Bison check in to Hart; HC, Bucknell bring 2-0 PL records to clash.

Byline: Jennifer Toland

WORCESTER - The Holy Cross men's basketball team has a big one tonight as two-time defending Patriot League champion Bucknell visits the Hart Center.

The game is a rematch of the last two Patriot League finals. Both teams are 2-0 in league play this season and share the early PL top spot with Lehigh.

"Bucknell's been our arch-nemesis ever since I came here," Holy Cross senior guard Torey Thomas said. "It's a big game no matter how you look at it."

A large crowd is expected, but tickets are still available for the 7 p.m. tipoff.

The Crusaders, who beat Army in Tuesday night's PL home opener, have won four straight. HC had one of its better defensive performances of the year against Army, holding the Black Knights to 42 points, a season low by an opponent, and forcing 23 turnovers. The Crusaders shot a season-best 59 percent in last Saturday's win at Lafayette.

"We really wanted to play well going into (tonight's) game and gain some confidence and keep getting confident throughout the week getting ready for Bucknell," said HC senior guard Keith Simmons, the Patriot League's co-scoring leader with 17.8 points per game. "We always want to build momentum and keep getting better. We don't want to let a day go by without us getting better, whether it's practice or whether it's a game. We want to get better, and I think we did that with our first two Patriot League games and with the practices."

Bucknell swept three games from HC last year and have won four straight against the Crusaders. Kevin Bettencourt and Charles Lee, former Bucknell stars and key players in the Bison's recent success against HC, have graduated, but Donald Brown, Abe Badmus and Chris McNaughton are still around.

The Bison lost four straight to open the season, but are 8-7 with wins over Navy and American in their first two league games. The Bison have won 23 straight games against PL foes.

Bucknell (61.3 ppg) is right behind HC (60.8) in scoring defense, and the Bison have shot 50 percent or better from the field in four of their last eight games. Bucknell went three straight with single-digit turnover numbers before turning the ball over 12 times in Tuesday night's win over American.

Brown (11.5 ppg) has been Bucknell's most consistent scorer, and the senior forward is shooting 62 percent from the field. McNaughton, the preseason PL Player of the Year, scored two important baskets late in the 66-60 win over American. The frontcourt trio of McNaughton, Brown and Darren Mastropaolo combined for 41 points in that victory.

"Bucknell is playing well again, and they have a lot of weapons," HC coach Ralph Willard said. "Brown is playing tremendous. It should be a great matchup."

Bucknell's out-of-conference games included an overtime loss to Wake Forest, a three-point win over George Mason, a 68-67 win at Xavier that ended the Musketeers' 17-game home winning streak against non-conference opponents, and a 72-60 setback to Texas Tech, the game in which Bob Knight tied Dean Smith's career coaching wins record.

The Crusaders should get some help for league play with the return of sophomore guard Pat Doherty.

Doherty, who broke a bone in his right hand a couple of days after the Dec. 6 Duke game, returned to action against Lafayette, scoring 10 points in 26 minutes, and logged 20 minutes against Army. Doherty contributed two points and four assists in the 66-42 win.

Doherty, who missed six games, is wearing a protective wrap on the hand.

NAME: COLLEGE OF THE HOLY CROSS 

ART: PHOTO

PHOTOG: T&G File Photo/STEVE LANAVA

CUTLINE: The Crusaders' Keith Simmons is tied for the Patriot League scoring lead with 17.8 points per game.