24 February, 2007
by Elliot Smilowitz
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1st |
2nd |
Final |
| Bucknell (20-8, 13-1 Patriot) |
27 |
27 |
54 |
| Army (14-15, 4-10 Patriot) |
27 |
22 |
49 |
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Playing on Senior Day, the Army Black Knights took Bucknell to the limit, but the Bison escaped with a 54-49 victory. The game was tied heading into the final minute, until Abe Badmus hit a three-pointer to create the victory for Bucknell.
Badmus ended up with 15 points, and Chris McNaughton added a double-double with 12 points and 10 boards for the Bison. Army’s Jarell Brown scored 16 points and Cleveland Richard pitched in with 14 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists, but senior scorer Matt Bell struggled to a 7-point day. Unlike most coaches, Army’s Jim Crews elected to use his normal starting line-up on Senior Day, leaving seniors Marshall Jackson and Jimmy Sewell to come off the bench.
Bucknell opened an early 10-4 lead, but Army refused to roll over, eventually claiming a 19-18 lead. The teams traded control late in the first half, with the Knights claiming a 5-point lead with 57 seconds left in the half. Bucknell responded with a quick run to tie the game on a Jason Vegotsky three just before the buzzer.
Bucknell took control with a 10-0 run early in the second half, highlighted by 6 points from McNaughton. The biggest lead of the game was 40-31 Bison with 13:44 to go in the game, but as the pace of the game slowed, Army found itself chipping away at its deficit. The Knights came within one possession a few times, before Darren Mastropaolo hit a lay-up to make it a 49-44 game with 3:52 remaining. Army made a run to tie the game heading into the final minute, before Badmus’s three stemmed the Knights’ momentum.
Despite the loss, Army moves up to the sixth seed in the Patriot League Tournament by virtue of Navy’s loss to Colgate. Army will now travel to Lehigh Wednesday night for the first round. Bucknell will host either Lafayette or Navy in the first round, depending on the results of tomorrow’s Holy Cross/Lehigh game.
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| Keys to the Game |
| Key sequence |
A 5-0 Army run tied the game at 49-each with 1:07 remaining in the game. Badmus responded by drilling a three-pointer with 54 seconds remaining.
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| Key sign it was over |
Down by 3 with under a minute remaining, Army struggled to find a shot, running 22 seconds off the clock before Brown missed a jumper. Darren Mastropaolo rebounded the ball for Bucknell but was called for traveling, giving the Knights one more chance. Bell missed a three, and John Griffin got the rebound and was fouled. He hit both free throws with 11 seconds left to ice it.
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| Key performance |
McNaughton exerted his size advantage all day, finishing with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
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| Key statistic |
Army shot just 7-for-31 on two-point shots.
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| Notes |
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Bucknell dominated the boards, 39-24. However, the Bison turned the ball over 15 times compared to 9 Black Knight turnovers.
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| – |
Bucknell won by forcing their way to the free throw line repeatedly. The Bison ended up 15-of-17 on foul shots.
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Marcus Nelson had a good game for the Knights, ending up with 7 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals.
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Stephen Tyree continues to pick up minutes from Vegotsky. Vegotsky ended up with 3 points in 21 minutes, while defensive specialist Tyree got 6 points and 2 boards in 18 minutes.
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