Bison Finally Win Their First Title
WORCESTER, Mass. – It wasn’t quite how Pat Flannery drew it up, but the end result was what he wanted. His team went on the road and took care of business.
“We thought we had a great year, and we were getting accolades we deserved, but we had bigger things we wanted to do,” the 11th-year head coach of Bucknell said after his team won the Patriot League with a 61-57 win at Holy Cross on Friday. “We left here two weeks ago and said this is probably where we’re going to have to come back.”
Flannery alluded to the Bison’s recent trip to Worcester prior to Friday, when the Crusaders clinched the Patriot League regular season title with a 69-54 win on Feb. 26. In that game, five Holy Cross players scored in double figures and the Crusaders went 20-22 from the free throw line.
Friday’s game was a little different. The Bison scored nine unanswered points as part of a 14-2 run to break open a close game early, and they never trailed despite being seriously challenged in the final minutes, when Holy Cross eventually got within two points before two free throws by Kevin Bettencourt sealed their first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 1989.
“I thought it was a war,” Flannery said. “I didn’t think it was going to go the way it did, with us getting up on them early and figuring out a way to hang on, but that’s a tribute to Holy Cross and coach and everybody. We knew they were going to come – we kept telling the kids, hang in there, keep your poise.”
The Bison looked much like they did when these two teams first met on Jan. 8, when they handed the Crusaders their last loss prior to Friday night. At that time, it looked like they might run roughshod through the Patriot League, as the win was fresh off their upset of Pittsburgh and their seventh straight win en route to an 11-game winning streak, which equaled the team’s longest since 1919.
Shortly thereafter, Flannery, an animated coach on the bench, had to take a brief leave of absence due to stress. He missed three games, including two road losses that broke the streak, but returned and guided them to second place in the regular season. It was not the first time he had to miss time recently, as he did not travel with the team to Holy Cross and Army last year for similar reasons. He continues to be animated on the bench, but it’s all part of how he coaches a game, and one can’t argue with what has worked.
Flannery has a history of winning in his state. Prior to his 11 seasons at his alma mater, where he is now second all-time in coaching wins with 171, he won a Division 3 national championship at Lebanon Valley College. The Bison have been consistent contenders since the Patriot League was formed in 1990, as this was their fifth trip to the championship game and their first victory. This season is the first 20-win season under Flannery, who has been there for all but the first four seasons of their Patriot League existence. His success there extends off the court, as five of the last eight Patriot League Scholar Athletes have been Bucknell basketball players.
It’s a good time for the school, and Flannery knows it. The school opened its new arena, Sojka Pavilion, last season, and has done very well there, going 22-3 in two seasons. He feels good about the Patriot League as well, saying it “has evolved tremendously in the last eleven years since I’ve been here.” Additionally, this year’s success may not be fleeting, as the roster contains only one senior, reserve forward Chris Niesz.
The Bison have certainly proven that they can beat good teams, and though they may draw a No. 13 or 14 seed, it would not be a shock if they pulled off a first round upset.
Holy Cross waits it out
Holy Cross is now likely bound for the NIT. They have an excellent RPI, but no signature wins, so the NCAA Tournament is not likely to come calling. The Patriot League has never received an at-large bid, and this does not look to be the year that breaks that. The Crusaders nearly swept the league’s awards, winning all but Defensive Player of the Year (Bucknell’s Abe Badmus took that honor), but they would surely trade them in for an NCAA Tournament bid.
While head coach Ralph Willard wasn’t about to campaign for an at-large bid, Flannery didn’t mince words upon being asked.
“Absolutely. I certainly think Holy Cross deserves to go to the tournament,” Flannery said.
Willard chose to reflect on what this team did most of the season.
“We just had a spectacular year,” he said. “It’s unfortunate that we couldn’t finish it the way we would have wanted, but I just can’t say enough about them. They were picked to finish fourth this year, 16-game winning streak, regular season championship. It’s tough being a mid-major and trying to protect great seasons.”
Success for the league
This year’s tournament format was a new one for the league, with the top two seeds hosting the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds. The top remaining seed hosts the championship game, which they have done previously. The only upset in the entire tournament came in the championship game.
Patriot League Executive Director Carolyn Schlie Femovich said the league is happy with the format and how it worked out this year, and they look forward to continuing with it in future years. She also said that having it at campus sites worked out better than one neutral site not only from the vantage point of rewarding those who had better regular seasons, but also from the standpoint of fan travel, noting that fans tend to travel more to campuses than other neutral sites.
