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Sunday, February 25, 2007
(Originally posted Sat. at 8:32 p.m., updated with links at 7:51 a.m.)
Black Knights take Bucknell to the wire before succumbing.
By CHRIS A. COUROGEN
Bucknell fans breathed two sighs of relief Saturday afternoon. The first came at the end of the Bison's 54-49 win at Army in a game that came down to the final minute.
The second came about an hour later when they saw the score from Colgate's win over Navy.
That one made certain the Bison won't have to play the Black Knights again on Wednesday. Navy's loss dropped the Mids to the No. 7 seed. Army will enter the playoffs as the No. 6 seed, traveling to No. 3 Lehigh in round one.
It's doubtful any Lehigh players would look past the Black Knights. The Mountain Hawks lost at West Point earlier in the season. Should they forget how dangerous Army can be, they will have film from this one to remind them.
Knocking down 9 three-pointers while playing smothering defense, Army took the Bison to the limit. The game was tied at 49-49 inside the final minute.
Abe Badmus hit a huge three with 54 seconds to go for what proved to be the game-winner.
Credit Chris McNaughton with setting it up. It won't go down as an assist in the scorebook -- he didn't make the pass. But McNaughton, who posted his third double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds, drew so much attention on the pick and roll, Badmus was all alone at the arc when the ball came to him.
"I was wide open. I just let it go," said Badmus, who 15 points -- a season high -- and hit three (of five) threes.
No wonder Badmus was open. As Bucknell coach Pat Flannery pointed out, after McNaughton set a screen for Badmus, he rolled towards the basket and Army's defense rolled towards McNaughton.
"Chris rolled and five guys, maybe six, came," Flannery said.
Army was right to pay McNaughton so much attention. Early in the second half, when they tried to stop him with just Doug Williams and occasionally a guard helping, McNaughton scored three buckets and assisted on another during a 13-2 run that gave the Bison a 9-point lead with 13:44 to play.
"(McNaughton's) just a big guy. It's kind of hard. You can't really help because they have shooters all over the place," said Army's Cleveland Richard, who hit three three-pointers and finished with 14 points.
At that point it looked like Bucknell was about to take control of the game. Army, though, refused to go away. Between a pair of Justin Castleberry free throws that gave Bucknell a 47-40 lead with 8:58 to play and a pair by Army's Jarrell Brown to tie it at 49-49 with 1:07 togo, the Black Knights held Bucknell to one field goal.
That set the stage for Badmus' big shot, but it wasn't over yet.
Army would have tied it about 10 seconds later had Army coach Jim Crews not called timeout a split-second before Jarrell Brown swished a woulda-been three from the right side with 44.5 seconds left. Even after that, Bucknell needed two stops to put it away.
After the timeout, the ball ended up back in Brown's hands with the shot clock running down. Brown put up an air ball that was caught by Darren Mastropaolo, who was called for traveling when he tried to make a pass while falling out of bounds.
Given a second chance, Army tried going to senior Matt Bell, a 51.3-percent three-point shooter. Bell got a decent look out top, but his shot caromed off the front of the rim to Griffin, who gathered it in as Army's Marcus nelson tried climbing over him to take it away.
Griffin's free throws iced it, but it wasn't easy.
Badmus didn't figure it would be. "Especially after the game down at our place. We beat them pretty bad."
Of course Badmus also knew much of his night would be spent chasing Jarrell Brown through screen, after screen, after screen. How he had the legs left to hit that three after hounding Brown all night is a wonder.
Badmus' old teammate Charles Lee, last year's Patriot League Player of the Year, said last season Brown was the toughest guy in the league to guard. After getting his turn to do it, Badmus agreed.
"They run a Reggie Miller offense. Everybody was screening for him. It's a guard's dream. He just calls out a name and they come screen for him," Badmus said. "When somebody is running off screens like that for 35 seconds, it really takes a lot out of you. You've really got to be disciplined. You can't rest."
Brown finished with 16 points to lead all scorers, but he had to work hard for the points, going 5 of 16 from the field, 4 for 10 from three-point range. Three of Brown's threes and 11 of his points came in the first half.
In his final game in Christl, Bell was 2 for 8 from the field for 7 points, well below his 15.1 points per game average.
As a team Army didn't shoot well, going 16 for 50 (32 percent) (NOTE: That is the official box score stat, but the official play by play does not show three missed shots by Army in their final two possessions, so they may not be included in the official box) from the field. But they hit 9 (of 19) threes and held Bucknell to 39 percent (16 of 41) shooting from the field -- including 7 of 19 threes -- while forcing 15 turnovers. The turnovers helped negate Bucknell's 39-24 advantage on the boards.
The difference came at the foul line, where Bucknell made 15 of 17 while Army was 8 for 11.
"We're glad we came out on top," said Badmus, who, barring a playoff matchup, played the last game against Army of his career. "They just keep getting better every year. Some day, I really believe, Army is going to win this conference."
For that to happen this year, though, Army will need to win three straight games on the road, starting Wednesday night at Lehigh. Army does have a home win over the Mountain Hawks this season, but on the road the Black Knights have just two wins all season.
Bucknell won't know who it faces in the first round until after Sunday's Holy Cross-Lehigh game. If Holy Cross wins, the Bison are the No. 2 seed and host Navy. A Holy Cross loss would bring No. 8 seed Lafayette to Lewisburg in the first round.
Box score | Postgame audio (Richards, Flannery, Badmus) | Notebook | Daily Item | Times Herald-Record (column)
Black Knights take Bucknell to the wire before succumbing.
By CHRIS A. COUROGEN
Bucknell fans breathed two sighs of relief Saturday afternoon. The first came at the end of the Bison's 54-49 win at Army in a game that came down to the final minute.
The second came about an hour later when they saw the score from Colgate's win over Navy.
That one made certain the Bison won't have to play the Black Knights again on Wednesday. Navy's loss dropped the Mids to the No. 7 seed. Army will enter the playoffs as the No. 6 seed, traveling to No. 3 Lehigh in round one.
It's doubtful any Lehigh players would look past the Black Knights. The Mountain Hawks lost at West Point earlier in the season. Should they forget how dangerous Army can be, they will have film from this one to remind them.
Knocking down 9 three-pointers while playing smothering defense, Army took the Bison to the limit. The game was tied at 49-49 inside the final minute.
Abe Badmus hit a huge three with 54 seconds to go for what proved to be the game-winner.
Credit Chris McNaughton with setting it up. It won't go down as an assist in the scorebook -- he didn't make the pass. But McNaughton, who posted his third double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds, drew so much attention on the pick and roll, Badmus was all alone at the arc when the ball came to him.
"I was wide open. I just let it go," said Badmus, who 15 points -- a season high -- and hit three (of five) threes.
No wonder Badmus was open. As Bucknell coach Pat Flannery pointed out, after McNaughton set a screen for Badmus, he rolled towards the basket and Army's defense rolled towards McNaughton.
"Chris rolled and five guys, maybe six, came," Flannery said.
Army was right to pay McNaughton so much attention. Early in the second half, when they tried to stop him with just Doug Williams and occasionally a guard helping, McNaughton scored three buckets and assisted on another during a 13-2 run that gave the Bison a 9-point lead with 13:44 to play.
"(McNaughton's) just a big guy. It's kind of hard. You can't really help because they have shooters all over the place," said Army's Cleveland Richard, who hit three three-pointers and finished with 14 points.
At that point it looked like Bucknell was about to take control of the game. Army, though, refused to go away. Between a pair of Justin Castleberry free throws that gave Bucknell a 47-40 lead with 8:58 to play and a pair by Army's Jarrell Brown to tie it at 49-49 with 1:07 togo, the Black Knights held Bucknell to one field goal.
That set the stage for Badmus' big shot, but it wasn't over yet.
Army would have tied it about 10 seconds later had Army coach Jim Crews not called timeout a split-second before Jarrell Brown swished a woulda-been three from the right side with 44.5 seconds left. Even after that, Bucknell needed two stops to put it away.
After the timeout, the ball ended up back in Brown's hands with the shot clock running down. Brown put up an air ball that was caught by Darren Mastropaolo, who was called for traveling when he tried to make a pass while falling out of bounds.
Given a second chance, Army tried going to senior Matt Bell, a 51.3-percent three-point shooter. Bell got a decent look out top, but his shot caromed off the front of the rim to Griffin, who gathered it in as Army's Marcus nelson tried climbing over him to take it away.
Griffin's free throws iced it, but it wasn't easy.
Badmus didn't figure it would be. "Especially after the game down at our place. We beat them pretty bad."
Of course Badmus also knew much of his night would be spent chasing Jarrell Brown through screen, after screen, after screen. How he had the legs left to hit that three after hounding Brown all night is a wonder.
Badmus' old teammate Charles Lee, last year's Patriot League Player of the Year, said last season Brown was the toughest guy in the league to guard. After getting his turn to do it, Badmus agreed.
"They run a Reggie Miller offense. Everybody was screening for him. It's a guard's dream. He just calls out a name and they come screen for him," Badmus said. "When somebody is running off screens like that for 35 seconds, it really takes a lot out of you. You've really got to be disciplined. You can't rest."
Brown finished with 16 points to lead all scorers, but he had to work hard for the points, going 5 of 16 from the field, 4 for 10 from three-point range. Three of Brown's threes and 11 of his points came in the first half.
In his final game in Christl, Bell was 2 for 8 from the field for 7 points, well below his 15.1 points per game average.
As a team Army didn't shoot well, going 16 for 50 (32 percent) (NOTE: That is the official box score stat, but the official play by play does not show three missed shots by Army in their final two possessions, so they may not be included in the official box) from the field. But they hit 9 (of 19) threes and held Bucknell to 39 percent (16 of 41) shooting from the field -- including 7 of 19 threes -- while forcing 15 turnovers. The turnovers helped negate Bucknell's 39-24 advantage on the boards.
The difference came at the foul line, where Bucknell made 15 of 17 while Army was 8 for 11.
"We're glad we came out on top," said Badmus, who, barring a playoff matchup, played the last game against Army of his career. "They just keep getting better every year. Some day, I really believe, Army is going to win this conference."
For that to happen this year, though, Army will need to win three straight games on the road, starting Wednesday night at Lehigh. Army does have a home win over the Mountain Hawks this season, but on the road the Black Knights have just two wins all season.
Bucknell won't know who it faces in the first round until after Sunday's Holy Cross-Lehigh game. If Holy Cross wins, the Bison are the No. 2 seed and host Navy. A Holy Cross loss would bring No. 8 seed Lafayette to Lewisburg in the first round.
Box score | Postgame audio (Richards, Flannery, Badmus) | Notebook | Daily Item | Times Herald-Record (column)
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