Bucknell University Athletics
Bison Men's Basketball Hosts Navy in Patriot League Opener Saturday Night
1/8/2010 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 8, 2010
WHAT: Bucknell (5-11, 0-0 PL) vs. Navy (6-9, 0-0 PL)
WHERE: Sojka Pavilion, Lewisburg, Pa.
WHEN: Saturday, Jan. 9, 7 p.m.
TICKETS: Available at Sojka Pavilion Box Office beginning at 6 p.m.
PROMOTIONS: Sixth Annual Dirk Sojka Slam Dunk with Bison Basketball
RADIO: WVLY 100.9 FM and SportsJuice.com
INTERNET VIDEO: Bison Vision 
LIVE STATISTICS: GameTracker 
Complete Game Notes in PDF Format 
With a Win Over Navy, the Bison Would ...
• ... improve to 6-11 overall, 3-3 at home and 1-0 in the Patriot League.
• ... improve to 8-1 against Navy at Sojka Pavilion and defeat the Midshipmen in Lewisburg for the ninth time in 10 meetings.
• ... earn their first victory of 2010.
• ... win their Patriot League opener for the fifth time in the last six years.
• ... improve to 46-10 against Patriot League foes at Sojka Pavilion.
About the Game
Two teams that struggled in non-conference play get a fresh start on Saturday night at Sojka Pavilion as Bucknell and Navy open up the 20th season of Patriot League competition. The Bison come in with a 5-11 record and are looking to break out of an offensive drought. They scored only 43 points in a disappointing loss at Dartmouth on Monday and are averaging 53.0 points over the last four games after scoring 70.8 per game in the first 12. Darryl Shazier still leads the team in scoring at 10.8 ppg, and he leads the Patriot League in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.52:1). Mike Muscala is one of four freshmen seeing minutes for the Bison, and he recently re-took the Patriot League lead in blocked shots with 28. Muscala and Bryson Johnson are both two-time Patriot League Rookie of the Week selections.
Navy went 6-9 in the non-conference season, including two recent wins at home against Coppin State and Elon that were negated by a tough 72-65 loss at Howard on Monday. Despite the sub-.500 record, the Midshipmen feature two of the best guards in the Patriot League in senior Chris Harris and sophomore Jordan Sugars. One of those two has led the team in scoring in all but one game this season. Harris leads the league in scoring at 19.9 ppg, and he just became Navy's all-time leading 3-point shooter. He had a 37-point game against Towson earlier this season and led the team with 18 last time out against Howard. Sugars has been the breakout player in the league so far this season. He is third in the PL in scoring at 15.8 ppg and leads the loop in rebounding at 8.4 rpg, despite standing just 6'3”. Sugars is shooting 46.1% from the field and 42.3% from 3-point distance.
How to Get the Game
• The Bucknell-Navy 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 WVLY 100.9 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.
Dirk Sojka's Slam Dunk with Bison Basketball
Saturday's game will feature the Sixth Annual “Dirk Sojka's Slam Dunk with Bison Basketball,” with proceeds benefitting Suncom Industries. Fans in attendance can bid on silent auction items and purchase raffle tickets to win the top prize of a $1,000 Visa gift card or alternate prizes of $500 in cash or a catered Sojka Pavilion suite for the Feb. 17 game against Lafayette. Throughout the night there will be skills challenges featuring Drew Kelly and the 94.1-FM WQKX staff against members of the Bucknell Athletics staff. Suncom Industries is a private, non-profit organization providing services to adults with disabilities. It offers many services to help people reach their potential to be a contributing member of their community. Suncom was the workplace of Dirk Sojka, the son of Gary and Sandy Sojka, until Dirk's passing in July 2002.
Bucknell vs. Navy Series Notes
• This will be the 58th all-time meeting between the Bison and Midshipmen, with Navy owning a 32-25 series lead.
• The Bison have won eight of the last 11 and 11 of the last 15 meetings with Navy.
• The Mids won 12 of 16 from the Bison prior to joining the Patriot League in 1991-92.
• As conference rivals Bucknell holds a slim 21-20 advantage, with the home team winning most of the time. Since Navy joined the league, Bucknell is 15-4 against the Mids at home but is only 6-16 against Navy in Alumni Hall during that time.
• Navy is 1-7 against Bucknell at Sojka Pavilion — with the lone win coming in overtime last season — and also has a neutral-site loss there in a Patriot League Tournament quarterfinal game against American in 2005. Before last season, Bucknell had won eight straight at home against Navy dating back to the Davis Gym days. The Mids' previous win in Lewisburg was a 71-58 decision on Feb. 3, 2001 in Davis.
• Bucknell and Navy played two close games last season, with the Mids winning both. On Jan. 10, 2009 at Alumni Hall, Navy prevailed 71-67 behind 25 points from Kaleo Kina and 14 from Chris Harris. G.W. Boon scored 20 and Darryl Shazier had 18 and seven assists for the Bison. Navy was an uncharacteristic 3-for-22 from 3-point range through 36 minutes, then hit three critical treys in a row down the stretch, each one building on a one or two-point lead. In the rematch at Sojka Pavilion on Feb. 7, Patrick Behan had 20 points and 14 rebounds for the Bison, but it wasn't enough to prevent a 62-60 overtime loss. Kina had 17 to lead Navy, which let a 12-point second-half lead get away. Bucknell went just 2-for-17 from the 3-point arc.
Patriot league Tournament Success
Bucknell has an all-time record of 24-17 in 19 Patriot League Tournaments and has beaten every team in the league at least once in the postseason. The Bison have reached the championship game six times, including wins in 2005 and 2006, and reached at least the semifinals in 15 of 19 years. Bucknell's streak of eight straight first-round wins came to an end last season at Holy Cross.
Patriot League Success
The Bison are 166-86 (.659) in Patriot League regular-season games, the best record of any league team. They have finished at least .500 in PL play in 15 of 19 seasons. The Bison won a league-record 23 straight contests against conference foes from Feb. 23, 2005 to Jan. 12, 2007. Bucknell had a streak of 35 straight wins at home against conference opponents come to an end in 2008. The Bison have finished either first or second eight times in the 19-year history of the league.
Bucknell in League Openers
Despite boasting more Patriot League victories than any other team since the league's inception in 1990-91, Bucknell is only 8-11 in conference openers. When the Patriot League opener is a home game, the Bison are 7-3. Bucknell and Navy have kicked off PL play on 10 previous occasions, with Bucknell winning five of those.
Last Time Out
Bucknell just could not get anything going offensively at Dartmouth on Monday night and fell 49-43 in the final non-conference game of the regular season. The Bison were solid defensively, limiting the Big Green to 49 points and allowing only one Dartmouth player to score in double figures, but at the other end Bucknell shot only 30.6% from the field and turned the ball over 15 times. After digging itself into a 14-point deficit eight minutes into the second half, the Bison allowed only one field goal in an eight-minute span and crawled within four points at 45-41 on G.W. Boon's 3-pointer with 4:39 to play. It was still a four-point game at 47-43 with 3:58 left, and then for all intents and purposes neither team scored again. Bucknell got five straight defensive stops down the stretch but could not capitalize on any of them, and finally Dartmouth parlayed a turnover near midcourt into a breakaway layup with nine seconds left.
Inside the Dartmouth Boxscore
• G.W. Boon led Bucknell with 12 points and nine rebounds in a season-high 27 minutes of action. Eight of Boon's game-high nine rebounds were at the offensive end.
• The only other double-digit scorer was Partick Behan with 10 points.
• Among Bucknell's 34 missed field goals (the team made 15 of 49) were a rash of missed layups. The team shot just 33.3% on 2-point shot attempts.
• Leading scorer Darryl Shazier was held to three points, though he did have four assists and a steal.
• Bucknell outrebounded Dartmouth 35-23, including an 11-3 edge on the offensive boards.
• Dartmouth was led by freshman R.J. Griffin with 16 points and seven rebounds. Griffin came into the game with only three made 3-pointers all season, then went 4-for-5 from the arc against the Bison.
• It was Bucknell's first-ever game played in the state of New Hampshire, and it was the first meeting between the Bison and Big Green since 1905.
Defensive Improvement
On Dec. 22 the Bison gave up 101 points to Notre Dame, but since then they have turned in four solid defensive performances. They allowed 55 points in a six-point loss to Loyola (Md.); 59 points through the end of regulation in a 70-67 overtime win over Marist; 59 points in last Saturday's loss to Richmond; and 49 points Monday at Dartmouth. In the last four games the team is allowing only 57.5 ppg after yielding 74.5 in the first 12 games.
Offensive Struggles
Bucknell's defensive resurgence has coincided with an offensive brown-out. The Bison are averaging 53.0 points over the last four games after scoring 70.8 per game in the first 12. Also over the last four games the team is shooting just 34.8% from the field and 31.2% from the 3-point arc.
Who's Got Next?
Bucknell returns home on Wednesday to face two-time defending Patriot League champion American. Game time is 7 p.m. at Sojka Pavilion. That will be Junior Bison Club Night at Sojka.
