Bartram serves as catalyst

By KEVIN GORMAN
Collegian Sports Writer

Five minutes into the second half, Bruce Parkhill searched his bench for a substitute point guard. What Parkhill saw was the backup, Damien McKnight, dressed in street clothes.

"Get Danny," the men's basketball coach told Greg Bartram in Saturday's contest against the Badgers.

It may have been Parkhill's best coaching decision this month.

Bartram, a 6-foot-5 senior swingman who hadn't played point guard since high school, entered the game at 14 minutes, 37 seconds to give Dan Earl a breather.

With Donovan Williams sidelined by back pain and McKnight out indefinitely because of an injured heel, Bartram became the emergency backup and helped rejuvenate a team that had lost five of its last six games.

"Emotion is one of the things we've lost the past couple of weeks, and this was a big game for us to get it back," Bartram said. "As far as playing with a lot of fire and determination, I think that showed today -- especially on the defensive end.

"It doesn't take experience to lead with emotion. You play with fire and determination and just straight emotion and that's something that's contagious. If one person does it, other players start doing it. If that's one thing I can bring to the team, then I'm happy doing that."

One minute later, Bartram cracked Wisconsin's full-court pressure for a breakaway layup to up the Lions' lead, 45-39, and score the first of seven consecutive points. At 12:10, Bartram's three-pointer opened the Lion lead to nine. He then scored on a 15-foot jump shot to give the Lions their biggest lead, 50-39.

Bartram's intensity was indeed contagious. The Lions, who shot an anemic 34.6 percent from the field in the first half, converted 13-of-22 field goals in the second, including seven three-pointers in 10 attempts.

And it was freshman guard Pete Lisicky who caught Bartram's fever. Lisicky shot 3-of-4 from three-point range, nailing back-to-back treys late in the game that ensured a Lion lead.

The second came on a set play that saw Lisicky rub off a John Amaechi pick. Lisicky caught a pass on the run, squared, turned and fired in midair to sink a crucial basket, giving the Lions a 66-61 lead with 55.1 seconds remaining.

"That was a great shot," Parkhill said. "I have confidence in Pete. I just think he's one of those guys (that) he's going to miss three in a row, but he's going to knock down the next one. I think that's his mind-set."

It's called being a gamer.

In the clutch, the gamer wants the ball. Lisicky got the shot and made it, but instead credited the turnaround of the Lion defense -- not his jumper.

"I knew that every score at that time of the game was very important for the team. But I thought our defense really stepped it up at the end and when they started to make a run we stopped them down at the defensive end," said Lisicky, who had three steals. "I think that's what was the biggest thing, not just the shooting."

But it sure didn't hurt.