Bucknell University Athletics
Let the Madness Begin: Bison Host Holy Cross in PL Quarters Thursday at Sojka
3/4/2015 5:25:00 PM | Men's Basketball
What: #8 Holy Cross (14-15, 8-10 PL) at #1 Bucknell (18-13, 13-5 PL)
Where: Sojka Pavilion, Lewisburg, Pa.
When: Thursday, March 5, 2015, 7 p.m.
Webcast: Patriot League Network
Radio: Eagle 107 (107.3 WEGH)
Internet Radio: BucknellBison.com
Live Statistics: BucknellBison.com
Tickets: 570-577-1000 or buy online
With a Win over Holy Cross, Bucknell Would ...
• ... advance to the Patriot League Tournament semifinals and play either No. 4 Lafayette or No. 5 Boston University.
• ... improve to 19-13 overall.
• ... win its 12th game in the last 15.
• ... reach the semifinal round for the 19th time in the 25-year history of the league.
• ... take 2 of 3 from the Crusaders this season and improve to 36-28 all-time against Holy Cross.
• ... improve to 12-3 at home this season and 93-20 all-time against Patriot League opponents at Sojka Pavilion.
Headlines
• Picked fifth in the Patriot League Preseason Poll, Bucknell compiled a 13-5 conference record and secured the outright regular-season title and No. 1 seed in the Patriot League Tournament for the fourth time in the last five years. The Bison had two five-game winning streaks in league play, and they finished the regular-season with a heart-stopping 71-69 victory at American on Saturday. That contest was not decided until Pee Wee Gardner's attempt from just inside midcourt rimmed out at the final buzzer. Had it gone in, the Bison would have been relegated to the No. 2 seed behind Colgate.
• At 13-5 in the Patriot League, the Bison finished .500 or better in league play for the 21st time in the 25-year history of the PL. They are playing as the No. 1 seed for the sixth time.
• This will be the 14th time in league's 25-year history that Bucknell and Holy Cross have met in the Patriot League Tournament. They have squared off six times in the quarterfinals (tied, 3-3), three times in the semifinals (HC, 2-1) and four times in the championship game (tied, 2-2).
• Head coach Dave Paulsen has used his depth this season. The Bison do not have a player in the top 10 in the league in minutes played, and Chris Hass (29.3) is the only player on the team averaging more than 24.0 minutes per game. But 11 Bison play at least 11.8 minutes per game, and it is not uncommon for Paulsen to use as many as 12 players in a game. The Bison won the outright league title despite having three freshmen in the starting lineup and four in the rotation.
• Bucknell scoring leader Chris Hass (15.4 ppg), a First Team All-Patriot League selection, 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.
• Freshman center Nana Foulland was the Lids Team Sports Patriot League Rookie of the Week four times this season, all in Patriot League play, and he was named to the Patriot League All-Rookie Team. Foulland has scored as many as 17 points in a game three times this season. In Patriot League play, Foulland averaged 11.9 ppg, 5.9 rpg and shot 56.7% in 17 contests. Foulland set a career high with six blocked shots in the first meeting with Lafayette, the most by a Bucknell freshman since Mike Muscala had seven against Navy in 2009-10, and he had his first 10-rebound game against Lehigh at home.
• Guards Steven Kaspar and John Azzinaro, both coming off the bench now after starting earlier in the year, have been terrific in reserve roles. In his last 15 contests, Kaspar has recorded 106 points and 70 assists with only 22 turnovers. He led the league in assist-turnover ratio (3.4) in PL games, and he recently moved past Abe Badmus into sixth place on Bucknell's all-time assists list. With 398 career assists, he needs just two to become the fifth player in program history to reach the 400 plateau. Azzinaro is 22-for-47 from 3-point range in his last 14 games.
• Holy Cross has been playing well of late and brings a three-game winning streak into Sojka Pavilion on Thursday. The Crusaders closed the regular season with a 77-70 win at Boston University, fueled by a 30-point performance from Malcolm Miller, and then they jumped all over Loyola early and rolled to a 62-45 win in the first round of the Patriot League Tournament on Tuesday night at the Hart Center. Miller, a Second Team All-Patriot League selection, leads the team in scoring at 13.8 points per game. He averaged 15.1 ppg in league play.
How to Get the Game
• The Bucknell-Holy Cross game will not be televised, however a free, live webstream will air on the Patriot League Network. Log on to PatriotLeague.TV to access the free stream. Matt Martucci and former Colgate head coach Emmett Davis will call the action for the PLN.
• The game can be heard in the Susquehanna Valley on the radio on Eagle 107 (WEGH 107.3 FM), with Doug Birdsong on the call. 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
• Faced with a must-win situation in order to lock up sole possession of the Patriot League regular-season title and the No. 1 seed in the tournament, Bucknell pulled out a 71-69 thriller at American on Saturday. The contest featured an incredible 26 lead changes and 12 ties over 40 minutes, and the final outcome was not decided until a shot from just inside halfcourt by Pee Wee Gardner rimmed out at the buzzer.
• With leading scorer Chris Hass limited to two points in 11 minutes due to foul trouble, freshman J.C. Show helped pick up the slack with a magnificent performance. Show scored 20 points on 8-for-13 shooting. He scored 13 of those points in the final 10:20 and recorded nine of Bucknell's final 12 points of the day in the final 4:00. On consecutive possessions late in the contest he hit a 3-pointer and a pull-up jumper at the elbow to stretch Bucknell's lead to seven at 66-59 with 2:05 left. After American closed within two, Show made it a two-possession game again by hitting both ends of a 1-and-1 with 21 seconds left. He was rewarded with Patriot League Rookie of the Week honors for the second time this season.
• Show was not the only Bison freshman to have a major impact on the victory. Bucknell's top three scorers in the game were rookies, with Nana Foulland and Zach Thomas adding 12 points along with Show's 20. Thomas added 10 rebounds, giving him his second double-double of the season, and Foulland had seven boards.
• Steven Kaspar had a strong game, finishing with eight points on 3-for-3 shooting. He also had two assists and a key second-half steal.
• Bucknell shot 55.3% from the field, its second-highest mark of the season.
Patriot League Success
• Bucknell is 236-108 (.686) all-time in Patriot League regular-season games, the best record of any league team. The Bison have now finished at least .500 in PL play in 21 of the 25 Patriot League seasons.
• Bucknell won three straight outright Patriot League regular-season titles from 2011-13, 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 both 2012 and 2013, making them 37-5 over those three campaigns. Dating back to mid-2010, Bucknell has won 68 of its last 87 league games.
• Bucknell won Patriot League Tournament titles in 2005, 2006, 2011 and 2013. The Bison have made it to the semifinals 18 times and to the championship game 10 times in the 24-year history of the league.
• The Bison are the only team to go unbeaten in league play in a season (14-0 in 2006).
Patriot League Tournament Success
• Bucknell has an all-time record of 32-20 in 24 Patriot League Tournaments. The Bison have reached the championship game a league-record 10 times, including wins in 2005, 2006, 2011 and 2013, and reached at least the semifinals in 18 of 24 years.
Bison PL Tourney Log
Year Seed Results
1991 4 def. Army 67-49; lost Fordham 82-76
1992 2 def. Army 74-55; def. Holy Cross 86-77; lost Fordham 70-65
1993 1 def. Lehigh 69-65; def. Colgate 75-73; lost Holy Cross 98-73
1994 5 lost Holy Cross 96-91
1995 2 lost Army 94-78
1996 4 def. Lafayette 56-55; lost Colgate 67-61
1997 2 def. Lehigh 84-54; def. Colgate 71-58; lost Navy 76-75
1998 3 def. Holy Cross 60-56; lost Navy 80-61
1999 3 def. Holy Cross 76-52; def. Lehigh 58-50; lost Lafayette 67-63
2000 3 lost Lehigh 73-62
2001 6 def. Colgate 75-68; lost Navy 88-64
2002 3 def. Army 70-59; lost Holy Cross 64-57
2003 5 def. Lehigh 52-47; lost Holy Cross 75-50
2004 4 def. Holy Cross 66-60; lost Lehigh 60-45
2005 2 def. Lafayette 70-34; def. American 53-35; def. Holy Cross 61-57
2006 1 def. Army 59-47; def. American 64-50; def. Holy Cross 74-59
2007 2 def. Navy 62-43; def. Army 68-47; lost Holy Cross 74-66
2008 7 def. Navy 87-86 (3OT); lost Colgate 54-40
2009 7 lost Holy Cross 75-56
2010 2 lost Holy Cross 67-64
2011 1 def. Army 78-51; def. Lehigh 66-64; def. Lafayette 72-57
2012 1 def. Navy 87-63; def. Lafayette 79-52; lost Lehigh 82-77
2013 1 def. Navy 58-42; def. Army 78-70; def. Lafayette 64-56
2014 4 lost 72-71 Army
2015 1 vs. Holy Cross
Bucknell vs. Holy Cross
The Bucknell-Holy Cross rivalry has been one of the league's best through the years. Some of the highlights:
• The Bison and Crusaders have combined to win eight of the last 14 Patriot League titles.
• These two teams are meeting for the 14th time in the 25 Patriot League Tournaments. That includes four times in the championship game. Bucknell defeated Holy Cross in the 2005 and 2006 title tilts, while the Crusaders topped the Bison in the final in 1993 and 2007. Overall Holy Cross leads 7-6 in postseason play.
• The Bison and Crusaders had never met until the formation of the Patriot League in 1990-91, but this will be the 64th meeting in 25 years.
• Bucknell leads the series 35-28. The road team has won six of the last 18, including Holy Cross' upset of the Bison in the 2010 Patriot League Tournament quarterfinals at Sojka Pavilion.
• Bucknell is 18-10 against Holy Cross in Lewisburg and 11-4 at Sojka Pavilion. Bucknell is 13-15 vs. Holy Cross at the Hart Center, with one of the wins coming in the 2005 Patriot League championship game.
• Bucknell head coach Dave Paulsen is 10-7 against Holy Cross, including his Williams College team's 78-71 upset of the Crusaders at the Hart Center on Dec. 4, 2003.
• Bucknell and Holy Cross split the 2015 season series, with the home teams winning both times. Back on Jan. 10 at the Hart Center, Bucknell battled back from a 15-point deficit to force overtime, but Holy Cross scored all 11 of its points in the extra session at the free-throw line and held off the Bison 65-62. Nana Foulland led four Bison in double figures with 12 points, while Malcolm Miller led the Crusaders with 14, half of them coming at the free-throw line in overtime. In the rematch on Feb. 8 at Sojka Pavilion, Bucknell won a foul-filled affair 70-57. John Azzinaro scored a game-high 14 points and Zach Thomas recorded his first career double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds. A physical battle ultimately turned into a bit of a free-throw shooting contest. There were 52 fouls called in the game, leading to 69 foul shots. The Bison struggled early at the foul line, making only 3 of 9 in the first half, but they hit 22 of 26 in the second half, including 18 of their final 19. Miller paced Holy Cross with 12 points.
All-Patriot League Notes
• The Bison captured the Patriot League regular-season title in true team fashion, with 10 players making at least three starts and as many as a dozen seeing game action on most nights, but they did receive some individual recognition in the postseason awards voting. Junior Chris Hass earned First Team All-Patriot League honors, freshman Nana Foulland was named to the All-Rookie Team, and Dave Paulsen was named Patriot League Coach of the Year.
• With Hass' selection, Bucknell has now claimed a first team all-conference player in 29 of the last 32 seasons dating back to its days in the East Coast Conference.
• The Bison have now had 50 All-Patriot League players (31 first team, 18 second team, one third team) in 25 seasons, the most of any league team.
• Foulland is Bucknell's first All-Rookie Team selection since Cameron Ayers in 2011.
• Paulsen was named Coach of the Year for the third time in the last five years. His three selections ties a league record, also shared by Bucknell's Pat Flannery, Lafayette's Fran O'Hanlon and Holy Cross' Ralph Willard.
Who's Got Next?
• With a victory over Holy Cross, the Bison would move along to the semifinals on Sunday at 2 or 4 p.m. against the winner of No. 4 Lafayette vs. No. 5 Boston University. The game would be televised on CBS Sports Network.
• Should the Bison not win the Patriot League Tournament, they would still be guaranteed a berth in the NIT.
