Key sequence: Bucknell had all the momentum when Badmus went to the line for two free throws in a game tied at 53, but the senior couldn’t hit either free throw and the Bison never would recapture the lead. Simmons’s free throws were clutch, and Thomas said after the game that his three-pointer was one of the biggest shots of his life. The seven points on three possessions after Bucknell had tied the game proved to be too much for the Bison, who couldn’t rally a second time.

Key sequence: Thomas keyed the second Crusader run that ultimately proved to be too much for the Eagles. American looked to be in trouble, down 40-35, but had knotted it up at 40 on a nice inbounds play that led to a Paulius Joneliunas bucket with 8:31 left. However, Doherty slipped inside for a layup, and Derrick Mercer committed a turnover, then a foul that led to two Thomas free throws. A minute later, Thomas grabbed a rebound of a Mercer miss and took it coast to coast for a layup and a six-point lead. Eitutavicius’s three-point attempt drew nothing but air, and at the other end, Thomas drilled a huge three from the left elbow that made it 49-40 with 5:08 to play.

Key sequence: The 24-2 Holy Cross run in the first half effectively took the wind out of Lafayette and sent the clear signal that the regular season co-champs hadn’t looked past the number eight seed. Clifford was front and center with 10 of his points during this stretch.

The Patriot League won’t award its automatic NCAA Tournament bid until Friday, March 9. However, conference tournament play begins tonight in the Big South, so the Seed Watch is beginning using the same methodology for projecting the Patriot League representative as is used for the other conferences: the highest rated/seeded team still alive. The “Enemies” list is done with this in mind, however the “Allies” list won’t appear until the Patriot League tournament final is played.

Bucknell forward Donald Brown suffered a broken wrist late in the Bison’s win at Colgate on Tuesday, and is out indefinitely. Brown is averaging a team-leading 11.9 points and 6.6 rebounds per game, while shooting 58.4 percent from the floor. He began the season starting at small forward, but switched to power forward after the loss to Northern Iowa on December 2, and has averaged 13.6 points in the 14 games since. Bucknell has six Patriot League games remaining, plus the ESPNU BracketBusters at Hofstra on February 17, before beginning Patriot League Tournament play.