Bucknell University
16-8, 7-1PL
Navy
8-16, 3-5PL
Bucknell Men Rebound with 75-49 win over Navy
2/5/2011 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 5, 2011
Box Score | Photo Gallery 
| Alumni Game Recap | Alumni Game Photo Gallery
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Sophomore Joe Willman recorded a career-high 18 points along with 10 rebounds, and classmate Mike Muscala had 11 points, a career-high 17 boards and five assists to lead Bucknell to a convincing 75-49 win over Navy Saturday night at Sojka Pavilion. Bryson Johnson added to a big night for the sophomore class with five 3-pointers and 18 points, and the first-place Bison emphatically rebounded from last week's 90-70 loss at Army to improve to 16-8 overall, 7-1 in the Patriot League.
The Bison, who clinched a winning season with the victory, led this one from start to finish, scoring the game's first 10 points and then maintaining a double-figure cushion for the final 32:32 of the night.
Navy (8-16, 3-5) had its three-game winning streak come to an end, despite 17 points, four blocks and three steals from Greg Brown. He was the only double-figure scorer for the Misdhipmen, who were held to 27.6-percent shooting, including a 5-for-31 night from the 3-point arc.
Freshman Cameron Ayers chipped in nine points off the bench and junior Bryan Cohen had eight points while turning in another impressive defensive effort. Jordan Sugars, the Patriot League's third-leading scorer at 16.5 points per game, was stymied by Cohen for much of the night and finished with three points on 1-for-9 shooting, with the lone field goal coming on a transition layup.
Bucknell took the game over in the opening five minutes, scoring the first 10 points while Navy started 0-for-8 from the field. The Midshipmen's first points came on an O.J. Avworo layup at the 14:39 mark, but soon after Muscala finished a 3-point play to put the Bison ahead 17-4.
Back-to-back baskets by Muscala, the latter coming on a slam dunk off a pretty feed by Ayers, made it 26-10. An 8-0 run, with Willman accounting for six of the points, stretched the lead to 20 for the first time at 38-18, and Johnson's first 3-pointer of the night with 1:45 left gave Bucknell its largest lead of the first half, 21 points at 41-20.
Late in the opening half the Bison received some clutch minutes from freshman Ryan Hill. Senior point guard Darryl Shazier, who had eight assists in the game, picked up his second foul with 8:18 left in the half. With Hill filling in at the point, Bucknell outscored Navy 19-12 the rest of the way.
The Bison led 41-22 at halftime, but Navy scored the first five points of the second period on an Avworo layup and a J.J. Avila 3-pointer. The Bison then responded with an 11-0 run, with five different players scoring. Cohen slashed through the lane for a layup, Johnson hit a 3-pointer, Muscala dunked in transition after a nice find by Shazier, Willman scored on a third-chance put-back, and finally G.W. Boon made it 52-27 with a jump-hook in the paint.
Bucknell's lone nervous moments came midway through the second half when Navy tore off 13 points in a row. Brennan Wyatt and Brown hit 3-pointers to start the run, and later Brown's breakaway dunk brought the Mids within a dozen at 54-42.
The Bison ended a four-minute scoring drought when Muscala passed out of a double team to Willman for a layup, and Bucknell proceeded to outscore Navy 21-7 over the final 8:19.
The Bison finished it off with some hot 3-point shooting, with four straight baskets coming from long range, three by Johnson and one by Ayers.
Bucknell shot 56.7 percent in the first half despite a 2-for-9 start, and it finished at 53.4 percent. The Bison went 8-for-17 from 3-point distance and 5-for-6 from the foul line.
Muscala's 17 rebounds were the most by a Bucknell player since Charles Lee had 18 against Yale in December 2004. Lee was in attendance at the game, along with more than 20 other former Bison who were back in town for the annual Alumni Game.
Willman now has two straight double-doubles after picking up the first of his career last time out against Army. Bucknell's standout sophomore trio of Johnson, Muscala and Willman combined for 47 points, 31 rebounds and nine assists while shooting 19-for-32 from the field. As a team, Bucknell finished with a 46-26 rebounding edge.
In collecting its seventh straight home victory, Bucknell swept the season series from Navy for the first time since 2006-07. The Bison also secured career win No. 299 for head coach Dave Paulsen.
Now 14-2 since Dec. 1, the Bison temporarily have a 1.5-game lead in the Patriot League. Second-place American plays at Lehigh on Sunday, then the Eagles visit Sojka Pavilion on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
