Feb. 24, 2004

Holy Cross will make its second-straight appearance on the Patriot League Friday Night Game of the Week. The Crusaders fell short in last week's challenge, to win at American's Bender Arena, losing by a 65-51 margin. This week, HC gets an opportunity to defend home court against the hottest team in the Patriot League.

The youthful Bucknell Bison (13-12, 9-3 PL) invade The Hart Center to face the three-time defending PL champion Crusaders (11-14, 5-7 PL) Friday at 8 p.m. (DIRECTV channel 615). Playoff seedings will definitely be on the line, especially for the Bison, who are riding a seven-game winning streak.

This will be the final Friday Night Game of the Week for the 2004 season for the Patriot League, which is in its seventh year of producing men's and women's basketball games. The remainder of this year's schedule, which for the second season is televised by DIRECTV, includes all four March 7 Patriot League Tournament semifinal games (two men's and two women's, beginning at noon) and the Women's Championship game (March 10, 7 p.m.). All League-produced games will be available to DIRECTV's more than 12 million customers.

Returning for his second season as the play-by-play commentator for the men's and women's games will be Bob Socci. John Feinstein, author of The Last Amateurs and numerous other best-sellers, will handle the color commentary duties for the men's games for the third year.

Entering the final weekend of the regular-season, Bucknell is tied for second place with Lafayette and only one game behind front-running Lehigh. Victories at Holy Cross Friday and Colgate Sunday would assure the Bison, who feature a starting lineup that includes two sophomores and three freshmen, of one of the top three seeds in the upcoming Patriot League Tournament (March 6-7 at The Show Place Arena, Upper Marlboro, Md.).

Soph. G Kevin Bettencourt (Peabody, Mass.), the 2003 PL Rookie of the Year, leads the PL in three-point field goals per game (2.68) and ranks second in the League in scoring (15.4), third in free throw percentage (.817) and sixth in assists (3.04). In just 54 games over two seasons, Bettencourt has moved into 26th place on the League's career three-point goals list with 128 bombs.

Also pushing the BU drive to the playoffs is Soph. G Charles Lee (Gaithersburg, Md.) and Fr. C Chris McNaughton (Leutershausen, Germany). McNaughton leads the PL in field goal percentage (.661), ranks 11th in scoring (11.3) and is eighth in rebounding (5.0) while Lee is 14th in the PL in scoring (9.8), fifth in rebounding (5.2) and fourth in free throw percentage (.806).

Holy Cross, meanwhile, is trying to gain some momentum heading into the post-season. The Crusaders, led by Pre-Season Player of the Year Jave Meade (Queensbridge, N.Y.), are 7-3 at home this season and are coming off a 76-47 victory at Navy. HC is looking to solidify its position as the fifth seed in the Tournament when BU and Lehigh invade Worcester, Mass., this weekend.

Meade broke both the League's career records for assists (581) and steals (237) in the past three weeks and is eight points shy of becoming the first player in PL history to score 1,000 points and dish out 500 helpers in a career. The 6-1 point guard will also be the 46th player in the 14-year history of the League to reach the 1,000-point plateau. Meade is averaging 9.2 points, 3.9 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 2.1 steals this season.

Soph. G Kevin Hamilton (Queens Village, N.Y.) leads the Crusaders with a 10.7 scoring average, 47 three-point goals and 67 steals. Hamilton, who had a career-high six thefts in Sunday's win at Navy, is also third on the team in rebounding (4.7). Also contributing for Holy Cross is junior post players Nate Lufkin (Austin, Texas) and John Hurley (South Boston, Mass.), who are both averaging 8.5 points and five rebounds per game.

The first time BU and HC met this season, the Bison posted a 77-67 victory in Lewisburg, snapping a four-game losing streak vs. the Crusaders. HC rallied late in the game to even the score at 53 with 4:47 left on the clock, but the Bison went on a 9-0 run to gain a lead the hosts never surrendered. BU drained 9-of-10 free throws in the final 82 seconds of the game (26-for-35 for the game) to ice the victory.

Bettencourt tallied a game-high 29 points, including a 14-for-15 performance from the free throw line, to lead the winners. Lee (14 pts.), McNaughton (12 pts.) and Fr. G Donald Brown (Central Islip, N.Y.), who had 11 points, also contributed for the hosts. Lufkin topped the Crusaders with 12 points while Meade added 11 and Hamilton chipped in 10.

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