Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Men's Basketball Looks to Get Back on Winning Track Wednesday vs. American at Sojka Pavilion
1/12/2010 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 12, 2010
WHAT: Bucknell (5-12, 0-1 PL) vs. American (3-13, 0-1 PL)
WHERE: Sojka Pavilion, Lewisburg, Pa.
WHEN: Wednesday, Jan. 13, 7 p.m.
TICKETS: Available at Sojka Pavilion Box Office beginning at 6 p.m.
PROMOTIONS: Junior Bison Club Night (postgame party)
RADIO: Eagle 107 (107.3 FM) and SportsJuice.com
INTERNET VIDEO: Bison Vision 
LIVE STATISTICS: GameTracker 
Complete Game Notes in PDF Format 
Other Links:
With a Win Over American, the Bison Would ...
• ... improve to 6-12 overall, 3-4 at home and 1-1 in the Patriot League.
• ... snap a three-game losing streak.
• ... earn their first victory of 2010.
• ... snap a three-game losing streak to American and improve to 8-1 against the Eagles in Sojka Pavilion.
• ... improve to 46-11 against Patriot League foes at Sojka Pavilion.
About the Game
Bucknell and American take the floor in search of their first Patriot League victories of the season on Wednesday night at Sojka Pavilion. This will be a big game for the Bison, who want to avoid falling to 0-2 in the league with a three-game road trip looming. The Bison dropped a close one at home to Navy, 69-67, on Saturday, while American fell well behind early and succumbed at Lehigh 78-67. The Eagles are also rebuilding after capturing each of the last two Patriot League titles. They lost all five starters and eight lettermen in all from last year's team that finished 24-8 overall, 13-1 in the Patriot League, and nearly upset Villanova in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. With an entirely new lineup, Jeff Jones' team started 0-7 and is now 3-13, but it did pick up a win over a Big East team in DePaul (62-57) back on Dec. 5. That was their first game with Vlad Moldoveanu, the 6-9 transfer from George Mason who became eligible mid-season. Moldoveanu has made an immediate impact, averaging 18.3 points and 5.3 rebounds while shooting 46.3% from the field in seven games. Stephen Lumpkins (11.3 ppg, 8.2 rpg) and Nick Hendra (10.4 ppg) also score in double figures. For the Bison, Darryl Shazier leads the way in the scoring column at 10.4 ppg. Freshmen Bryson Johnson (18) and Mike Muscala (16) both had big scoring nights in the Navy game, while Muscala added eight rebounds and seven blocks.
How to Get the Game
• The Bucknell-American game will not be televised, however a video webcast can be accessed via Bison Vision at BucknellBison.com or Patriot League All-Access at PatriotLeague.org (subscription required).
• The game can be heard in the Susquehanna Valley on the radio on Eagle 107 (107.3 FM), with Doug Birdsong and Ed Sigl on the call. The pregame show begins 30 minutes before tip-off.
• The audio feed is available free of charge via BucknellBison.com and SportsJuice.com.
• Live statistics are also available via GameTracker at BucknellBison.com.
Bucknell vs. American Series Notes
• Bucknell has an overall 25-20 lead in an all-time series with American that includes some historic dates. The very first meeting on Jan. 14, 1939 also happened to be the first game ever played in Davis Gym (AU won 38-33). Coincidentally, American was also the opponent for the very last game ever played in Davis Gym on Jan. 11, 2003 (a 63-52 Bison win).
• Bucknell has won 15 of 21 series meetings in Lewisburg, including seven out of eight at Sojka Pavilion, but the Bison are just 2-6 at Bender Arena since American joined the Patriot League in 2001-02.
• As Patriot League rivals, Bucknell leads 10-8. The Bison defeated American eight straight times before dropping the last three. That winning streak included victories in the 2005 and 2006 PL Tournament semifinals.
• American won both meetings in 2008-09. On Jan. 14 at Bender Arena, Garrison Carr scored 25 points to lead the Eagles to a 69-55 victory. Justin Castleberry had 15 points and Bryan Cohen and G.W. Boon 14 apiece for Bucknell. Darryl Shazier added eight assists and the Bison had a 48-37 rebounding edge, but they could not overcome a 28.8% shooting night. In the rematch at Sojka Pavilion on Feb. 11, Bucknell battled back from a 10-point second-half deficit only to fall 52-50 when Shazier's potential game-winning 3-pointer hit the front iron as the buzzer sounded. Patrick Behan and Cohen led the Bison with 13 points, while Derrick Mercer had 17 for American.
From Bison to Zebras
Members of the Bucknell team took on a different role on Sunday, volunteering as referees for a day full of youth games in the Lewisburg Youth Basketball League. The Bison student-athletes did not hand out any technical fouls, but they were a hit with the youngsters who were surprised and thrilled to see them in the gym.
Junior Bison Club Night
Following Wednesday's game, there will be a reception and autograph session for members of the Junior Bison Club.
Last Time Out
Bucknell and Navy engaged in an ultra-tight contest on Saturday night at Sojka Pavilion, with the Midshipmen prevailing 69-67 on O.J. Avworo's go-ahead shot in the lane with a minute to play. Niether team led by more than four points for the final 13 minutes and not by more than three for the final 9:30. Bucknell had the ball up by a point with two minutes to play, but a turnover led to a go-ahead 3-pointer by Romeo Garcia. Bryson Johnson answered with a big 3-pointer of his own to put the Bison back in front 67-66, but then Avworo drove down the left side of the lane and flipped in a bank shot with 1:02 to play. Bucknell turned it over again on its next possession, then after a missed free throw by Navy, the Bison called timeout and ran a play for Johnson, who came up short on a 3-pointer in the final 10 seconds.
Inside the Navy Boxscore
• Mike Muscala enjoyed one of the best nights of his early career, with 16 points, eight rebounds and seven blocked shots. The seven blocks were one shy of the school record and the most ever by a Bison freshman. Brian Anderson in 1993 was the last Bison to record eight blocks, while Mike Butts did it twice in 1989.
• Bryson Johnson canned four 3-pointers in nine attempts and led all players with 18 points. It was his 12th game of the year with multiple 3-pointers and his fourth with four or more.
• Patrick Behan also reached double figures with 10 points, and he also grabbed six rebounds. It was his second straight 10-point game.
• Stephen Tyree went 6-for-6 from the free-throw line and scored eight points. The Bison were a strong 20-for-25 from the charity stripe, outscoring the Mids 20-9 there.
• Scoring slumps continued for Darryl Shazier (5 points) and Bryan Cohen (3 points). Shazier has been held to single digits in eight of the last nine games, while Cohen has been under 10 in seven of the last nine.
• Defensively, Bucknell did a nice job on the high-scoring tandem of Chris Harris (19.9 ppg coming in) and Jordan Sugars (15.8). Harris finished with 15 on 5-for-13 shooting, while Sugars went 2-for-10 and scored six points. Navy's role players were big, however, as Greg Brown (10) and Montez Blair (8) both hit two 3-pointers off the bench, center Jeremy Wilson (10) went 5-for-5 from the field, and Romeo Garcia scored eight of his 10 points in the final eight minutes of the game.
• The Bison had 16 turnovers in the game, including three critical giveaways in the final five minutes of a tight game.
• Bucknell finished with a 34-23 rebounding edge.
• Bucknell's 67 points were its most in a regulation-time game since Dec. 22, and it might have been higher were it not for 5:58 field-goal drought to start the game. Bucknell's first bucket came on a Muscala shot with 14:02 left in the half, making the score 6-3.
Who's Got Next?
Bucknell begins a three-game road trip Saturday at Holy Cross. Tip-off will be at 3:30 p.m. at the Hart Center. That game will be followed by trips to Lafayette and Colgate.
