Bison Back on Road Monday at Fairfield

11/30/2014 1:07:00 PM | Men's Basketball

By: TBD

What: Bucknell (2-5) at Fairfield (2-4)
Where: Webster Bank Arena, Bridgeport, Conn.
When: Monday, Dec. 1, 2014, 7 p.m.
Webcast: FairfieldStags.TV
Radio: Eagle 107 (107.3 WEGH)
Internet Radio: BucknellBison.com
Live Statistics: FairfieldStags.com

With a Win over Fairfield, Bucknell Would ...
• ... defeat the Stags for the first time in four meetings and avenge a home loss last year.
• ... pick up its first road victory of the season.
• ... improve to 2-0 this season and 46-49 all-time against teams currently in the MAAC.

Headlines
• Bucknell heads back out on the road for a Monday night affair at Fairfield. This will be the team's eighth game in 18 days to start the season, with five of the contests played away from home.
• In terms of results, it has been a mixed bag so far for the Bison. They have pulled out two close wins (Marist, UMES), suffered three close losses to quality opponents (Villanova, Mount St. Mary's, Penn State), and have absorbed two blowout losses (Michigan, Toledo).
• Last time out, a standing-room-only crowd at Sojka Pavilion watched Penn State defeat the Bison 88-80 on Friday afternoon. The two Central Pennsylvania programs played an entertaining game, but the Nittany Lions broke open a tie with 6:00 to play with a 10-1 run, then sealed it at the foul line.
• Junior Chris Hass is the team's leading scorer at 16.4 ppg. Hass was terrific in the two games against top-25 opponents earlier in the year. He scored 21 points at Michigan, and then pumped in a career-high 32 at Villanova, which is a program record for points in a game against a ranked opponent. In the two games combined, Hass produced 53 points and hit 16 of 26 from the field, 8 of 14 from 3-point distance and 13 of 14 from the foul line. Hass added 17 points in the loss to Mount St. Mary's and was named the Lids Team Sports Patriot League Player of the Week last Monday.
• The Bison were picked to finish fifth in the Patriot League in a preseason poll of the league's head coaches and sports information directors.
• Bucknell lost four players to graduation following last season, including 2014 Patriot League Player of the Year Cameron Ayers. Also gone are former starting center Brian Fitzpatrick and experienced role players Ben Brackney and Ryan Hill. The Bison do return 10 lettermen from last year's 16-14 squad, including a 2014 Third Team All-Patriot League selection in Hass.
• Fairfield is 2-4 after falling 57-48 at Northeastern on Saturday. The Stags own victories over Central Connecticut State and South Dakota, with the losses coming to Duke, Wofford, Sam Houston State and Northeastern. Marcus Gilbert leads the team in scoring at 13.5 ppg, while Tyler Nelson averages 10.4 ppg.

How to Get the Game
• The Bucknell-Fairfield game will not be televised, however a live webcast will be available on through Fairfield Athletics at FairfieldStags.TV. Subscription fees apply.
• The game can be heard in the Susquehanna Valley on the radio on Eagle 107 (WEGH 107.3 FM), with Doug Birdsong calling the action. The pregame show begins 30 minutes before tip-off.
• The audio feed is also available online free of charge via BucknellBison.com.
• Live stats can be accessed at FairfieldStags.com.

Last Time Out
• The fifth-largest crowd in Sojka Pavilion history (4,257) saw Penn State defeat Bucknell 88-80 on Friday. It was a fun atmosphere at Sojka, as the two teams commemorated their 102-game series that dates back to 1897 by wearing throwback uniforms. Bucknell wore 1970s-era jerseys, complete with “Bisons” across the chest, while Penn State wore their original black and pink color scheme. This was the first meeting between the two teams in Lewisburg since Jan. 14, 1976.
• Bucknell trailed by as many as 12 in the first half, but the Bison rallied to tie the game for the first time all day at 66-66 with 6:19 remaining. Just as Bucknell drew even, the Nittany Lions struck right back with a 10-1 run. The Bison got as close as five again after a Chris Hass 3-pointer with 1:06 left, but Penn State hit its free throws down the stretch to close it out.
• John Azzinaro scored a career-high 18 points, including a personal-best four 3-pointers in seven attempts.
• Hass and freshman center Nana Foulland were both scoreless in the first half, but both recorded 14 points in the second. Foulland scored 13 of the team's first 15 points of the half, and his 14 points marked a new career high. Hass helped shoot the Bison back into the game, scoring 11 points in a span of just 3:48 in one stretch.
• J.C. Show recorded his third straight 10-point game. Ryan Frazier was hot early and tallied nine points, and Cory Starkey was solid off the bench with six points and eight rebounds.
• D.J. Newbill, the nation's fourth-leading scorer (24.0) coming into the game, paced Penn State with 28 points.
• Both teams shot well from the outside. Penn State was 8-for-15 and Bucknell 10-for-16 from 3-point distance.

Bucknell vs. Fairfield Series Notes
• Bucknell and Fairfield played a two-game series in 1990-91 and 1991-92, and those were the only two all-time meetings between the two programs until last season.
• In the first meeting at Fairfield, the Stags won handily 94-67. A year later in Davis Gym, Fairfield won again 77-70.
• Last year in Sojka Pavilion, Maurice Barrow scored 15 points and Doug Chappell 13 to pace a big afternoon for the Fairfield bench, and the Stags defeated Bucknell 73-64. Cameron Ayers led all scorers with 19 points, and Steven Kaspar had 14 points and seven assists for the Bison. While Bucknell struggled offensively, Fairfield made some timely 3-pointers in the second half to break open a close game. It was just a two-point contest with 14 minutes to play, but Steve Smith came off the bench and drained 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to stretch the Stags' lead up to eight.

Bucknell vs. The MAAC
• Bucknell is 45-49 (.479) all-time against the teams that currently comprise the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, including the season-opening win over Marist. In addition to their 6-4 record against Marist, the Bison are 30-24 against Rider, 4-5 vs. Niagara, 2-2 vs. Manhattan, 2-4 vs. Iona, 1-0 vs. St. Peter's, 0-6 vs. Canisius, 0-3 vs. Fairfield and 0-1 vs. Siena.

Who's Got Next?
• Bucknell will be back on the road on Saturday, visiting Columbia at 7 p.m. in New York City.
• The Lions are 4-1 and have won four straight since a season-opening loss to Stony Brook. Two of those wins are over Patriot League teams in Lehigh and American, and Columbia will host another PL squad on Tuesday when Loyola visits Levien Gym.
• Columbia has been stellar defensively so far, holding all five of its opponents to 57 points or fewer. The Lions have kept their last three foes in the 40s and are conceding only 49.4 ppg on the season.