Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Basketball Teams to Get Academy Flavor at Patriot League Tourney
2/25/2002 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 25, 2002
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Following a regular season filled with drama and plenty of jockeying for position in the crowded standings, the men's and women's Patriot League Tournament brackets are now set. Bucknell's men's and women's teams both earned top-three seeds and will face service academy rivals in the opening round.
The Bison women, who finished second in the regular season with an 11-3 Patriot League record (18-9 overall), will face seventh-seeded Navy (13-14, 5-9) at 5 p.m. Friday in the third of four women's quarterfinal games. Bucknell wrapped up the regular season with a thrilling 73-72 overtime victory over Lehigh this past Sunday.
Bucknell swept the season series from Navy, winning 69-52 in Annapolis, Md., on Jan. 12 and 83-71 in Lewisburg on Feb. 6.
In other first-round women's action on Friday, No. 1 Holy Cross faces No. 8 Lafayette at 12 p.m., No. 4 American and No. 5 Colgate meet at 2:30 p.m. and No. 3 Lehigh faces No. 6 Army at 7:30 p.m.
Should the Bison women win their first-round contest, they would face the Lehigh-Army winner Sunday at 2:30 p.m.
Bucknell's men's squad finished the season with an 8-6 conference record (12-15 overall), good for a three-way tie for third place with Colgate and Lafayette. Based on a 3-1 record against the Raiders and Leopards this season, Bucknell won that tiebreaker and secured the No. 3 seed. The result is a quarterfinal date with sixth-seeded Army Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
Bucknell won a pair of tight three-point decisions from the Black Knights this season. The Bison prevailed 56-53 in Davis Gym on Jan. 16 and 65-62 at West Point on Feb. 9. In both games Army all-star guard Chris Spatola had potential tying 3-pointers in the air as the buzzer sounded, but both missed the mark.
In other first-round men's action on Saturday, top-seeded American faces No. 8 Lehigh at 12 p.m., No. 4 Colgate battles No. 5 Lafayette at 2:30 p.m. and No. 2 Holy Cross faces No.7 Navy at 5:30 p.m.
A quarterfinal win would pit Bucknell against the Holy Cross-Navy winner Sunday at 7:30 p.m.
For ticket information, please contact the Bucknell University Athletics Ticket Office at 570-577-3301. Tickets will be on sale at Bucknell until Wednesday, Feb. 27. The ticket office is open on weekdays from 9 a.m. until noon and from 1 p.m. through 4 p.m.
All quarterfinal and semifinal games will be played at Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro, Md. Championship games will be played on the campus of the higher-seeded team, with the women's title tilt slated for Wednesday, March 6 at 7 p.m., the men's championship game to be played Friday, March 8 at 4:30 p.m. on ESPN.
All games involving Bucknell can be heard on the Bison Sports Network, which includes the internet at www.BucknellBison.com. Men's games are broadcast on WVLY-FM (100.9) in Lewisburg, WWPA-AM (1340) in Williamsport and WMBT-AM (1530) in Shenandoah. Women's contests can be heard on WMLP-AM (1380) in Lewisburg.
