Bucknell University Athletics
Bison Take on Leopards in Patriot League Title Clash Wednesday on CBS Sports Network
3/12/2013 8:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 12, 2013
WHAT: #2 Lafayette (19-14, 10-4 PL) at #1 Bucknell (27-5, 12-2 PL)
WHERE: Sojka Pavilion, Lewisburg, Pa.
WHEN: Wednesday, March 13, 7:30 p.m. ET
TV: CBS Sports Network 
RADIO: Eagle 107 (WEGH 107.3 FM), GameTracker 
Complete Game Notes in PDF Format 
With a Win over Lafayette, Bucknell Would ...
• ... win its fourth Patriot League Tournament title (2005, 2006, 2011 previous).
• ... earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. It would be the program's sixth NCAA appearance (1987, 1989, 2005, 2006, 2011 previous).
• ... improve to 28-5 on the season and break the school and league victory records.
• ... extend the seniors' record for most wins by one class (92).
• ... extend the school record for most wins in a three-year period (78).
• ... improve to 14-1 at home this season.
• ... improve to 32-19 all-time in the Patriot League Tournament.
• ... give Dave Paulsen his 99th Bucknell coaching win.
Headlines
• For the 15th time in 23 Patriot League Tournaments, it will be 1 vs. 2 in the final as top-seeded Bucknell hosts Lafayette on Wednesday at Sojka Pavilion. Bucknell is playing in its third straight championship game, while the Leopards are in the final for the third time in the last four years. These two teams met in the 2011 championship, with the Bison prevailing 72-57.
• Bucknell is playing in the Patriot League championship tilt for the 10th time in the 23-year history of the league. That ties Holy Cross for the most finals appearances.
• The Bison are 3-6 in their previous nine finals, with the wins coming in 2005, 2006 and 2011. This is the second time that Bucknell has played in the championship game three years in a row (2005, 2006, 2007).
• The Bison have become the first team in the history of the Patriot League to win three straight outright regular-season titles.
• Bucknell is the No. 1 seed in the Patriot League Tournament for a record fifth time. In 1993, the Bison were the top seed but lost at home to Holy Cross in the championship game. In 2006, Bucknell completed a perfect 17-0 league season by beating Holy Cross in the final. In 2011, the Bison went 13-1 in the regular season, then swept Army, Lehigh and Lafayette to claim the championship. Last year, Bucknell defeated Navy and Lafayette to reach the final, but Lehigh knocked off the Bison in the championship game at Sojka Pavilion.
• Through Sunday's games, Bucknell is tied for 3rd nationally with 27 victories. Only Gonzaga (30) and Middle Tennessee State (28) have more.
• Bucknell in the rankings:
Associated Press Poll: NR
USA Today Coaches' Poll: NR
CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Poll: 7
ESPN.com Mid-Major Poll: 6
RPI (from RPIforecast.com): 51
Ken Pomeroy computer ranking: 60
Jeff Sagarin computer ranking: 69
• What a week for Bison senior Mike Muscala. Last Monday, Muscala made history by sweeping the Patriot League Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors. He is the first student-athlete in league history to win three major awards. On Wednesday, Muscala went out and broke Al Leslie's 32-year-old Bucknell career scoring record. Leslie's mark of 1,973 points had stood since 1981. Then on Saturday, Muscala recorded his 2,000th career point while leading the Bison to a Patriot League semifinal win over Army.
• Cameron Ayers joined Muscala on the All-Patriot League First Team, and Bryson Johnson joined him on the five-man Patriot League All-Academic Team.
• Johnson and Muscala were both named to the Capital One Academic All-District Team, and Muscala went on to earn national Academic All-America (third team) honors. Muscala became Bucknell's 123rd Academic All-American, fifth-most among all Division I programs. In addition, Muscala was recently named one of 10 national finalists for the Senior CLASS Award. Johnson and Muscala both made the Dean's List in the fall semester, and they grabbed two of the five All-District spots.
• Muscala is in the midst of an outstanding senior year for the Bison, and he has garnered frequent national mentions throughout the season. An All-America and NBA Draft candidate, Muscala leads the Bison in scoring (19.0), rebounding (11.2), assists (2.4), blocks (2.5) and FG% (.521). He leads the league in scoring, rebounding and blocks and ranks in the top 30 nationally in each of those categories (4th reb., 27th blk., 27th pts.).
• Muscala is the only player in the country averaging at least 18 points and 11 rebounds per game.
• Muscala is now the only Division I player in the exclusive 2,000-point, 1,000-rebound club. Muscala is the second Bucknell player ever to record 1,000 rebounds (Hal Danzig had 1,134 from 1956-59), and he joined former Colgate star Adonal Foyle as the only Patriot Leaguers ever to reach that milestone.
• Muscala was recently selected as one of 30 candidates for the Naismith Player of the Year Award and one of 25 candidates for the Lou Henson Award, which is presented annually to the top Mid-Major player in Division I college basketball.
• Cameron Ayers (12.6), Johnson (11.4) and Joe Willman (10.2) are also scoring in double figures for the Bison, who average 67.4 ppg.
• The Bison have been outstanding defensively this season. Opponents are averaging only 57.6 points per game, and Bucknell has kept 23 of its last 30 foes under 40% shooting.
• The Bison opened the campaign with wins over Purdue and George Mason, and then swept Niagara, New Mexico State and West Alabama at the Niagara Subregional of the 2K Sports Classic benefitting Wounded Warrior Project. Bucknell won all three of those games by double figures and improved to 5-0 for the first time since 2005-06. The first loss of the season came at Penn State on Nov. 23. The only other setbacks have come at the hands of Princeton, Missouri, Lehigh and Lafayette.
• Lafayette is piping hot coming into Wednesday's game. The Leopards have won seven games in a row, with a dramatic 63-62 victory over Bucknell in Easton on Feb. 16 kicking off the streak. In Patriot League Tournament play, Lafayette defeated seventh-seeded Holy Cross 77-54 in the opening round and third-seeded Lehigh 82-69 in the semis. That was Lafayette's third win of the season over arch-rival Lehigh.
• First Team All-Patriot League point guard Tony Johnson has been sensational for Lafayette in recent weeks, and he comes into the game averaging 13.4 points and 4.8 assists per game. Johnson's pull-up jumper in the lane with 0:04 remaning beat the Bison on Feb. 16.
• Seth Hinrichs averages a team-high 14.7 ppg and Dan Trist goes for 12.6 ppg for the Leopards, who are a prolific 3-point shooting team. Lafayette makes more than eight treys per game and shoots 38.5% from the arc as a team.
How to Get the Game
• The Bucknell-Lafayette game will be televised live on CBS Sports Network. Bob Socci handles the play-by-play duties, with former Army star Chris Spatola the analyst.
• The game can be heard in the Susquehanna Valley on the radio on Eagle 107 (WEGH 107.3 FM), with Doug Birdsong and Terry Conrad describing the action. The pregame show begins 30 minutes before tip-off.
• The Bucknell audio feed is available online free of charge via BucknellBison.com and SportsJuice.com.
• The game will also be carried on national radio airwaves by Dial One Global. John Tautges and Kevin Grevey will describe the action.
• Live statistics are available on GameTracker at BucknellBison.com.
• Be sure to follow @BisonSports on Twitter for in-game updates.
Bucknell vs. Lafayette
• Bucknell and Lafayette have met 153 times previously, making the Leopards Bucknell's second most-played opponent (the Bison have played Lehigh 160 times). Since the series began in 1915, Lafayette leads 86-67.
• Since the start of Patriot League play in 1990-91, however, Bucknell has won 38 of 52 meetings.
• Bucknell has won all 14 matchups in Sojka Pavilion and is 23-3 against the Leopards in Lewisburg going back to the Patriot League's first season. Lafayette is actually 0-15 all-time in Sojka, including a neutral-site loss to American in the 2006 PL Tournament quarterfinals.
• The Bison and Leopards have met in each of the last two postseasons. Bucknell won 72-57 in the 2011 Patriot League championship game and 79-52 in the 2012 PL Tournament semifinals.
• These two teams split a pair of regular-season matchups, with the home team winning each time.
• Back on Jan. 19 at Sojka Pavilion, Mike Muscala recorded 27 points and 15 rebounds and the Bison defeated Lafayette 66-51. Bucknell limited Lafayette to 1-for-13 3-point shooting and 34.5% overall. Seth Hinrichs led Lafayette with 12 points.
• On Feb. 16 at Kirby Sports Center, Tony Johnson hit a pull-up in the lane with 4.5 seconds left, to send Lafayette to a 63-62 win. Muscala finished with 29 points and 15 rebounds (he had 21/10 at halftime), and Cameron Ayers tallied 20 points for the Bison, who have not lost since then. Hinrichs led the Leopards with 20 points.
• In the two games against Lafayette this season, Muscala and Ayers combined to shoot 56.1% (37-66), but the rest of the team shot 26.3% (15-57).
• In those two games the Bison limited Lafayette to 7-for-30 (.233) shooting from 3-point distance.
• Bucknell outrebounded Lafayette 84-62 in the two meetings this season.
Patriot League Success
• Bucknell is 211-96 (.687) all-time in Patriot League regular-season games, the best record of any league team. They have finished at least .500 in PL play in 19 of 23 seasons.
• Bucknell won the last three outright Patriot League regular-season titles, becoming the first team in league history to accomplish that feat.
• The Bison went 13-1 in the league in 2011 and 12-2 in each of the last two seasons, making them 37-5 over the last three campaigns. Dating back to mid-2010, Bucknell has won 44 of its last 51 league games.
• Bucknell won Patriot League Tournament titles in 2005, 2006 and 2011. The Bison have made it to the semifinals 18 times and to the championship game 10 times in the 23-year history of the league.
• The Bison are the only team to go unbeaten in league play in a season (14-0 in 2006).
Last Time Out
• Bucknell responded to a major challenge from a confident Army team on Saturday, and the Bison finished strong in a 78-70 semifinal win at Sojka Pavilion. Kyle Wilson's 3-point play with 4:23 to play gave Army its first lead (61-59) since it was 3-2, but Bryson Johnson answered right back with a 3-pointer, igniting a 10-1 run, and the Bison iced the game with some terrific free-throw shooting.
• Mike Muscala led the Bison with 21 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks. He also went over the 2,000-point plateau, becoming the first player in school history to do so. In a close game in the final 3:30, Muscala got to the free-throw line on three straight possessions. He went 5-for-6 to stretch a two-point lead up to seven.
• Cameron Ayers was sensational in the second half. He scored 17 of his 19 points after the break, including 10 of his team's 13 during one key stretch early in the half. Ayers attempted a career-high 16 shots, making eight, and also went 3-for-4 at the line in the final minute.
• All told, Bucknell was 24-for-28 (.857) from the foul line, including 20-for-22 in the final 11:33.
• Stephen Kaspar had another strong showing, particularly in one key sequence late in the game. He drove hard to the basket to draw the fifth foul on Army star Ella Ellis with 1:19 to play. He made both free throws to give the Bison a 71-64 lead and then at the other end he came up with a leaping steal, which led to two more free throws by Johnson with 58 seconds left.
• Fellow point guards Ryan Frazier and Ryan Hill both knocked down 3-pointers in the first half, and Frazier made both ends of a 1-and-1 in a four-point game with 11:33 to go.
• The contest was slowed by 46 fouls and 63 free throws. Army went 27-for-35 (.771) at the line.
• Bucknell committed only three turnovers all day against Army's full-court pressure defense.
• Both teams had to manage foul trouble for most of the day. While Ellis fouled out for Army, Bucknell starters Johnson, Kaspar and Joe Willman also had to sit for periods due to fouls. Even Muscala played the last 3:41 with four fouls.
