Bucknell University
Lehigh
Bison Men Win Last-Second Thriller at Lehigh, 85-83
1/19/2019 2:11:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Sotos answers Lehigh's tying layup with the game-winner with 1.2 seconds left
Bucknell trailed 76-72 with 4:26 to play, but then outscored Lehigh (11-6, 4-2) 10-0 over the next four minutes to go up 82-76. But Lehigh battled back. The Mountain Hawks pulled within 83-81 on a Lance Tejada 3-pointer with 11 seconds left, then they came up with a steal on the inbounds and fed Pat Andree for the tying layup with 0:07 left. Sotos raced the ball up the court and got all the way to the bucket before finishing a tough layup over Tejada with 1.2 ticks left.
Mackenzie then disrupted a halfcourt heave at the buzzer, and the Bison celebrated their fourth straight victory.
"Give our guys a lot of credit for keeping their composure at the end of the game," said head coach Nathan Davis afterward. "We want to play in transition, and we practice that sequence every day. I thought that was a high-level game between two good teams."
WOW!!! What a finish! Lehigh gets a steal and the tying layup, but then Jimmy Sotos with a big-time finish to win it for the Bison! #rayBucknell #TheBisonWay pic.twitter.com/a7lE0i59D2
— Bucknell MBasketball (@Bucknell_MBB) January 19, 2019
The Bison and Mountain Hawks entered the day tied for first place atop the Patriot League standings, and the game turned into a classic. Neither team led by more than six points in the contest, and there were a whopping 20 lead changes and 12 ties.
Even though it was close throughout, the Bison trailed for 27 of the 40 minutes, but they seemed to take over the game in the final four minutes. Moore hit a game-tying shot and Mackenzie a go-ahead jumper just inside two minutes to play. Nate Sestina followed with a short jump-hook, and then Mackenzie got a piece of Andree's 3-point attempt and hit two free throws the other way with 36 seconds left to give Bucknell an 82-76 lead.
James Karnik ended Lehigh's four-minute scoreless drought with a put-back with 23 seconds left, then Sotos split a pair of free throws. But Tejada's deep three kept Lehigh in it.
The Bison won the game despite yet another 3-point blitz from Lehigh. The Mountain Hawks came into the game as the top 3-point shooting team in the nation at 46 percent, and they went 14-for-23 (.609) in this one. Kyle Leufroy went 6-for-9 from long distance and scored a game-high 26 points. Tejada had 15 points, and Andree and Karnik tallied 14 each.
Moore's career-high 19 points came on 7-for-12 shooting, including a pair of threes in three attempts. He also continued his recent rebounding prowess with eight boards, giving him 33 in his last three games.
Sotos, Sestina and Paul Newman also hit double figures with 10 points each. Sestina added seven rebounds and went 5-for-9 from the field, but he was limited to 21 minutes due to foul trouble. He made his first bucket of the day to give him 15 straight made field goals over a three-game span. Newman scored all 10 of his points in the first half after Sestina had to go to the bench with two fouls. He also grabbed seven rebounds, blocked a shot and dished out an assist.
Sotos logged six rebounds, five assists and two steals in addition to his game-winning bucket.
"We were not concerned with this being a battle for first place, it was more about this simply being the game that we had on the schedule today," said Davis. "It is always difficult to win at Lehigh, but there is so much of the season left to play. A lot is going to happen between now and March, and we need to keep that mentality. I was pleased late in the game that we just kept it simple and made plays in the flow of the offense."
Lehigh started the game 8-for-9 from the 3-point arc and led by as many as six in the first half, but the Bison hung around by forcing nine turnovers and hitting some timely shots of their own.
Sestina picked up a couple of early hand-check fouls and had to go to the bench after seven minutes, but Newman gave the Bison a major lift off the bench. He logged 10 points and five rebounds in the first half, and his kickout pass for a Mackenzie 3-pointer gave the Bison a 34-32 lead with 5:03 remaining.
Back-to-back threes by Andree and Tejada capped an 8-0 run that put Lehigh on top 40-34, but the Bison closed the half on a 9-1 run. Andrew Funk started the surge with a trey, Newman had a reverse layup and a tip-in, and Mackenzie closed out the first-half scoring with a Bucknell's first two free throws of the day.
The Bison led 43-41 at the break, and the game really got wild. There were 11 lead changes in the first 6:14 of the second half. Neither team could gain any separation until Lehigh scored seven straight, keyed by two Karnik buckets in the lane, to go up 62-56.
Mackenzie hit a big 3-pointer in transition to bring Bucknell back within one, and then with 5:24 to play Nate Jones canned a three to tie the game at 70. Andree retaliated with a quick trey at the other end, and after two Sotos free throws, Leufroy hit a 3-pointer for a 76-72 Lehigh lead. Those would be the Mountain Hawks' final points until the flurry in the last half-minute.
Bucknell shot 49.3 percent for the game and went 8-for-22 from the arc and 11-for-16 from the foul line. Lehigh finished at 51.7 percent overall, buoyed by its unconscious 3-point shooting.
Coming into this week, Bucknell had lost 24 straight games dating back five years when the opponent shot 50 percent or better from the field. The Bison broke that streak in Monday's home win over Holy Cross, when the Crusaders hit on an even 50 percent, and now Bucknell has won two straight in that circumstance.
The Bison did well on the glass, outrebounding Lehigh 41-29 while limiting the Mountain Hawks to seven second-chance points.
Next up for the Bison is a home game against Loyola on Wednesday at Sojka Pavilion.
