Men's Basketball Opens 2019-20 Season Tuesday at Fairfield

Tuesday, November 5

Bridgeport, Conn.

7 p.m.

Bucknell University

Fairfield

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Photo by: Marc Hagemeier

Men's Basketball Opens 2019-20 Season Tuesday at Fairfield

11/4/2019 1:11:00 PM | Men's Basketball

What: Bucknell (0-0) at Fairfield (0-0)
Where: Webster Bank Arena, Bridgeport, Conn. | BUY TICKETS
When: Tuesday, Nov. 5, 7 p.m.
Webcast: ESPN3
Local Radio: Eagle 107 (107.3 FM WEGH)
Listen Live: BucknellBison.com and Eagle107.com
Live Stats: FairfieldStags.com

Bucknell Probable Starters (with 2018-19 stats)
G: Jimmy Sotos (8.2 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 6.1 apg)
G: Andrew Funk (4.7 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 0.7 apg)
G: Ben Robertson (1.8 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 0.8 apg)
F: Bruce Moore (9.6 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 0.9 apg)
C: Paul Newman (3.7 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 1.1 bpg)

With a Win over Fairfield, Bucknell Would ...

... improve to 81-44 all-time in season openers.
... avenge last year's two-point loss to the Stags.
... win for the third straight time at the Webster Bank Arena.
... give head coach Nathan Davis his 90th win as Bucknell's head coach.

Headlines

Bucknell begins its 125th season of basketball on Tuesday night against Fairfield at Webster Bank Arena. Nov. 5 is the earliest date that the Bison have ever opened a season, surpassing last year's Nov. 7 tip-off at St. Bonaventure.
Bucknell was picked second to Colgate in the Patriot League preseason poll. Those two teams played in the 2019 Patriot League Tournament final, with the Raiders prevailing 94-80 to thwart Bucknell's hopes of a third straight NCAA Tournament appearance.
Bucknell and Colgate shared the 2019 Patriot League regular-season title with 13-5 conference records. It was Bucknell's fifth straight PL regular-season crown and eighth in the last nine years. The run of five regular-season titles in a row is the second-longest current streak in the nation, behind only Gonzaga (7).
The Bison return three starters in 2019-20, but the two graduation losses were both All-Patriot League selections. Guard Kimbal Mackenzie was a First Team pick after averaging 17.6 points per game last season, and he is now playing professionally in Spain. Center Nate Sestina (15.8 ppg, 8.5 rpg) was a Second Team all-star last season, and he is using his final year of eligibility as a graduate student at Kentucky.
Senior wing Avi Toomer, senior forward Bruce Moore, and junior point guard Jimmy Sotos all return to their starting posts this year, although Toomer is expected to miss the start of the season due to injury. Senior Ben Robertson, a co-captain along with Moore and Toomer, is in line for his first career start in Toomer's absence.
Fairfield is the first of four MAAC opponents on Bucknell's schedule this season, and the Bison will play all four of them on the road. Later in the year Bucknell visits Canisius (Nov. 16), Rider (Dec. 3) and Siena (Dec. 21).
Bucknell and Fairfield will be meeting for the sixth time in the last seven years, but the Bison will be going up against a new coaching staff this year, as former Rutgers assistant Jay Young has taken over the reins from Sydney Johnson. Last year the Stags pulled out an early-season win at Sojka Pavilion but went on to finish 9-22 overall and 6-12 in the MAAC. Fairfield does return a veteran backcourt in Jesus Cruz and Landon Taliaferro, who were both Third Team Preseason All-MAAC selections this fall.

How to Get the Game

The Bucknell-Fairfield game can be seen on ESPN3 via ESPN's digital platform.
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. Bucknell Athletics Hall-of-Famer Pat Flannery will join Birdsong as a color analyst. The pregame show begins 30 minutes before tip-off.
Live statistics can be accessed via FairfieldStags.com
The audio feed is available online free of charge via BucknellBison.com and Eagle107.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.

Patriot League Preseason Poll
1.   Colgate   162 (18 1st-place votes)
2.   Bucknell   130
3.   American   126 (2)
4.    Loyola   98
5.   Boston U.   97
6.   Army   86
7.   Lehigh   84
8.   Lafayette   55
9.   Navy   41
10.   Holy Cross   21

Preseason Player of the Year:
Sa'eed Nelson, American, Sr., G

Preseason All-League Team:
Sa'eed Nelson, American (Sr., G); Max Mahoney, Boston U. (Sr., F); Jordan Burns, Colgate (Jr., G); Rapolas Ivanauskas, Colgate (Sr., F); Andrew Kostecka, Loyola (Sr., G)

Poll Positions

Bucknell has captured the Patriot League regular season title in five straight and eight of the last nine years, despite being picked as the preseason favorite only twice in that nine-year span (2017-18 and 2011-12).
The Bison have equaled or outperformed their preseason predicted finish in each of the last 10 years.

Bucknell vs. Fairfield Series Notes

Fairfield leads 5-2 in a series that dates back to 1990.
Bucknell and Fairfield played a two-game series in 1990-91 and 1991-92, and then they played four straight years from 2013-14 to 2016-17 before rekindling the series last season.
In last year's meeting at Sojka Pavilion, Bucknell erased a double-digit deficit but just could not get over the hump. Moments after Kimbal Mackenzie tied the game with a driving layup, Fairfield's Neftali Alvarez answered with a layup at the other end with three seconds remaining to send the Stags to a 60-58 win, spoiling Bucknell's home opener. Jimmy Sotos nearly won it with a running 3-point try from 30 feet out, but his bank shot rimmed out at the buzzer. The Bison trailed by as many as 15 points in the first half and by 10 at intermission after the Stags outshot Bucknell 61% to 32% in the opening 20 minutes. The Bison locked down defensively in the second half, holding Fairfield to 6-for-26 shooting (.231), but the hosts came away empty numerous times in a one-possession game before finally tying it on Mackenzie's drive with nine seconds to go. Bucknell had just stolen the ball from the shifty Alvarez on the previous possession, setting up the Mackenzie shot, but Alvarez had the answer this time and finished with a game-high 16 points.
Bucknell's last trip to Bridgeport was fruitful. On Dec. 6, 2016, the Bison won 75-64 behind 23 points and 11 rebounds from Nana Foulland.

Bucknell vs. the MAAC

Bucknell is 51-57 (.472) in 108 all-time games against the teams that currently comprise the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, including a 1-2 record last season (win over Monmouth, losses to Fairfield and Canisius).
The Bison are 30-24 against Rider, 6-4 against Marist, 4-2 vs. Manhattan, 4-5 vs. Niagara, 2-5 vs. Fairfield, 2-4 vs. Iona, 1-0 vs. St. Peter's, 1-2 vs. Monmouth, 1-4 vs. Siena and 0-7 vs. Canisius.
The Bison will play Canisius, Rider and Siena later in the season, all on the road.

Title Town

With Kansas ending its run of 14 straight regular-season Big 12 titles, the two longest streaks in the nation now belong to Gonzaga (7) and Bucknell (5).
No other team in the nation has won as many as eight regular-season league titles in the last nine years.
Bucknell has now upped its total to 13 Patriot League regular-season titles in the league's 29-year history. No other school has won more than five.

Most Regular-Season Titles, PL History:
13   Bucknell
5   Holy Cross/Navy
4   American/Colgate
3   Fordham/Lafayette
2   Lehigh
1   Boston University

Patriot League Success

Over the last nine seasons, Bucknell has a Patriot League record of 119-31 (.793). That is the ninth-best conference winning percentage in the nation over that span.

Conference Winning %, Last 9 Seasons (entering 2019-20 season)
Gonzaga 137-15   .901
Belmont 132-22   .857
Vermont 120-24   .833
Wichita State 134-28   .827
Texas Southern 130-32   .802
New Mexico State   109-27   .801
St. Mary's 121-31   .796
Kansas   127-33   .794
Bucknell 106-26   .793

Bucknell is 294-122 (.707) 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 25 times in 29 Patriot League seasons.
Bucknell won three straight 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 in a row and eight of the last nine.
Bucknell has made nine Patriot League Tournament appearance as the No. 1 seed and seven as the No. 2 seed.
Bucknell won Patriot League Tournament titles in 2005, 2006, 2011, 2013, 2017 and 2018. The Bison have made it to the semifinals 21 times and to the championship game 11 times in the league's first 28 years.
The Bison are the only team to go unbeaten in league play in a season (14-0 in 2006).
In 2017-18, Bucknell became the first team to win 16 Patriot League games. The league expanded to 10 teams and an 18-game schedule in 2013-14.

2019 All-Patriot League Notes

Bucknell picked up some postseason honors last season, highlighted by Kimbal Mackenzie's selection as both Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year and a First Team All-Patriot League choice.
In addition, Nate Sestina earned Second Team All-Patriot League honors, and Bruce Moore was voted to the Patriot League All-Defensive Team.
Bucknell has now had at least one first-team all-conference player in 33 of the last 36 seasons, dating back to the team's tenure in the East Coast Conference.

Home Cooking

The Bison enter the 2019-20 season with a 21-game home winning streak against Patriot League opponents and a 12-game overall home winning streak.
Since Sojka Pavilion debuted in 2003, the Bison are 192-56 (.765) overall and 133-26 (.836) against Patriot League foes.
Bucknell won a record 15 home games in 2016-17, and then it matched that figure a year later. Over the last three years, Bucknell is 42-6 at home.

Who's Back?

Bucknell returns 10 lettermen from last year's team: three seniors, four juniors, and three sophomores. That group includes three starters in Jimmy Sotos, Avi Toomer and Bruce Moore.

Bucknell's Returning Production in 2019-20
Points   55.0%
Rebounds   65.9%
Assists   69.7%
Blocks   68.1%
Steals   75.1%
3FG   55.0%

Who's New?

The Bison have welcomed four first-year players this season: Malachi Rhodes (Wheeler, Ga.), Xander Rice (West Long Branch, N.J.), Alex Timmerman (Crystal Lake, Ill.) and Jake van der Heijden (Raleigh, N.C.).
Rhodes was a First Team All-State selection and Region 5-A Player of the Year at Wheeler High School, a strong Atlanta-area program that advanced to the semifinals of the state tournament in 2018.
Rice, the son of Monmouth head coach and former North Carolina standout King Rice, joins the Bison out of The Patrick School (formerly St. Patrick). He started his prep career at St. Anthony H.S. under the legendary Bob Hurley, but the school closed after Rice's sophomore year.
Timmerman was a Class 4A Honorable Mention All-State selection at Crystal Lake Central H.S. in the Chicago suburbs. He averaged 17.4 points and 9.2 rebounds per game as a senior for a 21-win team.
van der Heijden is a lefty forward who knocked down 67 3-pointers as a senior at Ravenscroft School. He was an all-conference selection and was part of four straight conference championship teams.

Sotos Lends a Helping Hand

Jimmy Sotos had one of the best assist seasons in school history a year ago, despite a late-January shoulder injury that cost him two games and affected his play down the stretch.
Sotos averaged 6.1 assists per game, which ranked 18th nationally and first in the Patriot League. He joined Darryl Shazier (2008-09, 2010-11) as the only Bison ever to win the PL assist title.
He had 189 assists on the season, which were third-most in Bucknell history.
Sotos became the third Bison ever to record at least 6.0 assists per game in a season. Hall-of-Famers Chris Seneca (6.6 in 1985-86, 6.4 in 1986-87) and Mike Joseph (6.3 in 1987-88, 6.3 in 1989-90) each did it twice.
Sotos made history with his assist totals over a two-game stretch to close out 2018 and open up 2019. He dished out 12 assists in Bucknell's Christmas Day win over UNLV at the Diamond Head Classic, and then he followed it up with an 11-assist performance against Army in the conference opener on Jan. 2.
Sotos is the first Bison ever to produce 11 or more assists in back-to-back games, and he became the first to record double-figure assist totals in consecutive games since Chris Seneca in 1986-87. Seneca had 10 helpers against Loyola on Jan. 7, 1987, then handed out 12 three days later against Drexel.
Sotos' 12 assists against UNLV were the most by a Bucknell player since the 1991-92 season opener, when Russell Peyton set the school record with 16 against UMBC.

Bison Scholar-Athletes
The Bucknell basketball program has also enjoyed tremendous success in the classroom in recent years. Among the highlights:

Bucknell won the "academic national championship" in both 2017 and 2018, according to Inside Higher Ed, which completed a full NCAA Tournament bracket based on the 68 competing teams' academic performances.
Bucknell annually ranks among the national leaders in student-athlete graduation rates and has even led the nation on several occasions. Bucknell ranked fifth nationally in the 2019 report with a four-class average of 90%. In the NCAA's Graduation Success Rate (GSR) formula, Bucknell was also highly ranked at 96%. Seventeen Bison sports programs had perfect 100% GSR ratings. The Bison men's basketball team was one of 80 out of 352 Division I programs to boast a GSR of 100.
The Bison men's basketball program posted a perfect score of 1,000 in the NCAA's Academic Performance Rate (APR) study, released last June. That earned the Bison program an NCAA APR Public Recognition Award. The APR awards have been given since 2007, and the Bison men's basketball program has been honored in all 13 years.
The Bison men's basketball team combined for a 3.32 grade-point average in the spring 2018 semester, one of the highest in the country. Bucknell had combined GPAs over 3.0 in both semesters in 2018-19, the 10th straight year the team has accomplished that.
Bucknell has claimed 136 national Academic All-Americans since 1970, including nine from men's basketball. The total of 136 ranks among the nation's best.
In the Patriot League's 29-year history, the league's men's basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year has come from Bucknell 12 times, including Nana Foulland and Kimbal Mackenzie over the last two seasons.

Who's Got Next?

Bucknell hosts Vermont on Sunday in the home opener at Sojka Pavilion. The game will air on WQMY-TV in Northeast PA, as well as on the Patriot League Network. Prior to the game, the team will unveil its 2019 Patriot League regular-season championship banner