The first time Holy Cross and Bucknell met up this year, the Crusaders won 65-60 on Jan. 12. The second time, in Lewisburg, the Bison pulled out a 48-45 victory. The stars of the combined two games were Keith Simmons, who scored 37 points in the two contests, and Justin Castleberry, who scored 26 points coming off the bench in both games.

Key Sequence: With 5:00 to go in the first half, Jarell Brown hit a three to give Army a 29-28 lead. The Black Knight advantage was brief, though, as Darren Mastropaolo hit a lay-up, and after a Cleveland Richard turnover, Griffin it a three. This sequence keyed a 9-0 run that ended up with Bucknell taking an 8-point lead into halftime.

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.