Men's Basketball Closes Out Semester at La Salle on Tuesday Night

What: Bucknell (3-3) at La Salle (0-8)
Where: Tom Gola Arena, Philadelphia, Pa.
When: Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2018, 7 p.m. (ET)
Internet: ESPN+
Local Radio: Eagle 107 (107.3 FM WEGH)
Listen Live: BucknellBison.com and Eagle107.com
Live Stats: GoExplorers.com

• COMPLETE GAME NOTES

Bucknell Probable Starters
G: Jimmy Sotos (10.8 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 5.3 apg)
G: Kimbal Mackenzie (15.7 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 4.0 apg)
G: Avi Toomer (8.7 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 1.0 apg)
F: Bruce Moore (9.0 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 1.0 apg)
C: Nate Sestina (15.3 ppg, 9.8 rpg, 0.5 apg)

With a Win over La Salle, Bucknell Would ...

... finished the first semester 4-3 overall and 3-0 on the road.
... win its first three road games in a season for the first time since 2005-06 (Rider, Syracuse, Niagara).
... defeat the Explorers for the second straight year and improve to 8-19 all-time against them.
... improve to 2-0 against the Atlantic 10 this season.
... improve to 72-36 under head coach Nathan Davis.

Headlines

Bucknell closes out its first semester with a road game at La Salle on Tuesday night. After that contest, the Bison will take an 11-day break for finals before returning to action on Dec. 15 at Ohio State.
After starting the year 0-3 at home, the Bison notched a convincing 65-43 win over Monmouth at Sojka Pavilion on Saturday. The 43 points allowed was also a welcome sight, coming on the heels of a 96-78 loss to Northeastern. In fact, the 53-point defensive improvement was two shy of the school record. Bucknell has improved defensively by 55 points on three different occasions in its 124-year history, most recently in 2000-01. That season, the Bison followed a 105-61 loss to Iona with a 64-50 win over Rider. It also happened in 1973-74 (110-53 loss to Syracuse followed by a 56-55 win over Lehigh) and 1947-48 (99-71 loss to Rhode Island backed up by a 55-44 win over Lehigh).
The Bison have had balanced scoring thus far, with six players averaging at least 8.7 ppg. Bucknell has had a different leading scorer in each of the last five games, with Avi Toomer earning that distinction for the first time in his career with a personal-best 17-point effort against Monmouth on Saturday.
Bucknell has a significant Philadelphia contingent returning home for the game vs. La Salle. Sophomore Paul Newman (Roman Catholic) and freshman Andrew Funk (Archbishop Wood) both played high school ball in the Philadelphia Catholic League, as did assistant coaches John Griffin and Joe Meehan (both at St. Joseph's Prep).
Bucknell is looking to continue its run of success following the graduation of one of its all-time great senior classes. The trio of point guard Stephen Brown, forward Zach Thomas and center Nana Foulland were all First Team All-Patriot League selections last year, and they accounted for 4,801 career points. Despite the heavy graduation hit, four of Bucknell's five opening-night starters managed to start at least 10 games last season. And the only one that didn't — senior center Nate Sestina — was a Preseason All-Patriot League selection.
Bucknell was picked a close second to Lehigh in the Patriot League Preseason Poll. The Bison did pick up one more first-place vote (8) than the Mountain Hawks (7).
Bucknell has another difficult non-conference schedule this season. Not including the field at the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic in December, Bucknell's nine non-league foes combined for a 193-108 (.641) overall record and a 112-48 (.700) mark within their respective leagues last year. Six of the nine teams won at least 21 games, and seven of the nine had winning records. And then Bucknell's first-round opponent in Hawaii will be Rhode Island, which went 26-8 overall and 15-3 in the A-10 last season.
Last season, Bucknell finished 25-10 overall and 16-2 in the Patriot League. The Bison swept Loyola, Boston University and Colgate — with the latter two wins coming by a combined 60 points — to win the Patriot League Tournament crown. Bucknell's eighth NCAA Tournament appearance resulted in a narrow 82-78 first-round loss to third-seeded Michigan State in Detroit.
La Salle figures to be a hungry team on Tuesday as it searches for its first victory of the season. The Explorers had No. 24 Villanova on the ropes on Saturday, however. They led by as many as 12 and by eight in the second half, but the Wildcats rallied to claim the Big 5 victory 85-78 at The Palestra. La Salle played that game without leading scorer Pookie Powell (18.3 ppg), but Traci Carter had 17 points and eight assists, and Isiah Dees went 5-for-7 from 3-point range for 15 points. First-year head coach Ashley Howard's team has also played the likes of Florida, Miami, Temple, and Northwestern.

How to Get the Game

The Bucknell-La Salle game will be streamed on ESPN+. Subscription fees apply, although ESPN+ does offer a free seven-day trial.
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.
Live statistics can be accessed via GoExplorers.com.
The audio feed is available online free of charge via BucknellBison.com.
Follow @Bucknell_MBB for in-game updates on Twitter.

Last Time Out

In its last home game of the calendar year, Bucknell parlayed a dominant defensive effort into a 65-43 win over Monmouth Saturday at Sojka Pavilion. The Bison held the Hawks to 24 points over the game's final 28:04 and turned a five-point deficit into a 22-point victory.
The 43 points by Monmouth is the fewest scored by a Bison opponent since Bucknell held Navy to 42 points on March 6, 2013.
Avi Toomer spurred the Orange and Blue attack on both ends of the floor, registering career highs with 17 points and four steals. Nate Sestina recorded his third double-double in his four games this season with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Jimmy Sotos added 10 points, seven assists, four rebounds and three steals in the win. Kimbal Mackenzie rounded out a strong performance by the Bison backcourt, scoring nine points to go along with five rebounds and four assists.
Bucknell achieved season highs by forcing 18 Hawks' turnovers and snatching 10 steals. For the game, Monmouth shot 32.7% (17-for-52), including 3-15 from behind the arc. The Hawks did not have a double-digit scorer.

Bucknell vs. La Salle

Bucknell and La Salle are former conference rivals in both the Middle Atlantic Conference and the East Coast Conference.
La Salle has a 19-7 lead in a series that dates all the way back to 1903.
Bucknell's series wins came in 1903, 1904, 1979, 2007, 2010, 2012 and 2017.
The Bison were 0-11 against La Salle on the Explorers' home floor until 2010-11, when Bucknell prevailed 89-77 behind 21 points from Mike Muscala.
Last season, the Bison won 88-81 at Sojka Pavilion behind a huge performance from Nana Foulland. The Bucknell center logged a career-high 30 points on 12-for-15 shooting from the field. Steven Brown added 21 points and Zach Thomas had 16 points and 14 rebounds, as Bucknell's three seniors combined for 67 of the 88 points.
La Salle won the most recent meeting at Tom Gola Arena, 83-73 two seasons ago. The Bison led 44-42 at the half but were outscored 41-29 in the second period. B.J. Johnson scored 22 points and Jordan Price had 20 to lead the Explorers. Nate Jones scored 15 points, hitting 4 of 6 from 3-point range. That remains Jones' career scoring high.

Bucknell vs. the Atlantic 10

Bucknell is 40-76 (.345) all-time against the teams that currently comprise the Atlantic 10.
The Bison are 7-19 against La Salle, 3-18 against Saint Joseph's, 4-3 vs. Richmond, 4-7 vs. George Mason, 7-2 vs. George Washington, 5-8 vs. Fordham, 3-5 vs. Duquesne, 3-5 vs. Rhode Island, 2-5 vs. St. Bonaventure, 1-2 vs. Davidson, 1-0 vs. Saint Louis, 0-1 vs. VCU and 0-1 vs. Dayton. Bucknell has never played Massachusetts.
Last season, Bucknell went 2-2 against the A-10, losing to Saint Joseph's and VCU before rebounding with wins over Richmond and La Salle.
The Bison are 1-0 vs. the A-10 this season, with an 88-85 overtime win over St. Bonaventure on opening night, and on Dec. 22 they will face Rhode Island in the first round of the Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu.

Who's Got Next?

Following the La Salle game, the Bison will take an 11-day break for final exams before resuming the schedule on Dec. 15 at Ohio State. The first meeting between the Bison and Buckeyes since 1986 will be televised on the Big Ten Network.

Men's Basketball Closes Out Semester at La Salle on Tuesday Night

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Stephen Brown

Nana Foulland

Andrew Funk

Nate Jones

Kimbal Mackenzie

Bruce Moore

Paul Newman

Nate Sestina

Jimmy Sotos

Zach Thomas

Avi Toomer

Men's Basketball Closes Out Semester at La Salle on Tuesday Night

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Stephen Brown

Nana Foulland

Andrew Funk

Nate Jones

Kimbal Mackenzie

Bruce Moore

Paul Newman

Nate Sestina

Jimmy Sotos

Zach Thomas

Avi Toomer

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