Men's Basketball Hosts Lafayette Wednesday Night in Dirk Sojka's Slam Dunk Game

1/6/2015 4:01:00 PM | Men's Basketball

By: TBD

Note: The monthly Backcourt Club luncheon will be held on Thursday at noon at La Primavera Restaurant on Rt. 45 in Lewisburg. Coach Dave Paulsen and members of the Bison team will be in attendance and talk about recent and upcoming games.

What: Lafayette (9-4, 1-1 PL) at Bucknell (6-9, 1-1 PL)
Where: Sojka Pavilion, Lewisburg, Pa.
When: Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2014, 7 p.m.
Internet Video: Bison Vision on the Patriot League Network (free)
Radio: Eagle 107 (107.3 WEGH)
Internet Radio: BucknellBison.com
Live Statistics: BucknellBison.com
Tickets: 570-577-1000 or buy online

Dirk Sojka's Slam Dunk With Bison Basketball
• Throughout the evening on Wednesday Bucknell will host the Eleventh Annual Dirk Sojka's Slam Dunk with Bison Basketball event. There will be a raffle drawing (top prize a $1,000 Visa gift card) and a silent auction, with all proceeds benefitting SUNCOM Industries, Inc.
• Located in Northumberland, Pa., 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.

With a Win over Lafayette, Bucknell Would ...
• ... improve to 2-1 in the Patriot League and 7-9 overall.
• ... improve to 225-104 all-time in Patriot League games.
• ... improve to 5-2 at home this season.
• ... improve to 16-1 against the Leopards at Sojka Pavilion.
• ... improve to 126-41 overall and 87-19 against Patriot League opponents at Sojka Pavilion.

Headlines
• Bucknell and Lafayette both picked up impressive victories to start the Patriot League schedule on New Year's Eve, but then both took a step back with losses on Saturday. After posting a 10-point win over defending-champion American, the Bison fell 68-62 at Colgate. Lafayette opened PL play with a convincing 92-78 win at Army, but then the Leopards fell at home to Navy 69-65 on Saturday.
• Boston University, Colgate and Navy — the teams picked sixth, eighth and 10th in the preseason poll — all sit atop the Patriot League standings after 2-0 starts. Bucknell, Lafayette, Army and American are all 1-1, while Lehigh, Holy Cross and Loyola are 0-2.
• Junior Chris Hass is Bucknell's leading scorer at 16.3 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. Including a 14-point performance against Penn State and a 26-point showing at Wake Forest, Hass averaged 23.3 ppg in the four games against major-conference opponents this season.
• Hass was named the Lids Team Sports Patriot League Player of the Week on Nov. 24 and again on Dec. 15 after a 26-point showing in a win over Albany. Hass ranks third in the Patriot League in scoring, third in free-throw percentage (.871), fourth in 3-point percentage (.413) and fourth in 3-pointers made (2.5 per game).
• Freshman guard J.C. Show went into the Christmas break mired in a 5-for-27 shooting slump (2-18 3FG), but he has heated up in the three games since then, making 16 of 29 shots (11-20 3FG) in games against Siena (23 points), American (10 points) and Colgate (15 points).
• Freshman center Nana Foulland is this week's Lids Team Sports Patriot League Rookie of the Week. Foulland had the best game of his young career at Colgate on Saturday, when he posted 17 points on 7-for-11 shooting. Dating back to the Penn State game on Nov. 28, Foulland is averaging 10.3 ppg, 4.8 rpg and shooting 59.6% in nine contests.
• 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 did return 10 lettermen from last year's 16-14 squad, including a 2014 Third Team All-Patriot League selection in Hass.
• Lafayette brings a veteran squad to Sojka Pavilion, led by three talented seniors in Dan Trist (15.8 ppg, 6.2 rpg), Seth Hinrichs (14.6 ppg) and Joey Ptasinski (11.9 ppg, 54.1 3FG%). The sharpshooting Leopards are the second-highest scoring team in the Patriot League at 77.9 ppg, and they lead the league in FG% (.494), 3FG% (.429) and FT% (.759) by wide margins. Lafayette ranks second nationally in 3FG%, with Zach Rufer (.591), Ptasinksi (.541), Monty Boykins (.417) and Hinrichs (.407) all shooting better than 40% from the arc among regular rotation players. While the Leopards score the most points in the league, they also give up the most (74.2).

How to Get the Game
• The Bucknell-Lafayette game will not be televised, however a free live webcast will be available on Bison Vision on the Patriot League Network. Log on to PatriotLeague.TV to access the stream.
• 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 BucknellBison.com.

Last Time Out
• Bucknell had everything going in its favor after 20 minutes at Colgate on Saturday. The Bison shot 50.0% while holding the Raiders to 29.2%, en route to a 33-20 lead at halftime. The second half was a different story, however, as Colgate seemingly hit every shot it took, and the hosts rallied for a 68-62 win at Cotterell Court. The Raiders shot 60.0% from the field and hit 7 of 10 threes and 11 of 12 foul shots in a 48-point second half.
• Despite Colgate's red-hot second half, Bucknell was still in good position down the stretch, but trailing by two points around the two-minute mark, the Bison missed consecutive front ends of 1-and-1s. Damon Sherman-Newsome, who led Colgate with 24 points, hit a big layup to put the Raiders up by four and then iced the game by going 6-for-6 from the foul line in the final 23 seconds.
• Bucknell had four players score in double figures, including two freshmen in Nana Foulland and J.C. Show. Foulland led the team with a career-high 17 points on 7-for-11 shooting. Show was 5-for-8 from 3-point range and finished with 15 points. John Azzinaro added 12 points, and reserve forward Cory Starkey posted a career-high 10 to go with eight rebounds.
• Chris Hass, the team's top scorer, was limited to seven points, but he still had an all-around solid game. Hass logged his second straight four-assist game and also collected eight rebounds and a pair of blocked shots.
• Bucknell finished with a 36-28 rebounding edge, including an 11-5 advantage in offensive boards.
• Of Colgate's 68 points, only 16 came in the paint. Eleven of the Raiders 22 field goals came from 3-point distance.

Bucknell vs. Lafayette
• Bucknell and Lafayette have met 156 times previously, making the Leopards Bucknell's second most-played opponent (the Bison have played Lehigh 162 times). Since the series began in 1915, Lafayette leads 87-69.
• Since the start of Patriot League play in 1990-91, however, Bucknell has won 40 of 55 meetings.
• Lafayette won 33 of the first 37 meetings and led the series 60-14 at one point.
• This Jan. 26 will be the 100th anniversary of the first game played between Bucknell and Lafayette. On Jan. 26, 1915, Bucknell won a thriller 33-32 in overtime in Lewisburg.
• Bucknell had been 15-0 all-time against Lafayette in Sojka Pavilion until the Leopards posted their first win there last season. The Bison are now 15-1 against Lafayette in Sojka Pavilion and 24-4 against the Leopards in Lewisburg going back to the Patriot League's first season.
• The Bison and Leopards have met in a conference championship game four times, with Bucknell winning three of those. The Bison defeated Lafayette 71-65 in the 1989 East Coast Conference final in Towson, Md., and they also won Patriot League championship games in Sojka Pavilion in 2011 (72-57) and 2013 (64-56). Lafayette claimed the 1999 Patriot League title with a 67-63 win over the Bison in Easton.
• Bucknell and Lafayette split two meetings last season, with the road team winning both contests. At Kirby Sports Center, the Bison won a 96-86 shootout behind a career-high 25 points from Ben Brackney and 21 from Chris Hass. Bucknell made 12 of 15 3-point attempts in that game, with Brackney hitting six of them. Dan Trist scored 21 points for Lafayette, which was 10-for-17 from the arc. The 96 points were Bucknell's most ever in a Patriot League road game. In the rematch at Sojka Pavilion later in the year, Lafayette prevailed 66-58 as the Bison went just 2-for-16 from 3-point distance this time. Seth Henrichs had 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Lafayette received strong play off the bench from Trist (14 points) and Monty Boykins (13 points). Cameron Ayers led the Bison with 22 points.

Numbers Worth Noting
• Bucknell led the nation in defensive rebounding percentage in both 2011-12 and 2012-13 and ranked in the top 10 last season, but the Bison struggled a bit on the defensive glass in non-league play this season. They have turned that around in league play, however, allowing American only two offensive rebounds and Colgate just five.
• Last season the Bison shot the ball significantly better on the road than at home, but this year those numbers have reversed. At Sojka Pavilion the Bison are shooting 47.3% from the field and 41.1% from 3-point distance. In road games those numbers drop to 38.8% from the field and 31.3% from the arc. Bucknell is averaging 71.7 points at home, where it is 4-2 this season, and 60.0 on the road where it is 1-7.
• Bench scoring has been a positive for Bucknell this season. Bison reserves are averaging 24.8 points per game, compared to 15.8 for their opponents. In the last three games against Siena, American and Colgate, Bucknell has piled up an 89-24 edge in bench scoring.

Who's Got Next?
• Bucknell is back on the road again on Saturday, traveling to Holy Cross for a 2 p.m. tip at the Hart Center.
• Holy Cross started the year 4-1, including a win over a nationally ranked Harvard team, but the Crusaders have dropped six of their last seven to fall to 5-7 on the season.
• Holy Cross has fallen to Boston University and American in Patriot League play and will be looking for its first league win on Wednesday at Colgate.