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Friday, February 02, 2007
Bucknell showed no sign of slowing down without its leading scorer in the lineup.
By CHRIS A. COUROGEN
Donald who?
That seemed to be Bucknell's attitude as they pasted Navy 78-63 Friday night in Alumni Hall.
It was the Bison's first game without their leading scorer and the league's leading rebounder -- Donald Brown -- who broke his right hand in Tuesday's win over Colgate. For one night, anyhow, he was hardly missed.
Darren Mastropaolo, who lost his starting job to Brown early in the second, stepped in and put up Brown like numbers. Other Bison picked up their games as well.
Brown was averaging 11.8 points and 6.6 rebounds per game when he got hurt. Mastropaolo's numbers against Navy: 12 points and 7 rebounds. Brown also leads the Patriot League in field goal percentage. Mastropaolo went 5 for 5.
"Darren is the kind of kid that will take it on himself with Donald out. He will say to himself coming in he will get this many more rebounds and this many more points," said Bucknell coach Pat Flannery. "That's a kid that started on two NCAA Tournament teams."
That point was not lost on Navy coach Billy Lange, who pointed out even with Brown out, Chris McNaughton, Abe Badmus, John Griffin and Mastropaolo were still in the lineup.
"Those four kids were on the floor when they beat Kansas. They don't come into a game thinking they can't win without Donald Brown," Lange said. "They just played other guys. They didn't do anything different. They just keep doing what they do -- playing Bucknell basketball."
In this game that meant finding a nice blend of inside power and outside finesse on offense, playing stingy defense and treating the boards like they had annexed Alumni hall.
Mastropaolo and McNaughton simply overmatched Navy's young, thin frontcourt. McNaughton added 13 points and 12 rebounds for his third double-double of the season. Between the pair they had five offensive boards -- one more than the entire Navy team.
On the perimeter, John Griffin led the offense with a team-high 15 points, including four of Bucknell's 11 three-pointers. Griffin also dished off six assists, turning the ball over only once.
On the boards, Bucknell held a commanding 40-22 edge, including a 12-4 advantage on the offensive glass.
Lange tried to downplay that. "Rebounding can be a misleading stat at times," he said.
But there was nothing misleading about the way Bucknell dominated in the paint. Navy finished with 10 points in the paint, but most of those came when the outcome was already decided. In the first half, the Mids scored 28 points before Clif Colbert made a layup for their first points from closer than the foul line. Navy's first 24 points came on six three-pointers, two shots within a foot of the arc and one 10-foot jumper by Greg Sprink, who was going away from the basket when he shot it.
Early on, the threes were enough. The Mids hit 6 of 10 in the first 11 minutes, using the treys to build a lead of as many as 8 points.
"It seemed like every shot they tok was going down," Griffin said. "When those threes were going down, I figured it has to stop sooner or later."
It did, and when the threes stopped falling on a regular basis, the Mids lost their lead in a hurry. Bucknell battled back to take a 39-37 lead at the half, then blitzed the Mids with an 18-6 run to start the second half.
"I didn't think in the first half we were getting a hand up. We weren't closing out on the shooters. We did a much better job in the second half closing out, making them think about it instead of getting a set look," said Flannery.
The difference was reflected in the box score. After Navy shot 12 for 27 (44.4 percent) in the first half, they cooled off to 9 for 26 (34.6 percent) in the second. The 7 for 15 (48.7 percent) three-point shooting of the first half dropped to 6 of 17 (35.3 percent) after the break.
At the same time, Bucknell, after a solid 14 for 29 (48.3 percent) first half, stepped up its offense after the intermission, knocking down 11 of 21 (52.4 percent), including 6 of 10 from the arc.
The win is Bucknell's second in a row and third in the past four games in Alumni Hall, which used to be a house of horror for the Bison. Prior to the past four seasons, Bucknell had not won a game at Navy under Flannery, going 0 for his first 12 trips to Annapolis.
It is also Bucknell's sixth straight win, a season-long streak.
Navy lost for the fifth game in a row, extending its longest skid of the season.
Box score | Notebook | Postgame audio (Billy Lange, Pat Flannery, John Griffin) | Daily Item | Baltimore Sun | Darren Mastropaolo postgame on ESPNU (video)
By CHRIS A. COUROGEN
Donald who?
That seemed to be Bucknell's attitude as they pasted Navy 78-63 Friday night in Alumni Hall.
It was the Bison's first game without their leading scorer and the league's leading rebounder -- Donald Brown -- who broke his right hand in Tuesday's win over Colgate. For one night, anyhow, he was hardly missed.
Darren Mastropaolo, who lost his starting job to Brown early in the second, stepped in and put up Brown like numbers. Other Bison picked up their games as well.
Brown was averaging 11.8 points and 6.6 rebounds per game when he got hurt. Mastropaolo's numbers against Navy: 12 points and 7 rebounds. Brown also leads the Patriot League in field goal percentage. Mastropaolo went 5 for 5.
"Darren is the kind of kid that will take it on himself with Donald out. He will say to himself coming in he will get this many more rebounds and this many more points," said Bucknell coach Pat Flannery. "That's a kid that started on two NCAA Tournament teams."
That point was not lost on Navy coach Billy Lange, who pointed out even with Brown out, Chris McNaughton, Abe Badmus, John Griffin and Mastropaolo were still in the lineup.
"Those four kids were on the floor when they beat Kansas. They don't come into a game thinking they can't win without Donald Brown," Lange said. "They just played other guys. They didn't do anything different. They just keep doing what they do -- playing Bucknell basketball."
In this game that meant finding a nice blend of inside power and outside finesse on offense, playing stingy defense and treating the boards like they had annexed Alumni hall.
Mastropaolo and McNaughton simply overmatched Navy's young, thin frontcourt. McNaughton added 13 points and 12 rebounds for his third double-double of the season. Between the pair they had five offensive boards -- one more than the entire Navy team.
On the perimeter, John Griffin led the offense with a team-high 15 points, including four of Bucknell's 11 three-pointers. Griffin also dished off six assists, turning the ball over only once.
On the boards, Bucknell held a commanding 40-22 edge, including a 12-4 advantage on the offensive glass.
Lange tried to downplay that. "Rebounding can be a misleading stat at times," he said.
But there was nothing misleading about the way Bucknell dominated in the paint. Navy finished with 10 points in the paint, but most of those came when the outcome was already decided. In the first half, the Mids scored 28 points before Clif Colbert made a layup for their first points from closer than the foul line. Navy's first 24 points came on six three-pointers, two shots within a foot of the arc and one 10-foot jumper by Greg Sprink, who was going away from the basket when he shot it.
Early on, the threes were enough. The Mids hit 6 of 10 in the first 11 minutes, using the treys to build a lead of as many as 8 points.
"It seemed like every shot they tok was going down," Griffin said. "When those threes were going down, I figured it has to stop sooner or later."
It did, and when the threes stopped falling on a regular basis, the Mids lost their lead in a hurry. Bucknell battled back to take a 39-37 lead at the half, then blitzed the Mids with an 18-6 run to start the second half.
"I didn't think in the first half we were getting a hand up. We weren't closing out on the shooters. We did a much better job in the second half closing out, making them think about it instead of getting a set look," said Flannery.
The difference was reflected in the box score. After Navy shot 12 for 27 (44.4 percent) in the first half, they cooled off to 9 for 26 (34.6 percent) in the second. The 7 for 15 (48.7 percent) three-point shooting of the first half dropped to 6 of 17 (35.3 percent) after the break.
At the same time, Bucknell, after a solid 14 for 29 (48.3 percent) first half, stepped up its offense after the intermission, knocking down 11 of 21 (52.4 percent), including 6 of 10 from the arc.
The win is Bucknell's second in a row and third in the past four games in Alumni Hall, which used to be a house of horror for the Bison. Prior to the past four seasons, Bucknell had not won a game at Navy under Flannery, going 0 for his first 12 trips to Annapolis.
It is also Bucknell's sixth straight win, a season-long streak.
Navy lost for the fifth game in a row, extending its longest skid of the season.
Box score | Notebook | Postgame audio (Billy Lange, Pat Flannery, John Griffin) | Daily Item | Baltimore Sun | Darren Mastropaolo postgame on ESPNU (video)
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