Bucknell University Athletics
Muscala Named Patriot League Player of Week and Susquehanna Valley Limo Bison Athlete of Week
1/17/2011 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Following the best back-to-back performances of his young career, Bucknell sophomore Mike Muscala (Roseville, Minn./Roseville) has been named both the Patriot League Player of the Week and the Susquehanna Valley Limousine Bison Athlete of the Week. Muscala led the red-hot Bison to two more victories last week, averaging 28.0 points, 11.5 rebounds and 4.0 blocked shots in wins over American and Holy Cross.
Muscala's fantastic week culminated with his tie-breaking shot with 1.4 seconds left in Bucknell's 74-72 win over Holy Cross on Sunday at Sojka Pavilion. Against the Crusaders, Muscala finished with 23 points, a career-high 13 rebounds, three assists and three blocks. He had 11 rebounds by halftime and scored 15 of his 23 points in a tight second half.
Muscala, who also hit a buzzer-beater to beat Richmond two weeks earlier, earned his first career conference player of the week award.
Last Wednesday on the road against Patriot League preseason favorite American, Muscala went for a career-high 33 points (23 in the second half) along with 10 rebounds and five blocked shots. He became just the second player in program history to record at least 30 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks in a game. The other was Mike Butts, who totaled 36 points, 18 rebounds and seven blocks in an overtime win over Duquesne in 1987-88. Muscala was the first Bison to collect 30 points and 10 rebounds since Boakai Lalugba at George Washington in 2002-03, and it was just the 28th 30-10 game in program history.
For the season, Muscala leads the team in scoring (15.6), rebounding (6.8), blocked shots (1.5) and field-goal percentage (.526), and he is also shooting 82.9 percent from the foul line. Among the Patriot League leaders, Muscala ranks sixth in scoring, fourth in rebounding and field-goal percentage, sixth in free-throw percentage and second in blocks.
Bucknell is off to a 3-0 start in Patriot League play and has sole possession of first place atop the league standings. In those three games, Muscala is averaging 25.0 points, 9.3 rebounds and 2.7 blocks while shooting 60 percent from the field.
The Bison have won six games in a row and 10 of their last 11 to improve to 12-7 on the season. They have two more home games coming up this week: Wednesday vs. Lafayette and Saturday vs. Colgate.
