Bucknell University Athletics
Men's Basketball Opens 2016-17 Season Friday at Home vs. Manhattan
11/10/2016 11:16:00 AM | Men's Basketball
What: Manhattan (0-0) at Bucknell (0-0)
Where: Sojka Pavilion, Lewisburg, Pa.
When: Friday, Jan. 10, 2016, 7 p.m.
Webcast: Patriot League Network
Radio: Eagle 107 (107.3 FM WEGH)
Internet Radio: BucknellBison.com
Live Statistics: BucknellBison.com
Tickets: 570-577-1000 or Buy Online
Promotions: ORANGE OUT. First 400 fans receive free t-shirts, courtesy of Silvertip.
• COMPLETE GAME NOTES
Bucknell Probable Starters (2015-16 stats)
G: Stephen Brown (9.2 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 5.3 apg)
G: Kimbal Mackenzie (4.6 ppg, 1.2 rpg, 1.6 apg)
G: Nate Jones (2.8 ppg, 1.4 rpg)
F: Zach Thomas (10.3 ppg, 5.7 rpg)
C: Nana Foulland (11.8 ppg, 6.9 rpg)
With a Win over Manhattan, Bucknell Would ...
• ... improve to 79-43 all-time in season openers.
• ... win its home opener for the eighth year in a row.
• ... defeat the Jaspers for the fourth straight time and improve to 4-2 all-time against them.
• ... improve to 141-50 all-time at Sojka Pavilion.
Headlines
• Bucknell opens its 122nd season of basketball on Friday night against Manhattan at Sojka Pavilion.
• Prior to the game, the team will unveil two new banners in Sojka Pavilion, one for the 2015-16 Patriot League regular-season championship, and another for the team's 2016 NIT appearance.
• Legendary head coach Charlie Woollum will be a featured guest at the game. The re-modeled Sojka Pavilion lobby is being dedicated his honor prior to the game, and he will be recognized again at halftime along with many of his former players. Woollum won a school-record 318 games during his 19 years on the Bucknell sideline (1975-94), and he took the team to its first two NCAA Tournaments in 1987 and 1989.
• The Bison were picked to finish third (behind Lehigh and Boston University) in the Patriot League in a preseason poll of the league's head coaches and sports information directors. Junior center Nana Foulland was named to the Preseason All-Patriot League Team.
• A year ago, the Bison captured the outright Patriot League regular-season title for the fifth time in the last six years before being upset by Holy Cross in the Patriot League Tournament quarterfinals.
• Bucknell must replace three starters and four lettermen from last year's squad, including leading scorer and First Team All-Patriot League selection Chris Hass (17.2 ppg), who is now playing professionally in Germany. Also graduated are starting off-guard Ryan Frazier (8.2 ppg), who was a member of the Patriot League All-Defensive Team; starting power forward Dom Hoffman (6.2 ppg), and reserve forward Matt Banas (1.1 ppg).
• The two returning starters are the team's two junior co-captains: Foulland and point guard Stephen Brown. Foulland was a Second Team All-Patriot League pick a year ago after posting 11.8 points and 6.9 rebounds per game. Brown was a Third Team All-PL selection, recording 9.2 points and 5.3 assists per game.
• A pair of sophomores will join the starting lineup on Friday. Shooting guard Kimbal Mackenzie is expected to make his first career start after an outstanding preseason. Mackenzie played in every game off the bench at the “1” and “2” spots last season. Wing Nate Jones will make his second career start. He replaced an injured Hass for one game last year at Boston University.
• Manhattan finished 13-18 overall and 9-11 in the MAAC last season. The Jaspers fell to Siena 89-76 in the MAAC Tournament quarterfinals. Like the Bison, Manhattan has two returning starters, including Preseason Second Team All-MAAC selection Rich Williams. Zane Waterman scored 20 points in the team's 99-70 win over Nyack in an exhibition game on Saturday.
How to Get the Game
• The Bucknell-Manhattan game will not be televised, however a free live webcast will be produced by Bison Vision on the Patriot League Network. Visit PatriotLeague.TV to tune in.
• 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 and live statistics are also available online free of charge via BucknellBison.com.
• Follow @Bucknell_MBB for in-game updates on Twitter.
Preseason Prognostications
• Prior to the start of preseason, the Patriot League's head coaches and sports information directors predicted the league standings and all-conference team. Bucknell was picked third in the poll.
Patriot League Preseason Poll
1. Lehigh 161 (17 1st-place votes)
2. Boston U. 139 (3)
3. Bucknell 132
4. Holy Cross 115
5. American 86
6. Colgate 83
7. Loyola 69
8. Navy 49
9. Lafayette 43
10. Army 23
Preseason Player of the Year: Tim Kempton, Lehigh, Sr., F/C
Preseason All-League Team:
Tim Kempton, Lehigh (Sr., F/C)
Eric Fanning, Boston U. (Sr., G)
Nana Foulland, Bucknell (Jr., C)
Kahron Ross, Lehigh (Jr., G)
Delante Jones, American (So., G/F)
Andre Walker, Loyola (Jr., G)
Bucknell vs. Manhattan Series Notes
• Bucknell and Manhattan met last season for the first time since 1999. The two teams have met five times previously, three times at Manhattan and twice at neutral sites, so this is the Jaspers' first visit to Lewisburg. Bucknell leads the series 3-2.
• Manhattan won on its home floor in both 1930 (29-28) and 1931 (41-29). The Bison won 75-56 at the 1989 Naismith Holiday Inn Classic in Springfield, Mass., and 70-66 at the 1999 Arizona State/Fiesta Bowl Holiday Classic in Tempe, Ariz.
• Last year at Draddy Gym, Bucknell played very well in an 80-67 victory. Zach Thomas led a balanced attack with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Chris Hass added 14 points and Nana Foulland had 11 points and eight rebounds. The Bison held the Jaspers to 34.3 FG% and piled up a 48-33 edge on the glass. Then-senior Shane Richards scored 28 points for Manhattan.
Bucknell vs. The MAAC
• Bucknell is 47-53 (.470) in 100 all-time against the teams that currently comprise the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, including a 1-3 record last season (win over Manhattan, losses to Siena, Fairfield, Monmouth) and a 2-1 mark the previous season (wins over Marist and Fairfield, loss at Siena). The Bison are 30-24 against Rider, 6-4 against Marist, 4-5 vs. Niagara, 3-2 vs. Manhattan, 2-4 vs. Iona, 1-0 vs. St. Peter's, 1-4 vs. Fairfield, 0-6 vs. Canisius, 0-3 vs. Siena, and 0-1 vs. Monmouth.
About Last Year
• It was another banner year for the Bison men's basketball team, which captured its fifth outright Patriot League regular-season championship in the last six years. Bucknell finished the season with a 17-14 overall record and a 14-4 mark in the Patriot League.
• The Bison have now captured 10 regular-season titles in the Patriot League's 26-year history. No other team has won more than five.
• In 2016 the Bison made their third appearance in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT), where they fell 90-80 at top-seeded Monmouth.
• The members of the Class of 2016 — Matt Banas, Ryan Frazier, Chris Hass and Dom Hoffman — finished their careers with an 80-49 (.620) overall record and a Patriot League record of 50-18 (.735). These seniors won three regular-season PL titles and played in one NCAA Tournament and two NITs.
• Bucknell is now 250-112 (.691) in 26 years in the Patriot League. That is the best record of any league team.
• Bucknell had three All-Patriot League selections last year, with Chris Hass making the First Team, Nana Foulland on the Second Team, and Stephen Brown named to the Third Team. Brown and Ryan Frazier were both selected to the All-Defensive Team; Frazier and Foulland were named to the All-Academic Team; and Nathan Davis was named Patriot League Coach of the Year in his first season back at Bucknell.
• Davis' 17 wins were the most ever for a first-year coach at Bucknell. Following the season he was selected as a finalist for the Joe B. Hall Award, given to the top first-year coach in the country.
• Hass was also named to the NABC All-District 13 Team. Hass led the team and ranked third in the Patriot League in scoring at 17.2 points per game. He earned All-Patriot League honors for the third time and finished his career ranked 11th on Bucknell's all-time scoring list with 1,402 career points.
• Brown dished out five or more assists 18 times last season, and he ranked second in the league in assists per game (5.3). Brown's 165 assists are tied for eighth-most in a season in Bucknell history.
• Bucknell was the highest-scoring team in the Patriot League last season, averaging 79.0 points per game. That is the team's highest scoring total since 1993-94 and the eighth-highest in program history.
Five Titles in Six Years Puts Bison in Elite Company
• Bucknell has captured the outright (no ties) Patriot League regular-season title in five of the last six years. Kansas and Belmont are the only other schools that can make a similar claim:
Teams Winning 5 Outright Regular-Season Titles in Last 6 Years
Bucknell
Belmont
Kansas
Teams Winning 4 Outright Regular-Season Titles in Last 6 Years
Davidson
Stephen F. Austin
Texas Southern
Valparaiso
Wichita State
Patriot League Success
• Bucknell is 250-112 (.691) all-time in Patriot League regular-season games, the best record of any league team. The Bison have finished at least .500 in PL play in 22 of the 26 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 have now won five of the last six, after claiming titles in 2015 and 2016 as well.
• Bucknell has now won 10 Patriot League regular-season titles in 26 years. No other team has more than five.
• Last year Bucknell made its seventh Patriot League Tournament appearance as the No. 1 seed.
• 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 82 of its last 105 league games.
• Bucknell won Patriot League Tournament titles in 2005, 2006, 2011 and 2013. The Bison have made it to the semifinals 19 times and to the championship game 10 times in the 25-year history of the league.
• The Bison are the only team to go unbeaten in league play in a season (14-0 in 2006).
Who's Got Next?
• Bucknell will be loading up the bus immediately after Friday's home game against Manhattan and heading to Harrisonburg, Va. The team will stop overnight and practice Saturday morning before continuing on to Winston-Salem, N.C., to face Wake Forest on Sunday at 2 p.m. The game will be streamed by the ACC Network Extra, which is available on the WatchESPN app.
A Closer Look
Here is a more in-depth look at the Bison heading into the 2016-17 season:
Year one of Nathan Davis' tenure as Bucknell's head coach brought yet another Patriot League regular-season title — the fifth in the last six years for the Bison. It is a program accustomed to challenging for the top spot in the conference, and the 2016-17 edition figures to be in the running once again, despite the graduation of its leading scorer and two other starters from a year ago.
Davis and his staff must replace First Team All-Patriot League selection Chris Hass, a talented wing who averaged 17.2 points per game last season. Also gone are Patriot League All-Defensive Team guard Ryan Frazier and power forward Dom Hoffman, but Davis is confident that this year's squad has the depth and talent to overcome those key losses.
“We have the potential to be a bigger, stronger and more physical team than last year,” said Davis. “That's an area we felt needed improvement at the end of last year, and the guys really took it to heart in the offseason. [Strength coach] Jerry Shreck did a great job with them, and then they went out on their own over the summer and worked very hard. This is a very dedicated group.”
Even though Bucknell's 14-4 Patriot League record was good enough to hold off Lehigh by one game for the regular-season title, the Bison were one of the four upset victims in ninth-seeded Holy Cross' Cinderella run to the PL Tournament crown. One might think that excruciating double-overtime loss to the Crusaders would be fueling the team's mindset heading into this season, but Davis feels otherwise.
“Last year is not really a topic of conversation for us,” said Davis. “Every year we start a brand new season, and dwelling on things that happened last year — good or bad — don't really help you. Now maybe if you have a team that is in need of extra motivation you bring it up, but that is not the case with this year's team. We have a very motivated group that is just focused on getting better every day.”
Helping to offset the loss of a talented senior class that won 80 games and three regular-season titles is a talented trio of freshmen along with a sophomore class that has made major strides since the end of last season. The latter group includes forward Nate Sestina, who is back healthy after suffering a season-ending injury last December.
“Chris Hass was a great weapon because he could open things up on the perimeter,” said Davis. “He is going to be hard to replace. I'm not sure that we have someone who will score 17 or 18 points per game, but we do have multiple guys who can score in different ways.”
Heading that list is a terrific junior class, featuring Second Team All-Patriot League center Nana Foulland, Third Team All-Patriot League guard Stephen Brown and forward Zach Thomas, who has plenty of starting experience but came off the bench late last season after returning from an ankle injury.
Foulland, a Preseason All-Patriot League selection, was the team's No. 2 scorer (11.8) and top rebounder (6.9) last season. He shot 53.6 percent from the field while developing into one of the league's premier centers. Foulland has improved each year, and Davis expects that trend to continue.
“Nana is going to get the ball a lot,” said Davis. “We are going to have to play more inside-out this year, whether that is from penetration or throwing it into the post. Nana draws double teams and gets defenses collapsing on him, but he is a very willing passer and is also quick enough to make a move and score before the double team gets there. He has really improved since the end of last year. He has matured physically, expanded his game and is playing with a tremendous amount of confidence.”
Brown had one of the better seasons from a point guard in program history last year, when he averaged 9.2 points and 5.3 assists per game. He ranked second in the league in assists and fifth in steals, and he also made the Patriot League All-Defensive Team. Brown shot 49.2 percent from the field and incredibly led the Patriot League in free-throw percentage (.833), one year after shooting 47.5 percent from the line.
“Stephen worked very hard over the summer, and he is the engine that makes our team go,” said Davis. “He is extremely fast and unselfish. He has developed a good 3-point shot, he can get in the lane and make plays for others. I think he will score more this year, but we are just asking him to make the right play every time down the floor. Defensively, he is quick and disruptive on the ball.”
Thomas is a very dynamic scorer for a 4-man. He can shoot with range, put the ball on the floor and get to the free-throw line. He is a career 41.3-percent 3-point shooter, and last year he ranked third on the team in scoring at 10.3 points per game in only 20.9 minutes per game. Thomas started the first 12 games of the year and had a number of big performances — 25 points at N.C. State, 20 against Siena to name two — but an ankle injury just after Christmas hobbled him for a few weeks. The senior Hoffman played very well in his place, and then Thomas played a valuable sixth-man role throughout much of league play.
“Zach has always been able to score, and that hasn't changed,” said Davis. “His defensive effort has improved tremendously, and he is an excellent rebounder at 6'7”. He has become a well-rounded player at both ends of the floor. He always seems to make the right play.”
Another key frontcourt player along with Foulland and Thomas is D.J. MacLeay, one of three seniors on the roster along with John Azzinaro and Ben Oberfeld. MacLeay served primarily as the backup center to Foulland last year, and what he lacked in height at 6'7” he made up for in sheer determination. MacLeay shot 63.3 percent from the field, a figure that would have led the Patriot League if he had enough attempts, and he averaged 5.2 points and 3.6 rebounds in 12.3 minutes per game. One of the league's top offensive rebounders, MacLeay missed a chunk of the preseason with a back injury, but he should be ready to go by opening night.
“D.J. is working his way back into shape after the offseason injury,” said Davis. “He brings us a physical, veteran presence who made significant offensive and defensive improvements last year. He is a multi-skilled offensive player. He can post up or step out and shoot with range.”
Unfortunately, the 6'9” Oberfeld will not play in 2016-17 due to injury. That takes away another piece of depth from the Bison frontcourt, but Davis says that Oberfeld is already impacting the team in other ways.
“Ben understands what guys are going through, and he is a great resource for his teammates,” Davis remarked. “He is a great young man, and it's unfortunate that we will not have him available on the floor this year.”
Azzinaro is a quick, veteran guard who can shoot off the dribble from long range. He has 79 career 3-pointers, seven of them coming in one game against Holy Cross last season, when he shot a solid 38.3 percent from the arc.
“John brings firepower off the bench,” praised Davis. “He has a scorer's mentality at both the 1 and 2 spots. He has shown the ability to score in bunches.”
There is an adage in college basketball that the biggest improvement is made between the freshman and sophomore years, and Davis has certainly seen major strides from his second-year group throughout the preseason. Guards Kimbal Mackenzie and Matt O'Reilly, wing Nate Jones and forward/center Nate Sestina all figure to play significant roles this winter.
Mackenzie backed up Brown at the point and Frazier at the off-guard spot last year, averaging 4.6 points while shooting 40.0 percent from the field. His best game of the year came against Monmouth in the NIT, when he scored 13 points in 18 minutes, and Mackenzie figures to be in line for a starting berth this season.
“Kimbal is a tough-minded, strong, physical, skilled guard,” lauded Davis. “He can score from beyond the 3-point line and finish through contact. He is also a quality defender and has made noticeable improvement from his freshman year to his sophomore year.”
Jones saw action in 28 games and made one start as a freshman last year. He got out to a great start shooting the ball, hitting 7 of 10 from 3-point range in the first four games of the season. He ended up scoring 2.8 points per game while hitting on 43.1 percent from the field and 37.5 percent from the 3-point arc, and his 11.6 minutes per game could be on the rise.
“Nate is very athletic, he can play above the rim, he can score in transition, and he is a capable 3-point shooter,” said Davis. “His passing ability might be the most underrated part of his game, and we would like to see him attack the rim more this year. He also has the ability to be a very good defensive player.”
The coaching staff is very excited about the return of Sestina, who was just coming on when he suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in the Patriot League opener against Navy on Dec. 30. One game before that, he scored 10 points on 4-for-5 shooting against Fairfield, and he was ready to become a regular member of the frontcourt rotation after playing in just one of the first nine games of the season.
“Nate Sestina is as talented as anyone in our program,” said Davis. “He is mentally and physically tough. For a player of his size, he is a very good 3-point shooter who can also put the ball on the floor and finish above the rim. He is an excellent rebounder who really competes. He is mobile and can rebound out of his area.”
O'Reilly played in 13 games as a reserve last year, and when he did get on the floor he showed off a deadly 3-point touch. All 20 of his field-goal attempts came from beyond the arc, and he made 10 of them. With the loss of Hass, O'Reilly gives the team that deep shooting weapon.
“Matt can really shoot it,” said Davis. “He can catch and shoot, he can come off screens, and he only needs a little bit of space. He has really worked hard in the weight room and is physically strong. He is the best pure shooter on the team, and we envision him being in the rotation.”
Guard Avi Toomer, wing Ben Robertson, and forward Bruce Moore comprise the freshman class. All bring outstanding prep credentials, and Davis envisions finding a place for each of them to contribute. Moore is a 6'8” power forward from the competitive Baltimore private-school league who brings tremendous versatility, particularly with his ability to guard smaller opponents and score in different ways. Robertson is a 6'5” small forward from nationally ranked High Point Christian in North Carolina. A tremendous athlete, he has one of the team's best vertical leaps and also has the makings of a strong defender. Toomer is a creative guard from Atlanta who also brings tremendous potential at both ends of the floor.
“Avi is a very talented player,” said Davis. “Offensively, he is a capable shooter, but he is at his best putting the ball on the floor and creating something for himself or for others. He has the size and strength to defend multiple positions. Ben is long and athletic. He is a good set 3-point shooter, and he can really get off the floor. He sees the floor well and under control, and he has a chance to be our best perimeter defender. Bruce is a very athletic, skilled 4-man. He is a multi-faceted offensive player who can shoot with range, put the ball on the floor or score in the post. He really competes hard, and we love his ability to defend multiple positions.”
While the Bison will have some players in new or increased roles this season, they won't have much of an indoctrination period, as Davis has once again challenged them with a very difficult non-league schedule. By the start of first-semester final exams, Bucknell will have already played two teams from the Atlantic 10 (Richmond, La Salle), one each from the ACC (Wake Forest), Big East (Butler) and SEC (Vanderbilt), as well as two others (Manhattan, Robert Morris) who were in the NCAA Tournament as recently as 2015.
The Bison will also play two other teams (Fairfield, Siena) who are expected to challenge in the MAAC, arguably the best team in the Ivy League (Princeton) and an annual NEC contender (Mount St. Mary's).
“You never want to go into league play without having your flaws exposed,” said Davis. “You need to see teams as good or better than the best teams in your league. It is important that we know ourselves inside and out by the time we get to January. Were we frustrated at 3-8 last year? Of course, but even then, we knew we were getting better, and we knew where we had to improve.
“In addition to playing a schedule that is going to prepare us for league play, it is also exciting for our guys. The chance to play at places like Butler and Vanderbilt, and to go out and play in Las Vegas, that is part of the whole Division I basketball experience. The guys have put in the work, now let's go test ourselves against a challenging schedule.”
The 18-game Patriot League slate starts on Dec. 30 at Navy and wraps up on Feb. 25, also against the Midshipmen. All 10 teams qualify for the Patriot League Tournament, with the bottom four seeds playing opening-round games on Feb. 28. The remaining eight teams will play quarterfinal games on March 2, followed by the semifinals on March 5 and the championship game on Wednesday, March 8. Unlike most other conferences, every game in the Patriot League Tournament is played on the home court of the higher-seeded team.
In each of the first 24 years of the Patriot League's existence, either the No. 1 or 2 seed won the Patriot League Tournament title. That streak was broken when No. 4 Lafayette claimed the crown in 2015, and then last year Holy Cross blew that out of the water when it won the title as the No. 9 seed. Clearly some parity has begun to grow in the Patriot League.
“The Patriot League is a grind,” said Davis, whose team was picked third in the preseason poll behind Lehigh and Boston University. “The bottom of the league is as strong as it has ever been, and you have to play well to win every single night, especially on the road.”
That's what makes Bucknell's five outright regular-season titles in the last six years — a feat that only Kansas and Belmont can match among Division I programs — such a remarkable accomplishment.
