Feb. 15, 2008
WHAT: Bucknell (10-14, 5-5 PL) vs. Holy Cross (13-10, 4-6 PL)
WHERE: Sojka Pavilion, Lewisburg, Pa.
WHEN: Saturday, Feb. 16, 2008, 6 p.m.
TICKETS: Limited Standing-Room Only Tickets Available at Door at 4 p.m.
TV: ESPN2
ONLINE VIDEO: ESPN360.com
RADIO: Eagle 107 and SportsJuice.com
SATELLITE RADIO: Sirius 130
PROMOTIONS: Orange-Out at Sojka, $10,000 Shot Contest
COMPLETE PRESS NOTES
Probable Starters
Bucknell:
G, 11 John Griffin, Sr., 13.8 ppg
G, 13 Darryl Shazier, Fr., 3.0 ppg
C, 1 Darren Mastropaolo, Sr., 7.0 ppg
F, 15 Stephen Tyree, So., 7.0 ppg
F, 2 Rob Thomas, Sr., 5.5 ppg
Holy Cross:
G, 2 Kyle Cruze, Sr., 6.0 ppg
G, 22 Andrew Beinert, Fr., 4.8 ppg
C, 00 Tim Clifford, Sr., 16.6 ppg
F, 33 Colin Cunningham, Jr., 7.3 ppg
F, 53 Eric Meister, So., 5.9 ppg
With a Victory over Holy Cross, Bucknell Would ...
-- ... improve to 11-14 overall and 6-5 in Patriot League play.
-- ... sweep the season series from Holy Cross for the sixth time as Patriot League rivals.
-- ... win its sixth in a row over the Crusaders at Sojka Pavilion.
-- ... improve to 56-14 all-time at Sojka Pavilion, 42-5 at Sojka in conference play.
About the Game
Bucknell and Holy Cross square off for the second time this season and for the 21st time since 2002 on Saturday evening at Sojka Pavilion. A sellout crowd is expected for the ESPN2-televised contest. These two teams have dominated Patriot League play in recent years, but significant injuries and major graduation losses have left both teams in a bit of a rebuilding mode in 2007-08. Still, both teams are jockeying for prime Patriot League Tournament seeding, and regardless of the records, any Bucknell-Holy Cross matchup figures to have a playoff-like intensity. The Bison come in having lost two straight and four of their last five, with three of those four losses coming by six points or less. Bucknell was once 3-0 in the Patriot League but has now fallen to 5-5, and the Bison enter the weekend in fourth place in the conference standings, two games behind first-place American. Senior John Griffin has had the hot hand of late for Bucknell. Over his last four games he is averaging 22.8 points per game while making 22 of 39 3-point attempts. Griffin was 8-for-12 from 3-point range on Wednesday at American, and 5-for-7 in the previous game at Navy. Holy Cross is coming off a 64-53 win at Army on Thursday night. The Crusaders have won two straight and four of their last six after starting 0-4 in Patriot League play. Patriot League Preseason Player of the Year Tim Clifford is the team's top scorer at 16.6 ppg. Clifford is the lone Crusader scoring in double figures, but Holy Cross leads the Patriot League in scoring defense, allowing only 60.5 ppg.
How to Get the Game
The Bucknell-Holy Cross game will be televised live on ESPN2 and ESPN360, with a projected tip-off time of 6:02 p.m. Eric Collins will be the play-by-play announcer, while Bucky Waters handles the color commentary. The game can be heard locally on Eagle 107 (WEGH 107.3 FM), with Doug Birdsong and Doug Byerly on the call. The pregame show begins 30 minutes before tip-off. The audio feed is available free of charge via BucknellBison.com and SportsJuice.com, however due to contractual rights the game will not be seen as part of the Patriot League All-Access Webcast package. The game is also being broadcast on Sirius Satellite Radio (Channel 130), with Frank Santore calling play-by-play.
The Bucknell-Holy Cross Rivalry
The Patriot League has deep-rooted rivalries based on geography (Lehigh-Lafayette) and military brethren (Army-Navy), but there has been no better basketball rivalry in the league than Bucknell-Holy Cross. Some of the highlights:
-- The Bison and Crusaders have combined to win six of the last seven Patriot League titles, and they are the only two league teams to have won in the postseason (Bucknell in the 2005 and 2006 NCAA Tournaments, Holy Cross in the 2005 NIT).
-- These two teams have met 11 times in the 17 Patriot League Tournaments, including four times in the championship game. Bucknell defeated Holy Cross in the 2005 and 2006 title tilts, while the Crusaders topped the Bison in the final in 1993 and 2007.
-- The Bison and Crusaders had never met until the formation of the Patriot League in 1990-91, but in the next 17 years since then they clashed 45 times, an average of 2.65 meetings per season.
-- Bucknell has won six of the last eight in the series, including a 73-65 win in Worcester earlier this season. Bucknell now leads the series 26-20.
-- Since the opening of Sojka Pavilion in 2003, Bucknell is 5-1 against Holy Cross here, including a victory in the 2006 Patriot League championship game. The Bison are 12-7 all-time against the Crusaders in Lewisburg.
Bucknell vs. Holy Cross Earlier This Season
On Jan. 18 at the Hart Center, Justin Castleberry tied a career high with 22 points, 15 of them coming in the final 7:30, leading Bucknell to a 73-65 victory in an intense, back-and-forth affair. The physical battle played in front of a boisterous sellout crowd featured big momentum swings througout. Bucknell built a 13-point lead, then Holy Cross scored 11 points in a row to take the lead in the second half, then the Bison finished with a flourish, outscoring the Crusaders 27-19 over the last nine minutes. For a complete recap and boxscore, please see Page 33.
Bucknell vs. Holy Cross Last Season
A year ago both teams won on their home floors in the regular season, then the Crusaders captured the rubber match with a win in the Patriot League championship game.
-- On Jan. 12 at the Hart Center, Bucknell's league-record 23-game winning streak against conference opponents came to an end, as Keith Simmons scored 22 points to lead Holy Cross to a 65-60 victory. Justin Castleberry scored a then-career-high 16 points for the Bison, who trailed 59-46 with 6:40 left before making a valiant comeback try. They pulled within 61-60 in the final minute, but Alex Vander Baan's offensive rebound of a missed free throw proved big, and John Griffin could not connect on a long 3-pointer that could have tied the game with 12 seconds left.
-- Bucknell avenged that loss on Feb. 9 before a standing-room-only crowd at Sojka Pavilion, prevailing 48-45 in a classic defensive struggle. Holy Cross started the game 5-for-6 from the field and led 12-2 early, but the Bison held them to only nine more baskets the rest of the game, including only four in 18 attempts in the second half. With 1:04 left and Bucknell clinging to a 43-42 lead, Griffin drained a high-arcing 3-pointer from the right corner that put the Bison ahead 46-42. Torey Thomas had a chance to tie it at the buzzer, but his left-corner jumper drew only iron.
-- A 26-7 run helped Bucknell overcome a 19-point second-half deficit, but the Bison never managed to take the lead and the two-time defending champs succumbed 74-66 in the Patriot League championship game at the Hart Center on March 9. Thomas (28 points) and Simmons (23) combined to score 51 of Holy Cross' 74 points, while Griffin led a balanced Bucknell attack with 15 points. After falling behind 46-27 early in the second half, Bucknell held Holy Cross scoreless for more than five minutes while reeling off 13 straight points. The Bison had two chances to take the lead in the final minutes, but Castleberry missed a 3-pointer with Bucknell trailing 51-49, and Abe Badmus missed two free throws in a 53-all tie.
Last Time Out
John Griffin's big night came in a losing effort, as American built a 16-point lead early in the second half and held on for a 68-64 win at Bender Arena on Wednesday night. Griffin hit a career-high eight 3-pointers in 12 attempts and passed two big milestones with his 1,000th point and 200th 3-pointer, but his 24 points were matched by American's Garrison Carr. Griffin hit two tough threes in the final 30 seconds to bring Bucknell within three points, but AU iced it at the free throw line. For a complete recap and boxscore, please see Page 37.
Inside the American Boxscore
-- Bucknell's eight-game winning streak against American came to an end.
-- John Griffin's eight 3-pointers were the most by a Bucknell player since Kevin Bettencourt hit a school-record 11 at Saint Francis (Pa.) on Dec. 6, 2003.
-- Griffin scored 18 of his 24 points in the second half.
-- Stephen Tyree had another strong all-around game for the Bison. He registered 11 points, seven rebounds and a career-high-tying six assists.
-- Freshman point guard Darryl Shazier earned his third start of the season and scored a career-high eight points.
-- Rob Thomas equaled his career high with four assists and scored eight points.
-- Justin Castleberry, the team's No. 2 scorer, did not start for just the third time this season, and he was held scoreless for the first time since Jan. 23, 2007 against Lehigh.
-- Bucknell outrebounded American 27-25 and allowed only five offensive rebounds.
-- In the first meeting of the season against American, Bucknell committed only six turnovers in a 66-62 win. This time, however, the Bison had 18 turnovers, six of them coming in a key seven-minute stretch in the second half when American was able to stretch a four-point lead to 10.
-- American shot 30 free throws and outscored the Bison 25-11 from the charity stripe.
Numbers to Watch
Some relevent stats involving Bucknell and Holy Cross:
-- Rebounding is always a big concern for the Bison heading into this matchup. After struggling for much of the year on the glass, Bucknell has been much improved in that area of late and has won the rebounding battle in five straight games. But Holy Cross is traditionally an excellent rebounding team, and this year is no excpetion. The Crusaders are +6.5 on the glass, by far the best margin in the league. Holy Cross works hard on the offensive glass, grabbing a league-high average of 12.8 offensive rebounds per game. Bucknell opponents average 11.3 offensive rebounds per game. Second-chance points could be a key. In the first meeting between these two teams, Holy Cross had a slight 30-27 edge on the boards.
-- Bucknell leads the Patriot League in 3-point field goal defense (.325), while Holy Cross ranks last in the conference in 3-point accuracy (.325). The Crusaders were 6-for-18 from the arc against Bucknell last month in Worcester.
-- Holy Cross will likely be paying special attention to Bucknell junior guard Justin Castleberry, who has had some of his top scoring games against the Crusaders. In 2006-07 Castleberry had six double-digit scoring games, and three of them came against Holy Cross. He scored a then-career-high 16 in the regular-season meeting in Worcester, then had 10 in each of the next two games against the Crusaders. In the first meeting this year, he tied his career high with 22 points, including a 13-for-15 showing from the free-throw line. In his career against Holy Cross, Castleberry is 10-for-18 from 3-point range.
-- These two teams faced just one common opponent in non-conference play. Holy Cross defeated Ohio 62-60 at home on Nov. 26, while the Bison lost at home to the Bobcats, 53-47 on Jan. 2.
Griffin Hits Two Major Milestones
Senior guard John Griffin became the 33rd Bucknell player to reach the 1,000-point plateau on Wednesday night. He now has 1,010 career points and moved past Patrick King into 32nd place on Bucknell's career scoring list. Griffin also became the third Bison to record 200 career 3-pointers, joining Kevin Bettencourt (294) and Mike Bright (206) on that list. With his eight treys against American, Griffin tied Bright for second on Bucknell's career list.
Who's Got Next?
Bucknell plays its final regular-season home game on Wednesday night against Lafayette. The Bison will be looking to avenge an 80-68 loss to the Leopards in Easton on Jan. 23. Lafayette is 14-10 overall and 5-4 in Patriot League play, and the Leopards enter the weekend tied for second in the league standings with Navy.
