand why they have to sit in front of the student section, since all the students stand anyhow. They have noticed that cheerleaders elsewhere don't have to sit, she says.
Introducing the Bison seniors. Tarik is shooting 60 percent this season, the announcer mentions. Who'd a thunk it?
Nice touch, the parent escorting each senior is wearing an orange replica jersey with their player's number. A Holland Mack replica jersey; another who'd a thunk it moment.
Charles Lee's intro could have been shorter. Just say, "Dude's in the top 10 in everything."
Bettencourt gets the last into. Seeing him by his mother and father, he is lucky to be tall enough to play Division I ball. It is not genetic.
There will be a three-minute warm-up period before the tip.
Pregame introductions, Bucknell students at the one end turn their back on Army, then lock arms and sway like the Bison huddle awaiting the first introduction. These kids are catching on.
We have said it before, we'll say it again: Sojka has turned into the absolute best college basketball atmosphere in the Patriot League. The place is almost full, including the student sections. On a Saturday night against Army.
For Bucknell old-timers, it is like the Patrick King-Mike Bright era in Davis on steroids.
Army 6, Bucknell 4 (15:32 first)
Bad news for Bucknell. Point guard Abe Badmus came off the floor hobbling around the 18:50 mark. They were looking at his right ankle. He is not on the Bison bench, apparently having gone to the training room for treatment.
First subs for Bucknell (aside from griffin for the injured Badmus), not McNaughton and Mastropaolo, but Rob Thomas and Donald Brown. Thomas at the two, with Bettencourt shifting to the point. Brown for Mack.
McNaughton for Tarik at the next stop.
Bettencourt with all of Bucknell's points, a pair of jumpers just inside the arc on each.
Bucknell 14, Army 11 (10:00 first)
Badmus returns to the BU bench around the 14:29 mark. Ankle is heavily taped. He walked with no noticeable limp.
John Griffin gives Bucknell its first lead at 10-9 with back-to-back threes.
Bucknell on an 8-2 run. Bison shooting 6-13, 46.2 percent.
Army 4-11, 36.4 percent.
Bucknell 17, Army 15 (7:27 first)
Badmus at the scorers table to return at the 8 minute mark.
He will be in following this timeout.
Army briefly went back on top, 15-14, but Charles Lee answered with a three. He was just fouled on a breakaway and will be at the line for two after this timeout.
Jimmy Sewell in his warm-ups has the very last seat at the far end of Army's bench.
Bucknell 22, Army 15 (3:54)
Charles Lee on a one-man 8-0 run for Bucknell. Army has not scored in about 4 minutes.
Bison come out and show some press. They have done this from time to time in several games, though not usually in full bore go for the steal mode.
Pat Flannery talked about pressing more in the preseason. You have to wonder, are the Bison working on this with a purpose other than just to show opponents some wrinkles in the film?
Corban Bates air balls a hook shot, hears it throughout the next possession, then tries to bull through McNaughton in frustration and is called for the charge, His third, Army's 7th team foul.
Bucknell 25, Army 18 (HALFTIME)
Bucknell trapping press causes first turnover at around 3:50, a wild pass trying to beat it that goes out of bounds. Brown is out on top as the chaser in this press.
Army's Doug Williams gets a bail out call with the shot clock running out, but bricks both shots at the 2:43 mark. Now over five minutes without an Army point.
Marshall Jackson breaks the scoreless stretch with a layup at the 1:11 mark. Is fouled and completes the three-point play.
Lee answers with a fadeaway J. He is on an 11-2 run of his own.
Jackson with 10 for Army. No other Cadets with more than 2.
Army shooting 7-20 (35 percent). Bucknell 9-25 (36 percent)
Bucknell with 10 second chance points and 6 points off 10 Army turnovers. Army has 4 off 6 BU giveaways.
HALFTIME: Good news from the halftime entertainment. None of the trampoline dunkers broke a leg this time. Apparently, according to one of the reporters who was at the game, two years ago one of them did.
Bucknell 34, Army 18 (18:42 second)
No real surprise, Bucknell went to McNaughton on its first possession. the big guy was fouled, and made one of two, his first point of the night.
Bucknell got the offensive rebound when he missed the second, resulting in a Bettencourt three.
They repeated the trick again when Mastropaolo was fouled making a layup and missed the free throw. Bettencourt now with 10 points.
It is now a 9-0 run in the first 1:18 of the second half. Army already with three team fouls.
Bucknell 38, Army 22 (15:56 second)
McNaughton's first bucket at the 17:06 mark. Next BU possession he draws Bates fourth personal and knocks down both free throws. McNaughton now with 5 after a scoreless first half.
Bucknell 52, Army 31 (8:58 to go)
15:30 mark, Donald Brown goes down hard. It looks bad, as he writhes in pain, but he later hops off and walks off on his own. That's two injury scares now for the Bison -- the last thing you want to see in a meaningless (other than for BU's unbeaten conference mark) game heading into the postseason.
Bates gets his fifth personal at the 13:32 mark and is serenaded with "Nah, Nah, Nah, Nah, Hey, hey Goodbye."
Lee knocks down both free throws to push the lead over 20, then takes a seat, Thomas giving him a break.
Bucknell with Mastropaolo, Thomas, Badmus, Griffin and Vegotsky on the floor. Now that is going small.
12:08, McNaughton and Brown back in.
somebody else will need to score for Army. Matt Bell, who has all 8 second half points for Army, also sits down at the 12:08 mark.
The answer is John Moonshower. His jumper at the 11:27 mark is Army's first non-Bell points of the half.
If you said John Who?, you are not alone. Moonshower is a 6-5 freshman who has seen time in 11 games this season. He has seen more time the past five games, scoring 9 against Lehigh and 8 against Lafayette.
Bucknell 61, Army 45 (3:04 to play)
With 4:48 to go, another injury scare for Bucknell. It's Brown again. This time he is on the floor holding his head. He walks off, but Flannery is letting the officials have it from the far sideline. My guess is it has to do with the amount of rough play they are letting go under the Bucknell basket.
With 3:21 to go, the "Warm up the tank" chants start.
Bucknell with three in double figures now: Lee-16, Bettencourt-13, McNaughton 11.
For Army: Bell has 14. Jackson still stuck on 10.
Bucknell 70, Army 47 (FINAL)
Still another injury score for Bucknell. With 2:24 to play, Charles Lee lets out a yelp and grabs the small of his back, just above his right hip. Flannery's ire with the officials results in a T.
Looks like we will not be seeing Jimmy Sewell.
Latest chants: "Navy's better", followed by "Undefeated."
Biggest cheers of the night come with 49.5 to go when Holland Mack scores on a hard-work put back of his own miss. He has two chances for a career high, but misses a free throw, then bricks a three after BU gets the offensive rebound.
Four Bison finish in double figures: Lee with 18, Bettencourt 13, Griffin with 12 thanks to a 6 for 6 night at the foul line and McNaughton with 11.
The crowd on its feet as the clock ticks off. Griffin, after the buzzer, drains a top of the arc three for practice.
Chris Niesz, the lone senior on last year's team, out on the floor to greet his old teammates as they leave the floor.
Senior night note: Bucknell's lineup will look like this to start: Tarik Viaer McClymont at the five; Holland Mack the 4; Charles Lee, Kevin Bettencourt and Abe Badmus in their usual 3,2,1 alignment.
The Sewell watch is on. The big redhead from Florida has been in and out of the doghouse more than Snoopy. Watch the Army box scores, Sewell is as likely to get a start as a DNP.
The 6-11 junior has played in 21 games, averaging 10.5 minutes. Sewell has started 7 times. Four times he has not left the bench, including Wednesday at Lafayette. His last start came when these two met at West Point three weeks ago. Sewell played 15 minutes in that one, and 16 off the bench against Navy the next game. Since then he has seen single digits three straight games, seven against both Holy Cross and Lehigh and four against American.
Ten minutes till tip ...
With Chris McNaughton and Darren Mastropaolo both bumped from the starting lineup in deference to seniors, there were rumors in the media room of a press pool on how long it would be until one, or both, were at the scorers table. The idea never took off though. Too many people wanted to bet on somebody reporting immediately after the tip.
Here's a stat line to ponder: Army's Erik Engstrom -- 20 games, 12 starts, he has taken 10 shots (mad half of 'em) 45 rebounds, 56 fouls.
If this one gets out of hand, we may well stop blogging and join the crew over in the .
Bison band out in force and sounds as though they have been practicing (so as not to embarrass themselves on national TV, perhaps?). Got to give them their props when they deserve them.
Bucknell cheerleaders say they have had to try to step up their game to keep pace with the team, too. "We've incorporated more stunts," says one of the Rah Rahs in a courtside conversation. She says they also can't understand why they have to sit in front of the student section, since all the students stand anyhow. They have noticed that cheerleaders elsewhere don't have to sit, she says.
Introducing the Bison seniors. Tarik is shooting 60 percent this season, the announcer mentions. Who'd a thunk it?
Nice touch, the parent escorting each senior is wearing an orange replica jersey with their player's number. A Holland Mack replica jersey; another who'd a thunk it moment.
Charles Lee's intro could have been shorter. Just say, "Dude's in the top 10 in everything."
Bettencourt gets the last into. Seeing him by his mother and father, he is lucky to be tall enough to play Division I ball. It is not genetic.
There will be a three-minute warm-up period before the tip.
Pregame introductions, Bucknell students at the one end turn their back on Army, then lock arms and sway like the Bison huddle awaiting the first introduction. These kids are catching on.
We have said it before, we'll say it again: Sojka has turned into the absolute best college basketball atmosphere in the Patriot League. The place is almost full, including the student sections. On a Saturday night against Army.
For Bucknell old-timers, it is like the Patrick King-Mike Bright era in Davis on steroids.
Army 6, Bucknell 4 (15:32 first)
Bad news for Bucknell. Point guard Abe Badmus came off the floor hobbling around the 18:50 mark. They were looking at his right ankle. He is not on the Bison bench, apparently having gone to the training room for treatment.
First subs for Bucknell (aside from griffin for the injured Badmus), not McNaughton and Mastropaolo, but Rob Thomas and Donald Brown. Thomas at the two, with Bettencourt shifting to the point. Brown for Mack.
McNaughton for Tarik at the next stop.
Bettencourt with all of Bucknell's points, a pair of jumpers just inside the arc on each.
Bucknell 14, Army 11 (10:00 first)
Badmus returns to the BU bench around the 14:29 mark. Ankle is heavily taped. He walked with no noticeable limp.
John Griffin gives Bucknell its first lead at 10-9 with back-to-back threes.
Bucknell on an 8-2 run. Bison shooting 6-13, 46.2 percent.
Army 4-11, 36.4 percent.
Bucknell 17, Army 15 (7:27 first)
Badmus at the scorers table to return at the 8 minute mark.
He will be in following this timeout.
Army briefly went back on top, 15-14, but Charles Lee answered with a three. He was just fouled on a breakaway and will be at the line for two after this timeout.
Jimmy Sewell in his warm-ups has the very last seat at the far end of Army's bench.
Bucknell 22, Army 15 (3:54)
Charles Lee on a one-man 8-0 run for Bucknell. Army has not scored in about 4 minutes.
Bison come out and show some press. They have done this from time to time in several games, though not usually in full bore go for the steal mode.
Pat Flannery talked about pressing more in the preseason. You have to wonder, are the Bison working on this with a purpose other than just to show opponents some wrinkles in the film?
Corban Bates air balls a hook shot, hears it throughout the next possession, then tries to bull through McNaughton in frustration and is called for the charge, His third, Army's 7th team foul.
Bucknell 25, Army 18 (HALFTIME)
Bucknell trapping press causes first turnover at around 3:50, a wild pass trying to beat it that goes out of bounds. Brown is out on top as the chaser in this press.
Army's Doug Williams gets a bail out call with the shot clock running out, but bricks both shots at the 2:43 mark. Now over five minutes without an Army point.
Marshall Jackson breaks the scoreless stretch with a layup at the 1:11 mark. Is fouled and completes the three-point play.
Lee answers with a fadeaway J. He is on an 11-2 run of his own.
Jackson with 10 for Army. No other Cadets with more than 2.
Army shooting 7-20 (35 percent). Bucknell 9-25 (36 percent)
Bucknell with 10 second chance points and 6 points off 10 Army turnovers. Army has 4 off 6 BU giveaways.
HALFTIME: Good news from the halftime entertainment. None of the trampoline dunkers broke a leg this time. Apparently, according to one of the reporters who was at the game, two years ago one of them did.
Bucknell 34, Army 18 (18:42 second)
No real surprise, Bucknell went to McNaughton on its first possession. the big guy was fouled, and made one of two, his first point of the night.
Bucknell got the offensive rebound when he missed the second, resulting in a Bettencourt three.
They repeated the trick again when Mastropaolo was fouled making a layup and missed the free throw. Bettencourt now with 10 points.
It is now a 9-0 run in the first 1:18 of the second half. Army already with three team fouls.
Bucknell 38, Army 22 (15:56 second)
McNaughton's first bucket at the 17:06 mark. Next BU possession he draws Bates fourth personal and knocks down both free throws. McNaughton now with 5 after a scoreless first half.
Bucknell 52, Army 31 (8:58 to go)
15:30 mark, Donald Brown goes down hard. It looks bad, as he writhes in pain, but he later hops off and walks off on his own. That's two injury scares now for the Bison -- the last thing you want to see in a meaningless (other than for BU's unbeaten conference mark) game heading into the postseason.
Bates gets his fifth personal at the 13:32 mark and is serenaded with "Nah, Nah, Nah, Nah, Hey, hey Goodbye."
Lee knocks down both free throws to push the lead over 20, then takes a seat, Thomas giving him a break.
Bucknell with Mastropaolo, Thomas, Badmus, Griffin and Vegotsky on the floor. Now that is going small.
12:08, McNaughton and Brown back in.
somebody else will need to score for Army. Matt Bell, who has all 8 second half points for Army, also sits down at the 12:08 mark.
The answer is John Moonshower. His jumper at the 11:27 mark is Army's first non-Bell points of the half.
If you said John Who?, you are not alone. Moonshower is a 6-5 freshman who has seen time in 11 games this season. He has seen more time the past five games, scoring 9 against Lehigh and 8 against Lafayette.
Bucknell 61, Army 45 (3:04 to play)
With 4:48 to go, another injury scare for Bucknell. It's Brown again. This time he is on the floor holding his head. He walks off, but Flannery is letting the officials have it from the far sideline. My guess is it has to do with the amount of rough play they are letting go under the Bucknell basket.
With 3:21 to go, the "Warm up the tank" chants start.
Bucknell with three in double figures now: Lee-16, Bettencourt-13, McNaughton 11.
For Army: Bell has 14. Jackson still stuck on 10.
Bucknell 70, Army 47 (FINAL)
Still another injury score for Bucknell. With 2:24 to play, Charles Lee lets out a yelp and grabs the small of his back, just above his right hip. Flannery's ire with the officials results in a T.
Looks like we will not be seeing Jimmy Sewell.
Latest chants: "Navy's better", followed by "Undefeated."
Biggest cheers of the night come with 49.5 to go when Holland Mack scores on a hard-work put back of his own miss. He has two chances for a career high, but misses a free throw, then bricks a three after BU gets the offensive rebound.
Four Bison finish in double figures: Lee with 18, Bettencourt 13, Griffin with 12 thanks to a 6 for 6 night at the foul line and McNaughton with 11.
The crowd on its feet as the clock ticks off. Griffin, after the buzzer, drains a top of the arc three for practice.
Chris Niesz, the lone senior on last year's team, out on the floor to greet his old teammates as they leave the floor.
One more Saturday night
| | | |
American at Lafayette, 1 p.m.: A preview of next week's quarterfinal game, with the winner here getting the No. 4 seed and the right to wear home whites when these two meet again Friday in Lewisburg. Officially, a Lafayette win would force the tiebreaker to the RPI. According to Ken Pomeroy's calculations, the two teams are 238 (AU) and 239 in those rankings. While that might vary slightly from the official RPI used by the NCAA, Pomeroy's numbers are never off by much. Suffice to say, the winner will have the higher RPI after this one is played.
The league resumes of these two are nearly identical. Both have been swept by the big three, swept Colgate and Army and split with Navy, both winning at home. About the only difference has been that American has stayed within single digits of the big three at home and owns the homecourt win ovber Lafayette from their previous meeting.
American shot 56 percent in that one, while holding Lafayette to a 40-percent night. The Leopards are a much better at home, especially on offense. In six home league games, the Leopards are averaging 67.7 points per game. In seven conference road games, they are scoring 60.4 per game.
| | | |
Colgate at Navy, 3 p.m.: The winner gets the No. 6 seed and a neutral court matchup with the loser of Sunday's Holy Cross-Lehigh game. The loser gets the winner of that game on the winner's floor.
Colgate won by three in Hamilton when these two met last week. That was Colgate's only win over a team not named Army since the new year. That win ended a four-game losing streak for the Raiders, who promptly started a new slide when they lost at home to Holy Cross Wednesday.
It's almost hard to remember that Colgate, which is 1-11 this season on opponents' floors, started the season 4-3. Since then, the Raiders have won only four more games against Division I opponents, only one against a non-service academy school.
| | | | |
Army at Bucknell, 7 p.m. Bucknell looks to become the first team in league history to go through the conference season unbeaten in another preview of a first round matchup. Tarik Viaer-McClymont and Holland Mack will get their first, and only, career starts in the senior night matchup in Sojka.
Bucknell had to rally to beat Army when the two met in West Point. That was in no small part because the Black Knights shot 51.2 percent from the field. Army is the only Patriot League team to shoot over 50 percent against Bucknell all season (and one of only four teams to do it all year against BU). Between that and the chance to finish unbeaten in the conference, Bucknell should have no trouble getting up for a game that otherwise has ho-hum written all over it.
| | | | |
Friday, February 24, 2006
From the mailbag
We get all kinds of e-mail here at Hoop Time.
Some of it is kind, like this message from Dave of Manassas, Va.:
Take this message, which came from someone who felt the need to hide behind a vulgar pseudonym who filled out the feedback form like this: City: You are State: dumb Zip: moron.
Not sure why that person felt the need to hide its identity. The actual message of the e-mail, which pointed out an error in one of our posts, read like this:
Spelling aside, though, that message, like the handful of more courteous one making the same point, was correct. In previewing the Lehigh at Bucknell game, we did confuse the issue. What it should have said was Lehigh needed to win both, and get help from Army, to claim the No. 1 seed. A win in either game, at Bucknell or at HC, would indeed give the Mountain Hawks the No. 2 seed.
They might also have pointed out that the Lehigh-Holy Cross game is Sunday, not Saturday.
Bottom line remains, Lehigh is in a must-win situation. Although the loss to Bucknell actually boosted Lehigh's RPI significantly, the Mountain Hawks remain at 147, 17 spots behind Holy Cross. Maybe one of the math whizs out there who knows how to tweak these formulas could let us know the specifics, but we are guessing that if Lehigh had played at least one Division 1 game instead. Remember, the road is your friend in the RPI.
David from Chantilly Va. writes:
Actually though David, if you think this season is an anomaly, or that Lehigh v. Bucknell was really "one of the most poorly called games in history", then you have a very limited history of Patriot League basketball. This has never been a well officiated league.
Nobody would argue the Lehigh-Bucknell game was whistled flawlessly. But "one of the most poorly called games in history"? There were some bad calls, some glaringly bad, but it was nowhere near the worst we have ever seen. The worst cases are when the officiating is so inconsistent and uneven that it effects the outcome of the game..
That was not the case in the Lehigh-Bucknell game. In that game, what happened is what seems to happen all the time. In the first half, the officials let the two teams play, in the second half they tightened up. If anything, that benefited Lehigh by keeping Bucknell off the foul line in the first half.
But despite our complaints about Rich Giallella, who seems to violate the most sacred commandment of officiating (Thou shalt not be noticed) every time we see him, the game was pretty evenly whistled.
Lehigh fans will forever complain about Badmus fouling Neptune, arguing, incorrectly that there should have been a flagrant foul call (while never mentioning the no= call on the Neptune reach-in at midcourt that precipitated the play). Bucknell fans were equally outraged when Olivero grabbed Badmus at midcourt, negating what would have been a Charles Lee breakaway (yes it was intentional, but no, it never gets called and thus should not have been called there).
There is an argument that the previous schedule setup, with Friday and Sunday league games, allowed the league to get a better pool of officials because it was not competing with other conferences (aside, primarily from the Ivy League) for their services. But both coaches and observers around the league lamented that many nights those higher level officials seemed to be there just to pick up a quick paycheck.
Certainly there is little evidence that the officiating was any better last season than this season.
Bottom line, between the Patriot League's lower per game paycheck, the inconveniences of travel to many of its campuses and the paucity of legitimate TV games (the refs have egos, too, just like the players), this is not a conference that will get the top officials for most of its games.
Think the officiating is bad in the men's games, watch the women's games sometime. There, the pool of officials seems to be even younger and less experienced.
Some of it is kind, like this message from Dave of Manassas, Va.:
I love your blog. keep up the good work.Others are less complimentary.
Take this message, which came from someone who felt the need to hide behind a vulgar pseudonym who filled out the feedback form like this: City: You are State: dumb Zip: moron.
Not sure why that person felt the need to hide its identity. The actual message of the e-mail, which pointed out an error in one of our posts, read like this:
"They need to win here, and again Saturday at Holy Cross, just to hold on to the No. 2 seed. They lose any ties because of 157 RPI."Have to admit, it does take a little of the sting out of being called a moron when they spell an easy word wrong in the message.
Completely wrong. They only need to win 1. Do you pay attention to anything YOU write or just point out when other people, like Andre Williams, are wrong? Instead of criticizing others maybe you ought to check your own fatcs moron.
Spelling aside, though, that message, like the handful of more courteous one making the same point, was correct. In previewing the Lehigh at Bucknell game, we did confuse the issue. What it should have said was Lehigh needed to win both, and get help from Army, to claim the No. 1 seed. A win in either game, at Bucknell or at HC, would indeed give the Mountain Hawks the No. 2 seed.
They might also have pointed out that the Lehigh-Holy Cross game is Sunday, not Saturday.
Bottom line remains, Lehigh is in a must-win situation. Although the loss to Bucknell actually boosted Lehigh's RPI significantly, the Mountain Hawks remain at 147, 17 spots behind Holy Cross. Maybe one of the math whizs out there who knows how to tweak these formulas could let us know the specifics, but we are guessing that if Lehigh had played at least one Division 1 game instead. Remember, the road is your friend in the RPI.
David from Chantilly Va. writes:
Something needs to be said on your blog about the poor league officiating this season. Yeah, I am a Lehigh alum, but I have seen American and Bucknell games called just as poorly. It is terrible. If you watched the Lehigh v. Bucknell game on Wednesday and did not think that it was one of the most poorly called games in history, then you are blind. It was a complete travesty for the league, the game, and the two schools. You have to say something about this...it is such crap.Since when have we hesitated to comment on the officials?
Actually though David, if you think this season is an anomaly, or that Lehigh v. Bucknell was really "one of the most poorly called games in history", then you have a very limited history of Patriot League basketball. This has never been a well officiated league.
Nobody would argue the Lehigh-Bucknell game was whistled flawlessly. But "one of the most poorly called games in history"? There were some bad calls, some glaringly bad, but it was nowhere near the worst we have ever seen. The worst cases are when the officiating is so inconsistent and uneven that it effects the outcome of the game..
That was not the case in the Lehigh-Bucknell game. In that game, what happened is what seems to happen all the time. In the first half, the officials let the two teams play, in the second half they tightened up. If anything, that benefited Lehigh by keeping Bucknell off the foul line in the first half.
But despite our complaints about Rich Giallella, who seems to violate the most sacred commandment of officiating (Thou shalt not be noticed) every time we see him, the game was pretty evenly whistled.
Lehigh fans will forever complain about Badmus fouling Neptune, arguing, incorrectly that there should have been a flagrant foul call (while never mentioning the no= call on the Neptune reach-in at midcourt that precipitated the play). Bucknell fans were equally outraged when Olivero grabbed Badmus at midcourt, negating what would have been a Charles Lee breakaway (yes it was intentional, but no, it never gets called and thus should not have been called there).
There is an argument that the previous schedule setup, with Friday and Sunday league games, allowed the league to get a better pool of officials because it was not competing with other conferences (aside, primarily from the Ivy League) for their services. But both coaches and observers around the league lamented that many nights those higher level officials seemed to be there just to pick up a quick paycheck.
Certainly there is little evidence that the officiating was any better last season than this season.
Bottom line, between the Patriot League's lower per game paycheck, the inconveniences of travel to many of its campuses and the paucity of legitimate TV games (the refs have egos, too, just like the players), this is not a conference that will get the top officials for most of its games.
Think the officiating is bad in the men's games, watch the women's games sometime. There, the pool of officials seems to be even younger and less experienced.
Report: Laf. prez pro scholarship
The Lafayette student publication The Laf that college president Dan Weiss has indicated to a faculty group that he intends to recommend athletic scholaships to the school's trustees.
Writes the Laf:
Writes the Laf:
One professor who wished to remain anonymous said the discussion confirmed the president's support of athletic scholarships. "Based on what [Weiss] was saying, that's going to be his recommendation [to the Board of Trustees]," she said.The story says the faculty, which have opposed scholarships in the past, were skeptical following the meeting with Weiss.
A buddy story
You night remember Jerry Brewer of the Louisville Courier-Journal as the AP voter who regularly goes public with his weekly poll ballot and an explanation of his votes.
In Friday's Courier-Journal, to the relationship between Louisville coach Rick Pitino and Holy Cross coach Ralph Willard.
In Friday's Courier-Journal, to the relationship between Louisville coach Rick Pitino and Holy Cross coach Ralph Willard.
American 65, Navy 48
The dance card is set for the Lewisburg pod after American shut down Navy's high-scoring offense to clinch a spot for itself, and Lafayette, in the four-five game in the Patriot League Tournament.
The winner of Saturday's first round preview in Easton between American and Lafayette will determine which team gets to wear the home whites.
Navy, meanwhile, will host Colgate Saturday to determine which will be the six seed and which will be the seventh. The winner of that game will face the No. 3 seed on a neutral floor. The loser gets the No. 2 seed on the No. 2 seed's home court. Either way, the Mids are headed to either Lehigh or Holy Cross. That destination will be determined Sunday in the conference's final regular season game.
In this game, it was American's defense that made the difference. The Midshipmen came in the highest scoring team in the league, averaging better than 69 points per game. But American held Navy to its second-lowest scoring total of the season.
The Mids shot 18 for 50 from the field (36 percent) and made just 3 of 11 three-point tries. The Eagles did a particularly good job on Navy's Greg Sprink, the league's No. 3 scorer. Sprink's 10 points were five below his average, and most of those came at the foul line. From the field, Sprink was 1 for 6, his only bucket a three-pointer with 4:47 left to play that cut American's lead at the time from 24 points to 21. Sprink had gone off for 7 treys and 27 points when Navy beat AU the first time the two met.
American had 14 steals, including 4 by Derrick Mercer, and forced 20 Navy turnovers, which the Eagles converted into 27 points.
Arvydas Eitutavicius led American with 15 points. Andre Ingram added 12.
Carlton Baldwin and Sprink each had 10 for the Mids.
Navy captain, senior Matt Fannin, reinjured his knee and played only 16 minutes. Mids coach Billy Lange indicated Fannin might have been able to return had the game still been competitive.
The winner of Saturday's first round preview in Easton between American and Lafayette will determine which team gets to wear the home whites.
Navy, meanwhile, will host Colgate Saturday to determine which will be the six seed and which will be the seventh. The winner of that game will face the No. 3 seed on a neutral floor. The loser gets the No. 2 seed on the No. 2 seed's home court. Either way, the Mids are headed to either Lehigh or Holy Cross. That destination will be determined Sunday in the conference's final regular season game.
In this game, it was American's defense that made the difference. The Midshipmen came in the highest scoring team in the league, averaging better than 69 points per game. But American held Navy to its second-lowest scoring total of the season.
The Mids shot 18 for 50 from the field (36 percent) and made just 3 of 11 three-point tries. The Eagles did a particularly good job on Navy's Greg Sprink, the league's No. 3 scorer. Sprink's 10 points were five below his average, and most of those came at the foul line. From the field, Sprink was 1 for 6, his only bucket a three-pointer with 4:47 left to play that cut American's lead at the time from 24 points to 21. Sprink had gone off for 7 treys and 27 points when Navy beat AU the first time the two met.
American had 14 steals, including 4 by Derrick Mercer, and forced 20 Navy turnovers, which the Eagles converted into 27 points.
Arvydas Eitutavicius led American with 15 points. Andre Ingram added 12.
Carlton Baldwin and Sprink each had 10 for the Mids.
Navy captain, senior Matt Fannin, reinjured his knee and played only 16 minutes. Mids coach Billy Lange indicated Fannin might have been able to return had the game still been competitive.
Thursday, February 23, 2006
From the desk of Ralph
In his over at CoachRalph.com, Holy Cross coach Ralph Willard recaps the Navy and American games ("American's students do a great job of supporting their team and have a special affection for Holy Cross."), answers some frequently asked questions about recruiting, playing time and argues persuasively against the whole idea of a postseason league tournament at the Patriot League level:
Conference tournaments were started by the big conferences to initially generate income and later as a way to get more teams from their conference into the NCAA Tourney. In our league they don't generate income, and as a one bid conference all they serve to do is possibly eliminate a team that has proven to be the best over the course of the regular season from representing our league in the NCAA Tournament. And they occur over spring break, when students are out. They also lower the RPI of the regular season champion if they do win.Given the current set-up, which generates no tournament atmosphere or buzz, Ralph might be right, though our preference would be a return to a single site tournament, not an end to the tournament.
Navy at AU takes center stage
| | | |
Navy at American, 7 p.m.: An American win would lock the Eagles into the four-five game against Lafayette in the first round of the league tournament. A Navy win keeps the Mids chances of grabbing one of the 4-5 spots alive.
Navy overcame a 6-point halftime deficit to beat the Eagles when the two met in Annapolis earlier this season. It was Navy's first win over American since AU joined the Patriot League.
| | | |
Balanced Bison clinch title
(Originally posted Wednesday at 10:50 p.m., Links added 6:49 a.m.)
If you watch some of that poker that seems to be on round the clock on one cable channel or another these days, then you know the simple secret. Two of a kind never wins when the other guy has a hand full of good cards.
That was the lesson of Bucknell's Patriot League regular season title clinching 81-70 win over Lehigh Wednesday night in front of a packed house if 4,136 in sold out Sojka Arena.
Jose Olivero and Joe Knight were a heckuva pair for Lehigh. Not aces maybe, but definitely face cards. Olivero poured in 21 points, hitting 7 of 16 from the field, including 4 three-pointers. Knight added 15, the majority coming on three key treys, each one seemingly keeping Lehigh's hopes alive when they seemed about to fade.
With Kyle Neptune chipping in with 12 points, Lehigh managed to become the first Patriot League team in 32 games to score 70 points against Bucknell. Lehigh became just the fourth team all season to score 70 against the Bison, and its 24-of-52 (46.2 percent) shooting effort made the Mountain Hawks the fifth team all season to shoot better than 45 percent against Bucknell's vaunted defense, which ranks in the top five nationally.
Normally, the way Lehigh plays defense, that would be enough for a win. Not against a balanced Bucknell team that seemed to switch weapons every time Lehigh figured out where the last attack had come from.
Bucknell's 81 points were the second most allowed by Lehigh all season, just three shy of the 84 No. 2 Villanova put up on the Mountain Hawks back in November, when Joe Knight was not in the Lehigh rotation. Bucknell's 47.1 percent shooting (24-51) was the third-best shooting night a Lehigh opponent has enjoyed, just behind Princeton's 51.2 percent (go figure) night and 'Nova's 49.2 percent effort, both in November.
Making Bucknell's offensive showing even more impressive was where the points came from. The Bison had four guys in double figures, led by junior point guard Abe Badmus, who scored a career-high 17 points on a variety of twisting drives and jumpers. Badmus also had 4 steals.
"He is a competitor. Defensively he is real tough. He likes to get up there and really takes you out of what you want to do. Offensively he was really aggressive, attacking off of the dribble and he knocked down some jumpers. He kind of mixed it up and made a lot of big shots for them," said Knight, who spent much of the night chasing Badmus.
Charles Lee added 16, 13 of those coming in the second half.
"(Lee) demands a full 40 minute effort. We lost him a couple of times. He drove the ball a couple of times a couple of times and finished. He got his points in a variety of ways and it definitely hurt us," Taylor said.
Kevin Bettencourt added 13 and Chris McNaughton 10. But the difference between Lehigh and Bucknell was not one extra Bison in double figures. It was the balance the Bison showed. Out of 10 guys to see action for the Bison, 9 scored. Not in mop-up time, either, Nine of the 10 were on the board by the time Bucknell took a 36-26 halftime lead.
"They are a very good basketball team. We wanted to try to limit some of their top players and sometimes you get burned by a couple of the other guys. We didn't do a very good job executing our overall game plan because everybody for Bucknell hurt us," said Lehigh coach Billy Taylor.
Two plays pretty well demonstrate the difference. The first came with 15:42 to play in the first half when Bucknell, with the shot clock running down, went not to McNaughton, Lee, Bettencourt or even Badmus, but to Mastropaolo, who buried a jump hook from the right side as the shot clock expired.
A little later in the half, Lehigh had a similar situation, inbounding the ball with four seconds on the shot clock. Olivero, who was out of the game, subbed back in a hurry. To nobody's surprise, including Bettencourt who was a stripe on Olivero's shorts as he made a cut across the lane and had a mitt in Olivero's face as he heaved up a fadeaway jumper that was off the mark.
"We had some different guys score big baskets. They were challenging Abe to shoot the basketball and he can shoot the basketball. You're not going to back off him like that. Donald Brown, who they backed off of, ended up with 5 assists and no turnovers. Charles Lee had four assists and no turnovers. When you get that kind of passing, that is going to open up Kevin and Abe and Chris," Flannery said.
The Bison also benefited by attacking the basket throughout, leading to a tremendous edge at the foul line. Bucknell hit 26 of 35 from the stripe, 23 of 31 in the second half. Lehigh only shot 16 free throws, making 14.
Bucknell only trailed once, falling behind 5-4 on a three-pointer by Mitch Gilfillan-- his only bucket of the night. Badmus answered with the first of his two treys and the Bison never again trailed. It was 36-26 at the half, after McNaughton scored on a put back at the buzzer.
The Bison pushed the lead to double digits three times early in the second half. Each time, Lehigh managed to cut the lead back to single digits, closing to within 4 on an Olivero trey with 7:28 to go. By the time Olivero hit a layup with 1:23 to play , which coincidentally was Lehigh's next field goal, Bucknell had pushed the lead to 15.
The win puts Bucknell a win over last place Army away from becoming the first ever Patriot League team to run the table in conference play. tickets for Saturday's otherwise meaningless Senior Day matchup, set to tip at 7 p.m., are already hard to come by.
Lehigh, meanwhile, needs to regroup to go on the road Saturday to Worcester, where a win over Holy Cross would still give the Mountain Hawks the No. 2 seed for the tournament and a homecourt edge in the first two rounds. A Holy Cross win reverses that scenario.
Gameblog
If you watch some of that poker that seems to be on round the clock on one cable channel or another these days, then you know the simple secret. Two of a kind never wins when the other guy has a hand full of good cards.
That was the lesson of Bucknell's Patriot League regular season title clinching 81-70 win over Lehigh Wednesday night in front of a packed house if 4,136 in sold out Sojka Arena.
Jose Olivero and Joe Knight were a heckuva pair for Lehigh. Not aces maybe, but definitely face cards. Olivero poured in 21 points, hitting 7 of 16 from the field, including 4 three-pointers. Knight added 15, the majority coming on three key treys, each one seemingly keeping Lehigh's hopes alive when they seemed about to fade.
With Kyle Neptune chipping in with 12 points, Lehigh managed to become the first Patriot League team in 32 games to score 70 points against Bucknell. Lehigh became just the fourth team all season to score 70 against the Bison, and its 24-of-52 (46.2 percent) shooting effort made the Mountain Hawks the fifth team all season to shoot better than 45 percent against Bucknell's vaunted defense, which ranks in the top five nationally.
Normally, the way Lehigh plays defense, that would be enough for a win. Not against a balanced Bucknell team that seemed to switch weapons every time Lehigh figured out where the last attack had come from.
Bucknell's 81 points were the second most allowed by Lehigh all season, just three shy of the 84 No. 2 Villanova put up on the Mountain Hawks back in November, when Joe Knight was not in the Lehigh rotation. Bucknell's 47.1 percent shooting (24-51) was the third-best shooting night a Lehigh opponent has enjoyed, just behind Princeton's 51.2 percent (go figure) night and 'Nova's 49.2 percent effort, both in November.
Making Bucknell's offensive showing even more impressive was where the points came from. The Bison had four guys in double figures, led by junior point guard Abe Badmus, who scored a career-high 17 points on a variety of twisting drives and jumpers. Badmus also had 4 steals.
"He is a competitor. Defensively he is real tough. He likes to get up there and really takes you out of what you want to do. Offensively he was really aggressive, attacking off of the dribble and he knocked down some jumpers. He kind of mixed it up and made a lot of big shots for them," said Knight, who spent much of the night chasing Badmus.
Charles Lee added 16, 13 of those coming in the second half.
"(Lee) demands a full 40 minute effort. We lost him a couple of times. He drove the ball a couple of times a couple of times and finished. He got his points in a variety of ways and it definitely hurt us," Taylor said.
Kevin Bettencourt added 13 and Chris McNaughton 10. But the difference between Lehigh and Bucknell was not one extra Bison in double figures. It was the balance the Bison showed. Out of 10 guys to see action for the Bison, 9 scored. Not in mop-up time, either, Nine of the 10 were on the board by the time Bucknell took a 36-26 halftime lead.
"They are a very good basketball team. We wanted to try to limit some of their top players and sometimes you get burned by a couple of the other guys. We didn't do a very good job executing our overall game plan because everybody for Bucknell hurt us," said Lehigh coach Billy Taylor.
Two plays pretty well demonstrate the difference. The first came with 15:42 to play in the first half when Bucknell, with the shot clock running down, went not to McNaughton, Lee, Bettencourt or even Badmus, but to Mastropaolo, who buried a jump hook from the right side as the shot clock expired.
A little later in the half, Lehigh had a similar situation, inbounding the ball with four seconds on the shot clock. Olivero, who was out of the game, subbed back in a hurry. To nobody's surprise, including Bettencourt who was a stripe on Olivero's shorts as he made a cut across the lane and had a mitt in Olivero's face as he heaved up a fadeaway jumper that was off the mark.
"We had some different guys score big baskets. They were challenging Abe to shoot the basketball and he can shoot the basketball. You're not going to back off him like that. Donald Brown, who they backed off of, ended up with 5 assists and no turnovers. Charles Lee had four assists and no turnovers. When you get that kind of passing, that is going to open up Kevin and Abe and Chris," Flannery said.
The Bison also benefited by attacking the basket throughout, leading to a tremendous edge at the foul line. Bucknell hit 26 of 35 from the stripe, 23 of 31 in the second half. Lehigh only shot 16 free throws, making 14.
Bucknell only trailed once, falling behind 5-4 on a three-pointer by Mitch Gilfillan-- his only bucket of the night. Badmus answered with the first of his two treys and the Bison never again trailed. It was 36-26 at the half, after McNaughton scored on a put back at the buzzer.
The Bison pushed the lead to double digits three times early in the second half. Each time, Lehigh managed to cut the lead back to single digits, closing to within 4 on an Olivero trey with 7:28 to go. By the time Olivero hit a layup with 1:23 to play , which coincidentally was Lehigh's next field goal, Bucknell had pushed the lead to 15.
The win puts Bucknell a win over last place Army away from becoming the first ever Patriot League team to run the table in conference play. tickets for Saturday's otherwise meaningless Senior Day matchup, set to tip at 7 p.m., are already hard to come by.
Lehigh, meanwhile, needs to regroup to go on the road Saturday to Worcester, where a win over Holy Cross would still give the Mountain Hawks the No. 2 seed for the tournament and a homecourt edge in the first two rounds. A Holy Cross win reverses that scenario.
Lafayette 73, Army 64
(Originally posted 1:10 a.m., link added at 6:47 a.m.)
From the :
The No. 4 and No. 5 teams get to meet in the first round of the tournament, avoiding a first round matchup against Holy Cross or Lehigh. Only Army vs. Bucknell is locked in at this point.
From the :
Andrei Capusan scored 21 points and Lafayette used a late 14-4 run to beat Army 73-64 Wednesday night.The winner of Saturday's American at Lafayette game will be the No. 4 seed in the tournament. The loser gets the No. 5 spot if Navy loses one of its two remaining, tonight at American and Saturday at home against Colgate. Should the tiebreaker between Navy and either AU or Lafayette come down to RPI, Navy would lose out.
Andrew Brown scored 15 points and Everest Schmidt finished with 11 for the Leopards (11-15, 5-8 Patriot League), who beat Army for the eight straight time.
Sophomore guard Jarell Brown led Army (5-20, 1-12) with 19 points. Matt Bell added 13 points and six rebounds.
The No. 4 and No. 5 teams get to meet in the first round of the tournament, avoiding a first round matchup against Holy Cross or Lehigh. Only Army vs. Bucknell is locked in at this point.
Holy Cross 62, Colgate 56
From the :
Colgate is now locked into either a six or seven seed.
Keith Simmons scored 21 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead Holy Cross to a 62-56 win over Colgate on Wednesday night.Holy Cross hosts Lehigh Saturday. The winner gets the No. 2 seed in the league tournament and a chance to host the first two rounds.
Kevin Hamilton added 17 points and Torey Thomas contributed 10 for the Crusaders (17-11, 10-3 Patriot League).
Colgate is now locked into either a six or seven seed.
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Lehigh-Bucknell live gameblog
The signs on the doors at Sojka Pavilion say "Sold Out."
They might be able to squeeze a few extra bodies into the section reserved for Bucknell's pep band. After allegedly going 25 deep for the Northern Iowa Tv show, it has dwindled back to less than 15 for this key Patriot League showdown.
Lehigh brought a bus. They are crammed into a small section behind the Lehigh bench. No sign of the usual L*E*H*I*G*H paint guys.
Rich Giallella in the house again tonight. Who assigns these guys? How can Bucknell have the same guy in three out of four league games? Surprised they didn't fly him into Worcester.
14:27 til game time
The band has swelled to about 16 people now, with 5 minutes until the tip.
The student sections are filling, but still a lot of empty seats.
Among the signs:
Cheney shoots better than Lehigh
You can't rob this bank
Joe Knight: My BAC > your GPA
(it could be true, these students are fired up)
National anthem by a girl in a McNaughton jersey.
Bucky Bison has a uniform now, too. It's an old white No. 50, split between the numbers in the back to get it over this costume. A front slit might have been a better choice because the big Bison chin covers the top of the front.
Still, a big step up from that Fred Rogers vest.
Bucknell 9, Lehigh 5 (15:25 first half)
First possession, Bucknell goes to McNaughton, who beats a double team and is fouled by Mike Fischman. McNaughton makes both.
First guy off the Lehigh bench is James Anderson. Knight follows at the same stoppage.
Brown for Mastropaolo at 17:18.
Giallella makes himself part of the show around the 16:30 mark, checking a TV replay on an Abe Badmus three. The guy who first signaled three was right on the play, both in proximity and correctness of his call.
With 15:37 to go, shot clock running down, Bucknell goes to Darren Mastropaolo down low. His jump hook gives him 4 points and Bucknell a 9-5 lead at the first timeout.
Bucknell 16, Lehigh 10 (11:56 first)
Both teams shooting well early. At the 13 minutes mark, BU was 5-7, LU 4-7. Lehigh, though, with 4 turnovers, Bucknell just 1.
Olivero with 5 of Lehigh's 10. Five different Bison have scored already, none of them named Charles Lee. Donald Brown and Mastropaolo with 4 each.
Bucknell 21, Lehigh 12 (7:41 first)
Difference between the two teams. Bucknell with a host of "go to" guys. Even Mastropaolo got the rock in a shot clock expiring situation.
Lehigh, on the other hand, has an inbound play with 4 seconds to go on the shot clock and Billy Taylor hustles Olivero back on to the floor. His forced jumper over Bettencourt was no good.
Fans all over the officials as the team fouls reach 7 for Bucknell, 2 for Lehigh at the 8:07 mark. Seconds later Badmus gets his second, making it 8-2.
Lehigh from the field: 5-15 (33.3 percent) 2-5 from three-point range. 8 turnovers
Bucknell 8-15 from the field, 3-5 on threes, 6 TO, 3 blocked shots
Bucknell 26, Lehigh 18 (3:47 first half)
Knight makes a pair of free throws at the 7:41 mark. His first points.
Lehigh is now 7-22 (31.8 percent) from the field.
Bucknell 29, Lehigh 22 (1:30 first half)
Vegotsky three gives Bucknell its first double digit lead at 29-18. Lehigh scores four straight to get back to 7, the last two on a Joe Knight jumper at 1:30, his first field goal of the game.
Word on press row, Colgate is up 10 on Holy Cross.
Bucknell 36, Lehigh 26 (Halftime)
McNaughton tips in his own miss at the buzzer to make it a 10-point Bison lead at the intermission.
The 6-11 German scored Bucknell's last 4 points, he has 8 on 3-5 shooting.
Charles Lee now 1 for 6, but when he finally made one, he made it count ... a trey from the right corner.
Donald Brown and Abe Badmus each with 5 for the Bison. 10 guys have played for Bucknell, 9 have scored. Bison shooting 45.2 percent (14-31) from the field. They are 5-9 from the arc.
Lehigh is led by Knight, who scored four of his 6 at the foul line. Jose Olivero with 5. Knight is 1-4 from the field, Olivero 2-6.
CORRECTION: HOLY CROSS UP 32-22 AT THE HALF (Elsewhere, Colgate 32-22 at the half.) Army and Lafayette tied at 35 all, also at the break.
Lehigh finishes the half 10 for 25 (40 percent) from the field.
Bucknell 42, Lehigh 35 (15:35 to play)
16:20 to go, Badmus comes up with a steal near midcourt, is grabbed by Olivero and refs do not call intentional foul, costing Lee a breakaway.
Knight with a three in the left corner, one of the few open looks he has had all night, cuts the Bucknell lead to 7 at the first media timeout of the half.
A Bucknell student just hit a halfcourt shot to win something during the timeout. He did not call the bank, but it counts anyhow.
Bucknell 49, Lehigh 40 (11:52 to go)
Knight with back to back threes gets it to 42-38. Donald Brown answers with a layin. Badmus a three and it is back to 47-38.
Confusion still along press row about the HC-Colgate score. The online scoreboards all show HC up, but BU SID said a call to Colgate press row had it the other way around.
Bucknell 55, Lehigh 45 (9:30 to play)
Bucknell in the 1 and 1 with 11:20 to go after Bryan White's third personal, LU's 7th team foul. Lee hits both ends and Bucknell shows a serious trapping press for the first time.
Number to watch: 70. That is the most points Lehigh has allowed all season (against D3 Muhlenberg). Bucknell is 7-0 when it scores 70.
Checking Colgate , HC up 6, under 3 to play.
Bucknell 57, Lehigh 52
Knight keeping Lehigh in this one, He now has 15 points, including three treys.
Olivero with 10.
Badmus with 14 for Bucknell. McNaughton has 10.
Bucknell 66, Lehigh 55 (4:46 to go)
Badmus now with a career-high 16. His previous best was 15 at Lehigh earlier this season.
Lehigh closed to 59-55 on an Olivero trey, their 7th of the game. Since then BU on a 7-0 spurt.
Bucknell 68, Lehigh 57 (3:36 to play)
McNaughton's fourth personal comes on a horrible call as an out of control Olivero jumps into three Bison defenders in the paint at the 4:27 mark. It was also BU's seventh team foul.
Olivero made both free throws, breaking up Bucknell's modest run, which now stands at 9-2.
Lee heating up, he now has 11, including Bucknell's last 4.
Mastropaolo with 8 points, one shy of his career high.
Bucknell 77, Lehigh 65 (1:03 left)
What absolute BS. At the 2:12 mark, Neptune going in for a layup is fouled by Badmus. He stays down a little,though the trainer rolls him right over, so obviously no serious injury. But he is too hurt to shoot the free throws, whines Taylor, who subs Matt Szalachowski, an 87.5 percent free throw shooter, for Neptune, a 65.7 percent shooter. Neptune miraculously is recovered an at the scorers table by the time Szalachowski misses the second shot.
Olivero hits a trey with 1:03 left, Lehigh's first field goal since his last one, at the 7:27 mark.
Lehigh calls a quick time out, then fouls.
Bucknell 19-23 so far second half at the line.
BUCKNELL 81, LEHIGH 70(final)
Charles lee dribbles out the clock and tosses the ball deep into the crowd as Bucknell clinches the regular season title and home court for the tournament.
Lehigh will need a win at HC Saturday to grab the No. 2 seed. HC beat Colgate 62-56 in Hamilton.
Neptune's foul on Lee with 14.3 to go and BU up 10 brings a chorus of boos from BU fans who were patient with Taylor's fouling well after they should have ceased such shenanigans.
Four in double figures for Bucknell, led by Badmus' career-high 17. Lee with 16, 13 in the second half. Bettencourt with 13, McNaughton 10.
Bucknell finishes 24-51, 47.1 percent from the field.
Lehigh with three in doubles. Olivero with 21, Knight 15, Neptune 12.
Mountain Hawks go 24-52 (46.2 percent) from the field and become first Patriot League team to score 70 against Bucknell in 32 games.
Turnovers a key stat: Bucknell 10, Lehigh 18.
Bucknell 26-35 at the line. Lehigh 14-16.
Full story to follow.
They might be able to squeeze a few extra bodies into the section reserved for Bucknell's pep band. After allegedly going 25 deep for the Northern Iowa Tv show, it has dwindled back to less than 15 for this key Patriot League showdown.
Lehigh brought a bus. They are crammed into a small section behind the Lehigh bench. No sign of the usual L*E*H*I*G*H paint guys.
Rich Giallella in the house again tonight. Who assigns these guys? How can Bucknell have the same guy in three out of four league games? Surprised they didn't fly him into Worcester.
14:27 til game time
The band has swelled to about 16 people now, with 5 minutes until the tip.
The student sections are filling, but still a lot of empty seats.
Among the signs:
(it could be true, these students are fired up)
National anthem by a girl in a McNaughton jersey.
Bucky Bison has a uniform now, too. It's an old white No. 50, split between the numbers in the back to get it over this costume. A front slit might have been a better choice because the big Bison chin covers the top of the front.
Still, a big step up from that Fred Rogers vest.
Bucknell 9, Lehigh 5 (15:25 first half)
First possession, Bucknell goes to McNaughton, who beats a double team and is fouled by Mike Fischman. McNaughton makes both.
First guy off the Lehigh bench is James Anderson. Knight follows at the same stoppage.
Brown for Mastropaolo at 17:18.
Giallella makes himself part of the show around the 16:30 mark, checking a TV replay on an Abe Badmus three. The guy who first signaled three was right on the play, both in proximity and correctness of his call.
With 15:37 to go, shot clock running down, Bucknell goes to Darren Mastropaolo down low. His jump hook gives him 4 points and Bucknell a 9-5 lead at the first timeout.
Bucknell 16, Lehigh 10 (11:56 first)
Both teams shooting well early. At the 13 minutes mark, BU was 5-7, LU 4-7. Lehigh, though, with 4 turnovers, Bucknell just 1.
Olivero with 5 of Lehigh's 10. Five different Bison have scored already, none of them named Charles Lee. Donald Brown and Mastropaolo with 4 each.
Bucknell 21, Lehigh 12 (7:41 first)
Difference between the two teams. Bucknell with a host of "go to" guys. Even Mastropaolo got the rock in a shot clock expiring situation.
Lehigh, on the other hand, has an inbound play with 4 seconds to go on the shot clock and Billy Taylor hustles Olivero back on to the floor. His forced jumper over Bettencourt was no good.
Fans all over the officials as the team fouls reach 7 for Bucknell, 2 for Lehigh at the 8:07 mark. Seconds later Badmus gets his second, making it 8-2.
Lehigh from the field: 5-15 (33.3 percent) 2-5 from three-point range. 8 turnovers
Bucknell 8-15 from the field, 3-5 on threes, 6 TO, 3 blocked shots
Bucknell 26, Lehigh 18 (3:47 first half)
Knight makes a pair of free throws at the 7:41 mark. His first points.
Lehigh is now 7-22 (31.8 percent) from the field.
Bucknell 29, Lehigh 22 (1:30 first half)
Vegotsky three gives Bucknell its first double digit lead at 29-18. Lehigh scores four straight to get back to 7, the last two on a Joe Knight jumper at 1:30, his first field goal of the game.
Word on press row, Colgate is up 10 on Holy Cross.
Bucknell 36, Lehigh 26 (Halftime)
McNaughton tips in his own miss at the buzzer to make it a 10-point Bison lead at the intermission.
The 6-11 German scored Bucknell's last 4 points, he has 8 on 3-5 shooting.
Charles Lee now 1 for 6, but when he finally made one, he made it count ... a trey from the right corner.
Donald Brown and Abe Badmus each with 5 for the Bison. 10 guys have played for Bucknell, 9 have scored. Bison shooting 45.2 percent (14-31) from the field. They are 5-9 from the arc.
Lehigh is led by Knight, who scored four of his 6 at the foul line. Jose Olivero with 5. Knight is 1-4 from the field, Olivero 2-6.
CORRECTION: HOLY CROSS UP 32-22 AT THE HALF (Elsewhere, Colgate 32-22 at the half.) Army and Lafayette tied at 35 all, also at the break.
Lehigh finishes the half 10 for 25 (40 percent) from the field.
Bucknell 42, Lehigh 35 (15:35 to play)
16:20 to go, Badmus comes up with a steal near midcourt, is grabbed by Olivero and refs do not call intentional foul, costing Lee a breakaway.
Knight with a three in the left corner, one of the few open looks he has had all night, cuts the Bucknell lead to 7 at the first media timeout of the half.
A Bucknell student just hit a halfcourt shot to win something during the timeout. He did not call the bank, but it counts anyhow.
Bucknell 49, Lehigh 40 (11:52 to go)
Knight with back to back threes gets it to 42-38. Donald Brown answers with a layin. Badmus a three and it is back to 47-38.
Confusion still along press row about the HC-Colgate score. The online scoreboards all show HC up, but BU SID said a call to Colgate press row had it the other way around.
Bucknell 55, Lehigh 45 (9:30 to play)
Bucknell in the 1 and 1 with 11:20 to go after Bryan White's third personal, LU's 7th team foul. Lee hits both ends and Bucknell shows a serious trapping press for the first time.
Number to watch: 70. That is the most points Lehigh has allowed all season (against D3 Muhlenberg). Bucknell is 7-0 when it scores 70.
Checking Colgate , HC up 6, under 3 to play.
Bucknell 57, Lehigh 52
Knight keeping Lehigh in this one, He now has 15 points, including three treys.
Olivero with 10.
Badmus with 14 for Bucknell. McNaughton has 10.
Bucknell 66, Lehigh 55 (4:46 to go)
Badmus now with a career-high 16. His previous best was 15 at Lehigh earlier this season.
Lehigh closed to 59-55 on an Olivero trey, their 7th of the game. Since then BU on a 7-0 spurt.
Bucknell 68, Lehigh 57 (3:36 to play)
McNaughton's fourth personal comes on a horrible call as an out of control Olivero jumps into three Bison defenders in the paint at the 4:27 mark. It was also BU's seventh team foul.
Olivero made both free throws, breaking up Bucknell's modest run, which now stands at 9-2.
Lee heating up, he now has 11, including Bucknell's last 4.
Mastropaolo with 8 points, one shy of his career high.
Bucknell 77, Lehigh 65 (1:03 left)
What absolute BS. At the 2:12 mark, Neptune going in for a layup is fouled by Badmus. He stays down a little,though the trainer rolls him right over, so obviously no serious injury. But he is too hurt to shoot the free throws, whines Taylor, who subs Matt Szalachowski, an 87.5 percent free throw shooter, for Neptune, a 65.7 percent shooter. Neptune miraculously is recovered an at the scorers table by the time Szalachowski misses the second shot.
Olivero hits a trey with 1:03 left, Lehigh's first field goal since his last one, at the 7:27 mark.
Lehigh calls a quick time out, then fouls.
Bucknell 19-23 so far second half at the line.
BUCKNELL 81, LEHIGH 70(final)
Charles lee dribbles out the clock and tosses the ball deep into the crowd as Bucknell clinches the regular season title and home court for the tournament.
Lehigh will need a win at HC Saturday to grab the No. 2 seed. HC beat Colgate 62-56 in Hamilton.
Neptune's foul on Lee with 14.3 to go and BU up 10 brings a chorus of boos from BU fans who were patient with Taylor's fouling well after they should have ceased such shenanigans.
Four in double figures for Bucknell, led by Badmus' career-high 17. Lee with 16, 13 in the second half. Bettencourt with 13, McNaughton 10.
Bucknell finishes 24-51, 47.1 percent from the field.
Lehigh with three in doubles. Olivero with 21, Knight 15, Neptune 12.
Mountain Hawks go 24-52 (46.2 percent) from the field and become first Patriot League team to score 70 against Bucknell in 32 games.
Turnovers a key stat: Bucknell 10, Lehigh 18.
Bucknell 26-35 at the line. Lehigh 14-16.
Full story to follow.
Blame the Patriots
According to Dick Jerardi, the outstanding basketball writer for the Philadelphia Daily News, argues that the Patriot League's scholarships have hurt the caliber of play in the Ivy League and discusses the Lafayette situation in his
As Jerardi's example of Bucknell freshman Jason Vegotsky, who was also recruited by Penn, illustrates, scholarships are helping the Patriot League teams win some recruiting battles.
Of course, the results on the court have not exactly shown that the Patriot League is gaining any huge edge on the Ivies so far.
As long as the Patriot League teams are using the scholarships to lure kids that otherwise would have gone Ivy, the league is not going to improve significantly. They need to start picking up the kids who are looking at places like Vanderbilt, Northwestern and Tulane-- lower level majors with similar academic profiles-- before the Patriot League will gain some separation from the Ivies.
As Jerardi's example of Bucknell freshman Jason Vegotsky, who was also recruited by Penn, illustrates, scholarships are helping the Patriot League teams win some recruiting battles.
Of course, the results on the court have not exactly shown that the Patriot League is gaining any huge edge on the Ivies so far.
As long as the Patriot League teams are using the scholarships to lure kids that otherwise would have gone Ivy, the league is not going to improve significantly. They need to start picking up the kids who are looking at places like Vanderbilt, Northwestern and Tulane-- lower level majors with similar academic profiles-- before the Patriot League will gain some separation from the Ivies.
Sojka showdown heads bill
| | | |
Lehigh at Bucknell, 7 p.m. -- (Live Gameblog tonight) It has been five seasons since anybody swept the season series between Bucknell and Lehigh. Before that, it was a routine thing. From the 1986-87 season, when both teams still played in the old East Coast Conference, until the 1998-99 season, when Bucknell beat Lehigh twice in the regular season and again in the Patriot League semifinals, somebody swept the series every year.
Having already won in Stabler, with tonight's game, and any other game this season, likely to be played in Bucknell's Sojka Pavilion. it would not be a surprise to see the Bison break out those old brooms.
Lehigh likes to look back to last season, when the two split a pair, each holding serve at home in two games decided by a total of five points (Bucknell won by 2 in Sojka, Lehigh by 3 in Stabler). The Mountain Hawks look at the final score of the game at Stabler earlier this season, a 59-54 Bucknell win, and see it as a close game that portends another tight battle.
They might be right. Certainly the Mountain Hawks 11-1 mark in the league shows they are much better than they looked in the nonconference portion of the schedule, when even two Division 3 opponents were not enough to boost Lehigh to a .500 record.
The return of Joe Knight has a lot to do with Lehigh's turnaround since that 7-8 start. So has the overall weakness of the league. Only one of those wins, a one-point escape in Stabler, has come against a team with a .500 record. Knight, who shook off the rust in a hurry, is averaging 14.2 points per game. With Knight and Jose Olivero (17.6 ppg) Lehigh has the most explosive offensive pair of guards in the league. In the earlier loss to Bucknell, the pair double-handedly kept the Hawks in the game, combining for 40 of Lehigh's 54 points.
But 21 of those points came on seven combined three-pointers, many of those from well beyond the arc, usually with a hand in their face. Olivero, who is a 43.8 percent shooter from the arc, had 4 of those treys. Two of those came in the final minute, making the final score closer than the game.
There is no doubt Lehigh is capable of shooting the three. Kyle Neptune, who averages 11.1 ppg, and Mitch Gilfillan are also 35 percent shooters from the arc. But if Lehigh expects to upset Bucknell, it will need more in the middle. In the first meeting, the four guys who manned the four and five spots for the Mountain Hawks combined for 3 points and 12 rebounds (8 coming from James Anderson).
Lacking any attack in the paint, the Hawks were reduced to a jump shooting team with predictable results at the foul line. Lehigh only got to the stripe 8 times all night. Bucknell, which attacked the basket much more effectively, shot 25 free throws. Had they shot them better (they went 15 of 25), the final score would have been more reflective of the tenor of the game.
Another factor that helped keep that first game close was a struggling Charles Lee. Lee went 2 for 9 from the field in that game, 3 for 7 at the free throw line. The only worse shooting night Lee had all season came against Villanova. Part of that was Lehigh's defense. Overshadowed by Bucknell -- the Bison are ranked third in the nation in field goal percentage D -- Lehigh is no slouch on defense. The Hawks hold foes to 38.1 percent from the field, good for eighth in the national rankings. But part of it also was the slump Lee was in at the time. The Lehigh game capped a stretch of three games in a row in which Lee, who averages 12.4 ppg, failed to reach double figures. That was also the fifth of five straight games, and six in seven, where Lee shot worse than 50 percent from the field.
Since then Lee has scored in double figures in seven games in a row, including double-doubles in his last two games. Lee is averaging 16 points per game in that span.
All the pressure is on Lehigh. Sure Bucknell is looking at becoming the first Patriot League team ever to go unbeaten in conference play. But the Bison pretty much have the homecourt advantage for the whole tournament wrapped up, since a win Saturday over Army would clinch it even if they lost to Lehigh. The Mountain Hawks, on the other hand, know their weak out of conference schedule, and corresponding showing in those games, leaves them with no margin for error. They need to win here, and again Saturday at Holy Cross, just to hold on to the No. 2 seed. They lose any ties because of 157 RPI.
Why is home court important? Just look at the difference between Bucknell at home and on the road: The Bison are 9-1 at home this season, the only loss to No. 2 Villanova. At home, Bucknell scores and average of 7 points per game more and holds opponents to 10 ppg less -- that is a 17 point difference per game. As you'd expect, the Bison shoot the ball better (by 6 percentage points) in Sojka. Bucknell opponents shoot worse (by 7 percent).
Toss in what is sure to be an angry Bucknell mood after the tough loss at Northern Iowa, and this has the potential to be a very tough night for Lehigh.
| | | | |
Army at Lafayette. 7 p.m.: With its last two games at home, Lafayette has the inside track on one of the 4-5 spots in the tournament seeding. Especially since one of those games is against cellar-dweller Army, which has won two conference games, both against Navy, in the last two seasons.
Lafayette is 6-5 at home this season. But three of those losses came against Bucknell, Holy Cross and Lehigh. The Leopards already beat Army by 21 at West Point.
| |
Holy Cross at Colgate, 7 p.m.: A must win for the Crusaders, who can't afford to be scoreboard watching when they meet the Raiders in Hamilton. Colgate finally beat somebody not named Army, edging Navy by three Saturday at Cotterell. The Raiders have been a puzzle all season long, consistently underperforming. How anyone can get less out of what seemed in the preseason to be the second-best roster in the league will be a mystery current undergrads in Hamilton will be talking about over beers at reunions for years to come.
Because of that perceived talent, the Raiders are respected beyond their 3-9 conference record. Lose to them here and there's a good chance HC needs to play them again, on a neutral floor in the first round of the tournament. Win here, and the Crusaders still might end up getting Colgate in the first round. But the difference between playing a down-and-out team that you have spanked twice already, quite possibly on your home floor, and playing a suddenly hot and confident team on a neutral floor is huge.
| | | | |
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Out of site, out of mind
In today's Times Herald-Record, that Army hoops is so bad this season (again) that it is not only being overshadowed by the Marist men, but by the Marist women, too (The Lady Red Foxes or the Red Foxy Ladies, as they might be referred to in AU recruiting brochures).
The Army women are getting more attention than the men's team, too. Writes McMillan:
The Army women are getting more attention than the men's team, too. Writes McMillan:
It turns out the best Hudson Valley hopes for March Madness reside with the women. On Friday, Marist clinched the top seed in the upcoming MAAC tournament and has a free pass into the semifinal round. Army can clinch its first Patriot League regular-season title with a victory tonight at Lafayette and be assured of three home games.That little outtake alone is almost as much as the Times Herald-Record has written about the Army men since the star game loss to Navy.
BU recruit update
Bucknell recruit Zach Evans was named male Prep Athlete of the Week by the , which wrote:
The Bucknell-bound forward was instrumental in the Eagles' boys' basketball team winning two games in the Southern Section Div. III-A playoffs. Evans had 23 points, 11 rebounds and five blocked shots - two in the final seconds of regulation - as Chaminade (20-7) defeated Bishop Montgomery of Torrance 67-65 in overtime Friday. Evans scored 17 points with 13 rebounds and four blocks in Wednesday's 73-60 victory over Santa Ynez.
Monday, February 20, 2006
Official type stuff
Word out of Lewisburg, the Lehigh-Bucknell game will be available on television to most of Northeastern and North Central Pa.
From the :
From the :
One of the most highly anticipated Patriot League men's basketball games of the season will now be televised throughout much of Central Pennsylvania, as 'Pennsylvania's WB' - WSWB TV-38 Scranton-Wilkes-Barre - will be airing Wednesday's Bucknell-Lehigh showdown live at 7 p.m.Also from Bucknell, word has been named to the second team of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) All-District 3 team.
The game will also air on WFMZ-TV in the Lehigh Valley and on Fox College Sports (FCS) Atlantic. Steve Degler and Nathan Jameson will call the action from Sojka Pavilion.
PollBusters and late arrivals
Bucknell dropped out of today, as the BracketBusters seemed to confuse voters who seemed to split their token mid-major votes between George Mason, Northern Iowa and Nevada. Mason takes the No. 25 spot in the coaches poll, UNI and Nevada tied for No. 25 with the AP voters.
Mason was the top "others receiving" vote getter in the AP vote. Bucknell was fourth in that category in both polls.
The BracketBusters did manage to accomplish one thing for certain. They solidified Gonzaga's hold on the No. 1 spot in the . The Zags back to claiming all 31 first place votes after Bucknell, which had siphoned off one of those first place ballots in recent weeks, drops from No. 2 to No. 5 after the loss at Northern Iowa.
George Mason moves to No. 2 with its win over Wichita State. Northern Iowa up a spot to No. 3 with the win over Bucknell.
HUH? WHAT? -- In a posted on the Morning Call Web site after we had updated this morning, Andre Williams writes:
Mason was the top "others receiving" vote getter in the AP vote. Bucknell was fourth in that category in both polls.
The BracketBusters did manage to accomplish one thing for certain. They solidified Gonzaga's hold on the No. 1 spot in the . The Zags back to claiming all 31 first place votes after Bucknell, which had siphoned off one of those first place ballots in recent weeks, drops from No. 2 to No. 5 after the loss at Northern Iowa.
George Mason moves to No. 2 with its win over Wichita State. Northern Iowa up a spot to No. 3 with the win over Bucknell.
HUH? WHAT? -- In a posted on the Morning Call Web site after we had updated this morning, Andre Williams writes:
Lehigh (18-9, 11-1) will try to extend its winning streak to seven in a Patriot League visit to No. 24 Bucknell (21-4, 12-0) at 7 p.m. Wednesday.What is missing is that Lehigh would also need Bucknell to lose at home against Army. Otherwise, the tiebreaker would go to RPI and that is not even close.
Lehigh will move into a first-place tie if it wins, and would then need to win at Holy Cross on Saturday to secure the No. 1 seed for the Patriot League Tournament.
Lehigh 82, Lafayette 64
(Originally posted Sunday at 3:47 p.m., updated at 8:57 a.m.)
Lehigh opened the game with an 8-0 run and romped from there. By the time the game was 12 minutes old, the Mountain Hawks already has a 33-10 lead, 12 of those points coming from Jose Olivero, who finished with 16.
Joe Knight, with his parents in Stabler for the first time on Senior Day, led all scorers with 21 points.
Lehigh shot 30-53 (56.6 percent) from the field, including 12-22 (54.5 percent) from the three-point arc to set up Wednesday's showdown in Lewisburg.
Lehigh opened the game with an 8-0 run and romped from there. By the time the game was 12 minutes old, the Mountain Hawks already has a 33-10 lead, 12 of those points coming from Jose Olivero, who finished with 16.
Joe Knight, with his parents in Stabler for the first time on Senior Day, led all scorers with 21 points.
Lehigh shot 30-53 (56.6 percent) from the field, including 12-22 (54.5 percent) from the three-point arc to set up Wednesday's showdown in Lewisburg.
Sunday, February 19, 2006
Kyle's take
One of the perks of working for the WWLIS apparently is travel expenses to go to remote villages on the tundra to watch obscure mid-majors with names known mostly just to hardcore hoops junkies.
Nice work if you can get it.
Here's on the Bucknell-UNI game. Go ahead and click it. This one is free.
Nice work if you can get it.
Here's on the Bucknell-UNI game. Go ahead and click it. This one is free.
Yoni's take
Yoni Cohen, the guy who runs , gets to cash checks signed by Rupert Murdoch for playing pundit over at , where he breaks down the BracketBusters and argues Bucknell should remain in the Top 25.
Yoni also blogged the Bucknell-Northern Iowa game over at his own site. Here's the .
Yoni also blogged the Bucknell-Northern Iowa game over at his own site. Here's the .
Down in the Valley
| | | |
Lafayette at Lehigh, 1:05 p.m.: If Lafayette wants to avoid playing its archrival on its home court in the first round of the league tournament, beating that rival on that floor today would be a big help.
That might not seem likely, but it is not out of the realm of possibility. Lafayette played the Mountain Hawks tough for 30 minutes when the two met in Easton. Andrei Capusan is a tough matchup inside for Lehigh. That can open some things up for the Leopards; driveway shooter guards, who are capable of going wild from the arc if they get their feet set.
It would not be the first time Lafayette spoiled Lehigh's postseason plans. Last season the Leopards upset the Hawks on the final weekend, sending Lehigh north to Worcester instead of the short bus ride to Bucknell. (Remember, HC was the top seed entering the tournament and had swept Lehigh. The Hawks had beaten Bucknell once and lost a close on in the other. Lewisburg was, by far, their preferred destination.)
It goes without saying that this is could easily be a trap game for Lehigh, which closes the season on the road at Bucknell and Holy Cross. A win at Bucknell Wednesday would give the Hawks a chance to claim a share of the regular season title if they win again at HC.
If we understand the new NIT rules correctly, that would guarantee Lehigh of no worse than an NIT bid. Given all the team went through with the Joe Knight situation and the shaky non-conference showing that came with that, any postseason opportunity would offer some redemption.
But before the Hawks can think about Bucknell, or Holy Cross, or any postseason opportunities, they have to win this one. If they remember that, they should. If they don't come in focused on Lafayette, they could be in trouble. After all, Lehigh always seems just a cold Jose Olivero shooting night away from being beaten.
| |
