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Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Bucknell's league win streak now at 23, 28 straight league wins in Sojka.By Chris A. Courogen
Fans love the three-pointer. Next to the dunk, there is probably nothing that gets a crowd more excited than when some sniper starts firing away from outside the arc -- the longer, the better.
Had American been back home when the Eagles began raining treys in Bucknell's Sojka Pavilion last night, the Blue Crew would have been whipping itself into a frenzy. Even a small crowd in Bender would have generated a deafening roar as Garrison Carr, Arvydas Eitutavicius and Andre Ingram took turns dropping three-point bombs over Bucknell defenders scurrying to get a hand in their face, not that it seemed to matter once those three got dialed in.
It was an impressive display; seven three-points -- a games worth for most teams -- in one half, 10 total for the game. But it was a display of futility in a 66-60 loss to Bucknell.American went 10 for 22 from the arc -- 7 of 14 after intermission. The Eagles made more threes than Bucknell shot.
The Bison only made three treys. They only shot nine.
Yet in the end, you could argue that the two Jason Vegotsky made during an 8-0 Bucknell run at the start of the second half had far more to do with the final outcome then all 10 American made, and you'd get no debate from Jeff Jones. Bucknell's frontcourt types were already taking advantage of American; after those two three-pointers by Vegotsky that inside edge turned into paint domination.
"We were getting more help in the paint prior to Vegotsky knocking down the two threes," said Jones. "That spread things out."
Nobody took more advantage than Bison junior Darren Mastropaolo, who came off the bench to score 9 of his 11 points in the second half against an American frontline that, simply put, was overmatched.
That much was apparent at the start of the game, when Bison center Chris McNaughton exploited Jones' decision to try to guard him with one guy. Left alone against AU's 6-10 Brayden Billbe, Mcnaughton scored 7 of Bucknell's first 9 points. If McNaughton had managed to stay out of foul trouble, the big German might have had a shot at bettering his career-high (29 vs. Villanova last season). As it was, the 6-11 senior ended the night with a team-high 16 points, despite playing only 16 minutes.
McNaughton picked up his second personal with 5:29 to go in the first half and sat down the rest of the half. He sat down again less than three minutes into the second half after a cheap third foul on what appeared to be routine post defense. McNaughton returned with 10:56 to play and a little over two minutes later had his fourth personal and another seat on the bench.
But it wasn't American that took advantage of the two-time all-conference pick's absence. It was Mastropaolo. McNaughton had barely found a towel after picking up his fourth when Mastropaolo posted up AU's Cornelio Guibunda, drawing a foul that led to two points from the foul line.
Jones quickly yanked Guibunda in favor of 6-11 Paulius Joneliunas. It made little difference. After a missed three by Derrick Mercer at the other end, Mastropaolo beat Joneliunas like a rented mule. Mastropaolo finished the night 3 for 4 from the field, 5 of 8 at the line, reducing McNaughton's foul trouble to an afterthought.
"If you look at the stat sheet, the guy whose numbers that jump out at you is Mastropaolo," said Jones.
"If he plays like that. I can sit on the bench all day and we will be fine," McNaughton said.
Not to be outdone by the M and M's, Donald Brown also had another fine night for Bucknell, scoring 14 points, yanking 8 boards and for good measure, adding 4 assists and 4 steals.
Any discussion of how McNaughton, Mastropaolo and Brown performed has to include a mention of their defense. The three were like Sherwin Williams -- they owned the paint. Just look at the box score: McNaughton, Mastropaolo and Brown combined for 41 points and 13 rebounds. American ran six guys in and out of the game against them -- Billbe, Joneliunas, Guibunda, Travis Lay, Brian Gilmore and Jordan Nichols. Added together they managed 8 points and 11 boards.
That helps explain why AU hit so many threes. Unable to get anything going inside, Jones inserted went with a three-guard look much of teh second half, inserting three-point specialist Carr and the Lithuanian scoring machine Eitutavicius alongside Ingram.
"We did make a conscious effort to go with Garrison Carr to have three shooters in there," Jones said. "They played a lot of matchup and they were giving us fits."
The three-point shooting kept American in the game. After Bucknell held the Eagles scoreless the first 5:24 of the second half, building a 10-point, 37-27 lead, Carr (14 points) stopped the bleeding with back to back threes -- one from NBA range with the shot clock buzzing as the ball dropped through the net. Eitutavicius (game-high 18) had three of his four treys in the second half and Ingram (10) also had a pair after the break. Of 11 field goals the Eagles connected on in the half, 7 came from outside the arc.
American was 10 for 22 (45.5 percent) outside the semicircle; the Eagles were just 12 of 30 (40 percent) inside.
Bucknell finished the game 20 for 39 (51.3 percent) from the field, and their inside attack was rewarded with 29 trips to the foul line, where they made 23, including 10 by John Griffin, who scored all his points from the line. Griffin was 6 for 6 in the final 30 seconds when American was fouling repeatedly in a desperate attempt to extend the game.
The win was Bucknell's 23rd straight in Patriot League play, their 28th straight league win in Sojka Pavilion. Along with Holy Cross' win over Army last night, it sets up the much-anticipated macthup between the two teams that have dominated the league the past two seasons. Bucknell will be at Holy Cross for Friday night's debut of the league's new ESPNU television package.
Box score | Postgame audio (American coach Jeff Jones; Bucknell coach Pat Flannery and players Chris McNaughton and Donald Brown) | Game notebook | Daily Item
Fans love the three-pointer. Next to the dunk, there is probably nothing that gets a crowd more excited than when some sniper starts firing away from outside the arc -- the longer, the better.
Had American been back home when the Eagles began raining treys in Bucknell's Sojka Pavilion last night, the Blue Crew would have been whipping itself into a frenzy. Even a small crowd in Bender would have generated a deafening roar as Garrison Carr, Arvydas Eitutavicius and Andre Ingram took turns dropping three-point bombs over Bucknell defenders scurrying to get a hand in their face, not that it seemed to matter once those three got dialed in.
It was an impressive display; seven three-points -- a games worth for most teams -- in one half, 10 total for the game. But it was a display of futility in a 66-60 loss to Bucknell.American went 10 for 22 from the arc -- 7 of 14 after intermission. The Eagles made more threes than Bucknell shot.
The Bison only made three treys. They only shot nine.
Yet in the end, you could argue that the two Jason Vegotsky made during an 8-0 Bucknell run at the start of the second half had far more to do with the final outcome then all 10 American made, and you'd get no debate from Jeff Jones. Bucknell's frontcourt types were already taking advantage of American; after those two three-pointers by Vegotsky that inside edge turned into paint domination.
"We were getting more help in the paint prior to Vegotsky knocking down the two threes," said Jones. "That spread things out."
Nobody took more advantage than Bison junior Darren Mastropaolo, who came off the bench to score 9 of his 11 points in the second half against an American frontline that, simply put, was overmatched.
That much was apparent at the start of the game, when Bison center Chris McNaughton exploited Jones' decision to try to guard him with one guy. Left alone against AU's 6-10 Brayden Billbe, Mcnaughton scored 7 of Bucknell's first 9 points. If McNaughton had managed to stay out of foul trouble, the big German might have had a shot at bettering his career-high (29 vs. Villanova last season). As it was, the 6-11 senior ended the night with a team-high 16 points, despite playing only 16 minutes.
McNaughton picked up his second personal with 5:29 to go in the first half and sat down the rest of the half. He sat down again less than three minutes into the second half after a cheap third foul on what appeared to be routine post defense. McNaughton returned with 10:56 to play and a little over two minutes later had his fourth personal and another seat on the bench.
But it wasn't American that took advantage of the two-time all-conference pick's absence. It was Mastropaolo. McNaughton had barely found a towel after picking up his fourth when Mastropaolo posted up AU's Cornelio Guibunda, drawing a foul that led to two points from the foul line.
Jones quickly yanked Guibunda in favor of 6-11 Paulius Joneliunas. It made little difference. After a missed three by Derrick Mercer at the other end, Mastropaolo beat Joneliunas like a rented mule. Mastropaolo finished the night 3 for 4 from the field, 5 of 8 at the line, reducing McNaughton's foul trouble to an afterthought.
"If you look at the stat sheet, the guy whose numbers that jump out at you is Mastropaolo," said Jones.
"If he plays like that. I can sit on the bench all day and we will be fine," McNaughton said.
Not to be outdone by the M and M's, Donald Brown also had another fine night for Bucknell, scoring 14 points, yanking 8 boards and for good measure, adding 4 assists and 4 steals.
Any discussion of how McNaughton, Mastropaolo and Brown performed has to include a mention of their defense. The three were like Sherwin Williams -- they owned the paint. Just look at the box score: McNaughton, Mastropaolo and Brown combined for 41 points and 13 rebounds. American ran six guys in and out of the game against them -- Billbe, Joneliunas, Guibunda, Travis Lay, Brian Gilmore and Jordan Nichols. Added together they managed 8 points and 11 boards.
That helps explain why AU hit so many threes. Unable to get anything going inside, Jones inserted went with a three-guard look much of teh second half, inserting three-point specialist Carr and the Lithuanian scoring machine Eitutavicius alongside Ingram.
"We did make a conscious effort to go with Garrison Carr to have three shooters in there," Jones said. "They played a lot of matchup and they were giving us fits."
The three-point shooting kept American in the game. After Bucknell held the Eagles scoreless the first 5:24 of the second half, building a 10-point, 37-27 lead, Carr (14 points) stopped the bleeding with back to back threes -- one from NBA range with the shot clock buzzing as the ball dropped through the net. Eitutavicius (game-high 18) had three of his four treys in the second half and Ingram (10) also had a pair after the break. Of 11 field goals the Eagles connected on in the half, 7 came from outside the arc.
American was 10 for 22 (45.5 percent) outside the semicircle; the Eagles were just 12 of 30 (40 percent) inside.
Bucknell finished the game 20 for 39 (51.3 percent) from the field, and their inside attack was rewarded with 29 trips to the foul line, where they made 23, including 10 by John Griffin, who scored all his points from the line. Griffin was 6 for 6 in the final 30 seconds when American was fouling repeatedly in a desperate attempt to extend the game.
The win was Bucknell's 23rd straight in Patriot League play, their 28th straight league win in Sojka Pavilion. Along with Holy Cross' win over Army last night, it sets up the much-anticipated macthup between the two teams that have dominated the league the past two seasons. Bucknell will be at Holy Cross for Friday night's debut of the league's new ESPNU television package.
Box score | Postgame audio (American coach Jeff Jones; Bucknell coach Pat Flannery and players Chris McNaughton and Donald Brown) | Game notebook | Daily Item
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