Aug. 12, 2008
Center Valley, Pa. - After earning First-Team All-Patriot League status in their final collegiate season in 2008, Holy Cross' Tim Clifford and Bucknell's John Griffin have each signed one-year contracts to play professional basketball in Germany.
Clifford inked a deal with Telekom Baskets Bonn, which competes in the Basketball Bundesliga and is located in the city of Bonn. Griffin signed on with Crailsheim Proveo Merlins, which is located in the city of Crailshaim and competes in the Bundesliga's B Division.
In addition to the All-League honors a year ago, both Griffin and Clifford played key roles on Patriot League Championship teams. Griffin helped the Bison to the League title in his first two seasons in 2004-05 and 2005-06, with Bucknell also winning first-round games in the NCAA Tournament in each of the seasons. Clifford was a big part of Holy Cross' 2006-07 Patriot League title team.
Clifford averaged 18.0 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.3 blocked shots per game for the Crusaders, while shooting 57.1 percent from the floor (205 of 359) and 78.2 percent at the foul line (97 of 124) in his senior season. He finished the season ranked first in the league in field goal percentage and blocked shots, fourth in scoring and sixth in rebounding. Clifford led the team in scoring 24 times in 29 games played last year, including each of Holy Cross' last 15 contests. He also scored in double figures 27 straight times to end the season, while going for at least 20 points in 12 of those games.
Clifford totaled 1,246 points, 514 rebounds and 210 blocked shots in his career at Holy Cross, and sits third in Patriot League annals in blocks. He will be an opponent of former Holy Cross teammate and 2007 Patriot League Player of the Year Keith Simmons, who signed with the Deutsche Bank Skyliners earlier this summer.
At Bucknell, Griffin was a four-year letterman and two-year starter at guard. He played in a school-record 127 games, never missing a contest in four years. Griffin scored 1,084 career points and also made 200 career 3-point field goals. He tied the Bucknell single-season record with 79 3-pointers in 2007-08.
In his four years at Bucknell, Griffin played in three Patriot League championship games, winning two, and perhaps his most famous moment came this past March when he made a 40-foot shot at the final buzzer to beat Navy 87-86 in triple overtime in the Patriot League quarterfinals. He was part of a senior class that won 85 games, second-most in school history.
