Getting homered at St. Francis is a common experience. But who would expect such disrespect from the officials on your own floor? In a game in which the officials were inconsistent, at best, the Bison were whistled for 9 more fouls than the visiting Red Flash, who shot 25 free throws, making 20, to down Bucknell, 70-65 (box score) in Sojka Pavilion.

Pat Flannery was reserved in his assessment of the stripes. "I don't think our kids ever got a feel for the ballgame," he said. "At the samew time, we're going to be in some places and we have to learn to handle that."

Perhaps the most telling stat: Bucknell jumped out to an early 13-point lead, forcing St. Francis to turn up the pressure on defense. With 11:03 to play in the first half, the Bison led 20-7, and the team fouls were almost even (Bucknell 4, SF 3). Less than two minutes later, the Bison picked up team foul number 8. St. Francis didn't get its fourth team foul until the 7:46 mark. The Flash was still stuck on four when Charles Lee picked up the Bison's 10th foul of the half, about a minute later.

Flash coach Bobby Jones tried to rationalize the disparity, claiming postgame that it was the result of his squad getting the ball into the post/ "We're pretty big inside. We're big and we're physical," said Jones. "We played smart getting the ball on the blocks."

What game were you watching Bobby? Look at the box score. As Todd Hummel points out in The Daily Item, It was St. Francis' guards that did the damage. Joey Goodson and Rahsaan Benton combined for eight treys.

Sure Bison forward Donald Brown got into early foul trouble. He was forced to play much of the second half with four personals. But that was not because of St. Francis pounding it inside. Three of Brown's five fouls were offensive. Another was one of those on-purpose-to-stop-the-clock (refs seldom call them intentional) fouls with nine seconds left.

"There must have been four or five offensive fouls that they called on screens," Flannery pointed out.

The Lewisburg Daily Journal's Chris Brady noticed the officiating, too (full LDJ story).

Bucknell struggled with fouls, particularly offensive fouls which were called as the Bison attempted screens as part of their motion offense.

"Whether they were that much quicker or we weren't strong enough to set it, they took it to us," said Flannery of the calls.

To be certain, Bucknell did not lose because of the poor officiating. Poor shooting had a lot to do with it, too. Freshman guard John Griffin, who missed one shot in the Bison's first three games, was 3-for-10 from the field. Kevin Bettencourt, Bucknell's designated sniper, was 3-for-9. And although they only got to the line 16 times all night, making only 10 of those free throws (62.5 percent) did not help.

Nonetheless, it was a curious performance by the zebras.

NOTES: Bucknell's preparation for the game was hampered by the lack of a decent scouting report on the Flash. Division I teams are not allowed to scout opponents in person. They have to rely on tape. But Flannery had no tape of the Flash to look at. Because of a deal cut by Jones with Howard, Howard would not swap a tape with Bucknell. Since St. Francis starts two transfers, that made it tough for Flannery to have a feel for this year's version of the Flash.

As Flannery pointed out after, such deals never hamped the big schools. They are able to get tapes of their opponents off televised game. But for the mid and lower majors, who seldom are on the tube, it can be a real handicap.

"It absolutely stinks, and it is something that needs to be addressed by the NCAA," Flannery said, making it clear he faults the rules that allow such deals, not Jones for making one (though Flannery was quick to point out he has never made such a pact) . . .

We'd love to link to the Altoona Mirror's Web site for a view of the game from the St. Francis point of view. But they don't have one posted.

ELSEWHERE IN THE PATRIOT . . .

Sal Interdonato of the Middletown Times Herald-Record says Army coach Jim Crew is eyeing lineup changes after three starters were held scoreless as the Cadets fell to 0-2 with a 67-52 loss to Sacred Heart.

By the way, both Army setbacks have come at home. Not a good sign.

Colgate, still looking for its first win, hosts also winless Cornell tonight. Preview it with Matt Michael of the Syracuse Post-Standard.