Bucknell University Athletics
Bison Men's Basketball Hits Road for Final Time in Regular Season
2/20/2003 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 20, 2003
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Mired in a three-way logjam in the middle of the Patriot League standings, Bucknell looks to make some headway this weekend on its final road trip of the regular season. The Bison, who are wrapping up a grueling stretch of six out of seven games on the road, face two teams looking for some payback after suffering lopsided losses in Sojka Pavilion last month. In one of its best defensive stretches in team history, Bucknell defeated Army (53-38) and Lafayette (68-48) in a Friday-Sunday set in Lewisburg. Now, the Orange and Blue must find an elusive road victory; Bucknell is just 2-9 on the road this season, 1-4 in Patriot League play. The Lafayette encounter is particularly critical, as the Leopards are one of the teams tied with Bucknell for fourth place (Colgate is other). The good news for the Bison is that they are 2-0 against Lafayette and Colgate entering this weekend.
the state of the bison
After securing a much-needed 59-41 victory over Navy last Friday, ending a three-game losing streak, Bucknell now faces two important road tests as the regular season winds down to its final four games. At 5-5 in Patriot League play (entering this weekend), Bucknell, Lafayette and Colgate are all four games behind league-leading Holy Cross (9-1) and two back of Lehigh and American at 7-3. As the Patriot League Tournament approaches in two weeks, all that is certain from the Bison's standpoint is that they will not be the No. 8 seed. Bucknell will have a tough time passing Lehigh, as the Mountain Hawks swept BU this season and thus own the head-to-head tiebreaker. Bucknell and American split two meetings, and the Eagles face the difficult Holy Cross/Colgate road trip this weekend. The Bison are 2-0 against the other two teams in the fourth-place tie. They play at Lafayette on Friday and close the regular season at home against Colgate on March 2.
defense ranked third nationally
According to the most recent stats published Tuesday by the NCAA, Bucknell ranks third among all Division I teams in scoring defense, allowing a meager 58.6 ppg. Only Air Force and St. Joseph's are stingier on defense.
NCAA Division I Leaders: Scoring Defense (through games of 2/17)
1. Air Force 56.4
2. St. Joseph's 57.9
3. Bucknell 58.6
4. Pittsburgh 58.7
5. Pennsylvania 59.4
6. Utah 59.5
7. Butler 59.6
8. Utah State 59.6
9. Wisconsin 59.6
10. Holy Cross 60.6
more nuggets on the bison defense
* Bucknell is yielding a league-low 54.7 ppg in Patriot League games.
* In Patriot League home games, Bucknell is allowing a paltry 47.8 ppg. Lehigh's 60 points is the most scored by a visitor to Sojka Pavilion. In PL home games, the Bison have allowed 52, 60, 38, 48 and 41 points.
* Bucknell has held six opponents under 50 points, 11 under 60 and 18 under 70. Only Notre Dame (73), George Washington (80) and Arizona State (79) have scored more than 71 points against the Bison this season.
scouting lafayette
The Leopards have played very good basketball since their loss at Bucknell on Jan. 26, winning four straight before falling at league-leading Holy Cross 73-65 last Saturday. Lafayette started just 1-4 in Patriot League play, but has rallied back to .500 and sits in a three-way tie for fourth place with Bucknell and Colgate. Lafayette is not a deep team; in fact, it gets 86% of its scoring from its five starters. The Leopards do have plenty of talent, however, led by guard Justin DeBerry, the Patriot League's leading scorer at 16.7 ppg. DeBerry managed only four points in Lafayette's loss at Bucknell, but he has been on a roll since then, averaging 20.4 ppg over the last five games, including 29 in a one-point home win over American. Winston Davis has also upped his scoring output to 13.9 ppg, while big point guard Andrew Pleick (9.0 ppg, 4.6 apg), who is third in the PL in assists, rounds out a tough backcourt. Up front Rob Dill (9.6 ppg) and Mike Farrell (8.8 ppg, 6.9 rpg) provide a well-rounded tandem. Freshman Andrei Capusan sees the most action off the bench and averages 3.0 ppg. Lafayette ranks second in the PL in scoring offense (67.4 ppg) but seventh in scoring defense (66.5 ppg).
scouting army
The Black Knights have endured a difficult season under first-year head coach Jim Crews, but many around the league feel that Army is close picking someone off, particularly at home. Army is the lowest scoring team in the loop at 55.7 ppg, and the Black Knights managed only 11 first-half points in a 53-38 loss at Bucknell on Jan. 24. Guards Andy Smith (10.4 ppg) and Sean O'Keefe (10.1 ppg) both score in double figures, and the duo has combined for 93 3-pointers. Smith in particular can be a deadly long-range shooter, shooting 46.3% from beyond the arc, the second-best figure in the league and seventh-best in the nation. A key addition in the backcourt has been senior Mike Canty, who was not with the program last year, and missed the first two months of this season with a leg injury. Canty, who did not play against Bucknell in the first meeting between the Bison and Black Knights, has started the last two contests and has 13 points and 10 assists in five appearances this season. Resurgent senior forward Matt Collins has started the last five games and is averaging nearly 10 ppg over that span. Bill Mohr (5.8 ppg) also starts in the frontcourt. Army generally uses a very deep bench, headed by forward Josh Wilson (6.4 ppg) and guard Mike Dames (4.1 ppg).
all-time series vs. lafayette
The Bison and Leopards meet Friday for the 130th time. Lafayette, which is Bucknell's second most-played opponent (behind only Lehigh), leads the 88-year-old series 83-46. Bucknell enjoyed a 17-1 stretch against Lafayette from 1990-98, but the Leopards have since won 8 of 11 meetings. The two teams split last season, with the Bison winning 65-64 in the Patriot League opener in Davis Gym and Lafayette returning the favor in Easton, 74-68. Bucknell won 68-48 in the first meeting this season. (for a complete recap of this year's first Bucknell-Lafayette contest, please see page 28).
all-time series vs. army
Bucknell owns a 26-14 lead in series that dates back to 1929. The Bison are 25-4 against Army since the two teams joined the Patriot League in 1990-91, including 10-3 at West Point. Army's last series win was a 60-55 triumph in Christl Arena in 2001. Bucknell swept all three meetings last year, including a 70-59 win in the Patriot League Tournament quarterfinals, and took the first 2003 clash, 53-38, in Lewisburg last month. (for a complete recap of this year's first Bucknell-Army contest, please see page 28).
last year's bucknell-lafayette meetings
Bucknell and Lafayette split two meetings last season, with each defending its home court. In the Patriot League opener on Jan. 9, 2002, Matt Quinn sank the go-ahead shot with 14 seconds left and blocked a Lafayette shot at the final buzzer to preserve a 65-64 Bison victory. There were 19 lead changes and four ties in the see-saw affair. Brian Werner finished with 12 points and 13 rebounds, while Boakai Lalugba added 17 points and eight boards. Ben Saxton had 17 points for Lafayette. In the rematch on Feb. 2, 2002 at the Kirby Sports Center, Mick Kuberka drained 4 of 5 3-point tries and scored a career-high 21 points to lead Lafayette to a 74-68 win. Bryan Bailey scored 20 points, including the 1,000th of his career, for the Bison. Lafayette went 10-for-10 from the line in the last 45 seconds to seal the win.
last year's bucknell-army meetings
The Bison and Black Knights hooked up three times last season, including once in the Patriot League Tournament. Bucknell won all three meetings, but each of the regular-season games were very tightly contested. On Jan. 16, 2002, in Davis Gym, Boakai Lalugba scored 19 of his 25 points in the second half to lead the Bison to a 56-53 win. Bucknell trailed 28-18 at the half and 39-30 with 12:20 remaining. On Feb. 9, 2002 at Christl Arena, Lalugba added another 25 points, including the go-ahead basket with 1:22 remaining to lift the Bison to a 65-62 win. Bucknell nearly let an 11-point halftime lead slip away and survived to last-second 3-point attempts from Chris Spatola. On March 2, 2002 at the Show Place Arena, Lalugba logged 20 points and 13 rebounds as the Bison bested Army 70-59 in the opening round of the Patriot League Tournament. Bucknell limited the Black Knights to 32.7% shooting and held Spatola, the PL's leading scorer, to 2-for-14 shooting.
notes from the navy game
In another terrific home defensive effort, Bucknell opened the first and second halves with runs of 11-0 and 16-0, respectively ... the Bison held Navy to only six second-half field goals and outscored the Mids 35-20 after intermission ... Chris Niesz scored a career-high 18 points, coming on six 3-pointers ... two of his treys came in the decisive 16-0 surge to start the second half ... Boakai Lalugba recorded his 13th double-double of the season with 13 points and 12 rebounds.
milestones
Dan Blankenship needs 19 assists to become only the seventh Bison with 300 career assists ... Boakai Lalugba needs 54 points and 17 rebounds to become just the fourth player in Bucknell history (joining Bob Barry, Mike Bright and Mike Butts) and the fifth in Patriot League annals (along with Colgate's Adonal Foyle, Lafayette's Stefan Ciosici, Army's David Ardayfio and Holy Cross' Tim Szatko) to record 1,300 points and 700 rebounds ... Lalugba would become the first player in Patriot League history and the second at Bucknell (along with Mike Bright) to record 1,300 points, 700 rebounds and 100 steals.
