Hoopville - Patriot League

Flannery to Retire: Bucknell head coach Pat Flannery will retire, effective July 1, and take on a new fundraising role in the university's Office of Development and Alumni Relations. Flannery served as head coach at his alma mater for 14 seasons and continued his career of winning in central Pennsylvania, compiling a 234-178 record over that time, including a Patriot League record 125 wins. During his tenure, the program was consistently a contender for the Patriot League title. In 2005 and 2006, he took the team to the NCAA Tournament, where they won a first round game each year. [4/18/08]

Longtime Navy Coach Dead at 92: Ben Carnevale, a Hall of Famer who coached Navy for 20 years and was a longtime head of the U.S. Olympic Basketball committee, has died. He was 92. Carnevale played at New York University and won a national championship in 1935. He served in the Navy during World War II and received a Purple Heart. After the war, he coach North Carolina for two seasons, taking them to a national title game in 1946. He took over at Navy that year and would stay there for two decades and is the school's all-time winningest coach. He would later serve as athletic director at NYU and William and Mary and also served as the comissioner of the Colonial Athletic Association. The cause of death wasn't announced. [4/01/08]

East Region - First Round: Sophomore point guard Ty Lawson proved he is healthy and ready to lead No. 1 North Carolina in the NCAA Tournament after providing 21 points, four assists and no turnovers in the Tar Heels' 113-74 blowout against No. 16 Mount St. Mary's. The Tar Heels shot better than 60 percent from the field and had five players in double figures as North Carolina's offense was no match for the Mountaineers. Junior forward Tyler Hansbrough also had 21 points for North Carolina, while senior guard Chris Vann led Mount St. Mary's with 16 points.

No. 2 Tennessee had its hands full with No. 15 American for 38 minutes before pulling away at the end to win 72-57. The Eagles hung with the Volunteers by outrebounding them 37-25 and hitting nine three-pointers. The prolific Tennessee shooters hit only six three-pointers, which helped American remain competitive until late in the second half. Senior guard JaJuan Smith led the Volunteers with 19 points, and junior guard Garrison Carr led all scorers by putting up 26 points for the Eagles. Tennessee has Butler up next.

No. 3 Louisville had no troubles getting past No. 14 Boise State 79-61 to move into the second round against Oklahoma. Sophomore swingman Earl Clark led the Cardinals with 15 points and seven rebounds. Louisville shot better than 55.8 percent from the field, including 50 percent from three-point range.

After battling to a tie midway through the first half, No. 6 Oklahoma went on a 25-6 run spanning halftime to pull away from No. 11 Saint Joseph's. The Sooners' senior guard David Godbold scored 25 points to lead Oklahoma. Senior forward Pat Calathes struggled against Oklahoma's defense, shooting 2-of-11 from the field for only six points. The Sooners were hot on offense, shooting 57.1 percent from the field to help survive a late rally by Saint Joseph's.

No. 7 Butler rained three-pointers on No. 10 South Alabama in a crushing 81-61 win. The Bulldogs hit 15 three-pointers, led by senior forward Pete Campbell's eight long shots. Campbell finished with 26 points to lead Butler, which built a double-digit lead midway through the first half after the Jaguars kept it close during the first 10 minutes. Senior guard Daon Merritt led South Alabama with 14 points, but he was the only Jaguar to score in double figures.

No. 9 Arkansas mercifully brought No. 8 Indiana's controversy-laden season to end with an 86-72 win. Senior swingman Sonny Weems was on fire for the Razorbacks, shooting 12-of-14 for 31 points. He also hit three three-pointers and grabbed five rebounds. Indiana's defense was porous as the defensive-minded Razorbacks shot 54.2 percent from the field. The Hoosiers' freshman point guard Eric Gordon struggled, going 3-of-15 for only eight points and one assist to three turnovers. Indiana coach Kelvin Sampson resigned in February amid NCAA violations for improper recruiting practices. [3/21/08]

Patriot League Championship: No. 1 American will make its first ever trip to the NCAA Tournament, as the Eagles scored the game's final seven points in a 52-46 win over No. 3 Colgate. The game was a close one almost the entire way, as the Eagles opened up an early 13-6 lead and neither team posted a bigger lead during the game. The Eagles didn't come out on top in many statistical categories, shooting 34 percent from the field and losing the battle on the boards by three, but they got a number of key loose balls and made several hustle plays to pull it out. Tournament MVP Garrison Carr led American with 17 points, while Brian Gilmore was the only other Eagle in double figures with 11. Kyle Roemer scored 17 points to lead Colgate, and Alex Woodhouse had eight points, 16 rebounds and four blocked shots, falling one rebound shy of the championship game record. [3/14/08]

Patriot League Tournament Semifinals: No. 1 American is one win away from making its first NCAA Tournament appearance in school history. Junior guard Garrison Carr led the Eagles with 23 points to help American beat No. 5 Army 72-60. The Eagles built a 17-point second-half lead then held off the Black Knights after they cut the deficit to four. American will play No. 3 Colgate for the Patriot League championship Friday. The Raiders advanced to the final after beating No. 7 Bucknell 54-40. The Raiders held the Bison to 10 first-half points, building a 27-10 halftime lead. Colgate lost both regular-season meetings against American. [3/09/08]

Patriot League Tournament Quarterfinals: March Madness is already in full swing as No. 7 Bucknell drained a 40-foot three-pointer at the buzzer in triple overtime to upset No. 2 Navy 87-86. The Midshipmen took a two-point lead with two seconds remaining when sophomore forward T.J. Topercer tapped in a rebound. Senior guard John Griffin then drained the buzzer-beater to steal the victory. The Bison advance to play No. 3 Colgate in the semifinals. Senior guard Kyle Roemer had a season-high 32 points to lead the Raiders to a 76-74 win against No. 6 Lafayette.

Top-seeded American survived against No. 8 Holy Cross 62-60 to move into the semifinals against No. 5 Army. Junior forward Brian Gilmore hit the game-winning basket and drew a foul with 18 seconds remaining, and the Eagles prevented the Crusaders from getting off a shot at the buzzer. The Black Knights beat No. 4 Lehigh 64-61 in overtime as sophomore guard Josh Miller more than tripled his scoring average with 25 points. A 7.7 points per game scorer on the season, Miller also added nine rebounds. [3/05/08]

Holy Cross-Army Game Rescheduled: A facilities issue at the Holleder Center caused officials to reschedule Wednesday's Holy Cross at Army game for Thursday at 7 p.m. Army will try to sweep Holy Cross for the season after beating the Crusaders 53-49 in January. A perennial Patriot League power, Holy Cross is struggling this season and is in last place in the conference. [2/14/08]

Bison Get Flannery Back for Navy: Bucknell coach Pat Flannery will return to the Bison's sidelines Saturday against Navy after missing the team's last two games. Flanney was hospitalized after slipping on the sidelines in a game at Lehigh Jan. 30. He has been to hospitals several times in the past 10 days to determine the illness. Flannery and school officials have not shared detailed information, but doctors have cleared Flannery to return to his coaching duties. [2/09/08]

Flannery Remains Absent: Bucknell coach Patrick Flannery missed his second consecutive game because of an undisclosed illness. Flannery missed the Bison's 91-85 win at Colgate after missing Sunday's loss to Army. Assistant Nathan Davis has filled in as acting head coach while Flannery recovers. Flannery did not specify the nature of the illness, but he has checked into the hospital twice in the past week after collapsing on the sidelines during a game at Lehigh last week. Flannery has missed time in the past because of stress-related problems. [2/07/08]

Bucknell Coach out of Hospital: After checking in to a hospital last week, Bucknell coach Pat Flannery was released, and he was not on the sidelines during the Bisons' 68-52 loss to Army. Flannery checked into Evangelical Community Hospital after apparently slipping on the sidelines during Bucknell's loss to Lehigh. He was released Thursday but returned Friday for additional tests. Flannery and Bucknell have not said why Flannery has been in the hospital. [2/04/08]

Bucknell Coach Suspended: Bucknell coach Pat Flannery has been suspended for one game by the Patriot League for arguing a call during the Bisons' game against Hoy Cross. During the second half of the game, Flannery began arguing with officials about a charge call against one of his players. The officials called two technicals on Flannery, leading to his ejection. He will miss Bucknell's next game, which is against Lafayette. [1/22/08]

Holy Cross Will Keep Willard Around Longer: Ralph Willard agreed to a five-year contract extention as the head coach at Holy Cross, which will keep him at his alma mater through the 2012-13 season. In eight seasons in Worcester, Willard has posted a 159-89 record and led the Crusaders to the NCAA Tournament four times, including last season when they went 25-9. Three times, he has won Patriot League Coach of the Year honors. [9/06/07]

Crusaders Add Daigneault to Staff: Completing a busy day in Worcester, Holy Cross also announced the addition of Mark Daigneault as an assistant coach. Daigneault was most recently an undergraduate assistant coach the past two seasons at the University of Connecticut while finishing his bachelor's degree in education. [9/06/07]

Mountain Hawks Find Coach in Their Nest: Lehigh has promoted associate coach Brett Reed to succeed coach Billy Taylor, who left the Mountain Hawks to take the Ball State job. Reed has been with Lehigh for five years after working at High Point for two seasons. Taylor established a winning culture at Lehigh that Reed will strive to continue. Taylor was 81-69 in five seasons and reached the NCAA Tournament in 2004. [8/11/07]

Former Harvard Assistant Joins Raiders: Colgate has added former Harvard assistant Bill Holden to its staff as an assistant coach. Holden spent the past ten seasons at Harvard, his second stint with the program after being a part-time assistant from 1992-94. In between, he was an assistant at his alma mater, Bentley College, where he played for future boss Frank Sullivan. He replaces Kevin Curley, who resigned in May to become the head coach at McDaniel College. [7/6/07]