Bucknell, Vermont Meet Sunday at Sojka Pavilion in Clash of Strong Northeastern Programs

Sunday, November 10

Lewisburg, Pa.

2 p.m.

Bucknell University

Vermont

Buy Tickets

Photo by: Marc Hagemeier

Bucknell, Vermont Meet Sunday at Sojka Pavilion in Clash of Strong Northeastern Programs

11/8/2019 6:45:00 PM | Men's Basketball

What: Vermont at Bucknell
Where: Sojka Pavilion, Lewisburg, Pa. | BUY TICKETS
When: Sunday, Nov. 8, 2 p.m.
TV: WQMY-TV
Webcast: Patriot League Network
Local Radio: Eagle 107 (107.3 FM WEGH)
Listen Live: BucknellBison.com and Eagle107.com
Live Stats: BucknellBison.com

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Bucknell Probable Starters
G: Jimmy Sotos (6.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 5.0 apg)
G: Andrew Funk (7.0 ppg, 1.0 rpg, 1.0 apg)
F: Ben Robertson (0.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 1.0 apg)
F: Bruce Moore (15.0 ppg, 1.0 rpg, 0.0 apg)
C: Paul Newman (0.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 2.0 bpg)

With a Win over Vermont, Bucknell Would ...

... improve to 2-0 on the season for the first time since 2012-13.
... win its 13th straight home game.
... improve to 183-56 all-time at Sojka Pavilion.
... defeat the Catamounts for the third year in a row.
... give head coach Nathan Davis his 91st win as Bucknell's head coach.

Headlines

Bucknell and Vermont — two of the top mid-major programs in the northeast over the last decade-plus — square off at Sojka Pavilion on Sunday. The Bison and Catamounts will meet for the third year in a row. Bucknell won the last two, and those were considered among the team's best victories in both of those seasons.
Bucknell and Vermont captured the nation's attention just a few hours apart in the 2005 NCAA Tournament. Vermont, seeded 13th, stunned Syracuse in the opening round of the tourney, and then later in the evening 14th-seeded Bucknell took down Kansas. The Bison and Catamounts have combined for 13 NCAA appearances and 23 total postseason appearances since 2002-03.
Bucknell opened the 2019-20 season with a 68-64 road victory over Fairfield on Tuesday. The bench was the story for the Bison, as four reserves accounted for 40 points, 17 rebounds, six assists and 7-for-11 shooting from the 3-point arc. John Meeks led that bench brigade with a career-high 19 points, 14 coming in the first half. Walter Ellis (11 points) and Kahliel Spear (10 points, 9 rebounds) also hit career highs, and freshman Xander Rice played well in the backcourt with three assists and no turnovers in 12 minutes. Among the starting group, Bruce Moore led the way with 15 points.
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 will miss the start of the season due to injury. Senior Ben Robertson, a co-captain along with Moore and Toomer, made his first career start on Tuesday in Toomer's absence.
Vermont does not open its season until Friday night at St. Bonaventure. The Catamounts are the clear preseason favorites in the America East and are ranked No. 4 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Poll. Among Vermont's key returnees is forward Anthony Lamb, who was recently named to the John R. Wooden Award, Naismith Trophy, Lute Olson Award and Lou Henson Award player of the year watch lists.

How to Get the Game

The Bucknell-Vermont game will be televised on WQMY-TV in Northeast Pennsylvania, with Adam Marco and Pat Flannery calling the action. The broadcast will also be available online via the Patriot League Network at PatriotLeague.TV.
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 BucknellBison.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.

Last Time Out

Bucknell avenged last year's home loss to Fairfield with a 68-64 victory at Webster Bank Arena on Tuesday. The Bison won their season opener for the second straight year and improved to 81-44 all-time in lidlifters.
The game was tied at 33 at halftime, but Bucknell used a 12-2 run to go up by 15 at 62-47 with 5:15 remaining. It was still a 15-point margin at 64-49 after two free throws by Bruce Moore, but the Stags made things interesting by scoring 13 straight points to pull within 64-62 with 30 seconds left. But sophomores Walter Ellis and Andrew Funk both went 2-for-2 at the foul line to stretch two-point leads up to four in the final seconds.
John Meeks scored a career-high 19 points to lead a 40-point night from the Bucknell bench. Meeks' previous career high was 14 points, and he had that total by halftime.
Walter Ellis (11 points) and Kahliel Spear (10 points, 9 rebounds) also came up big off the bench and recorded career highs. Ellis scored all 11 of his points in the second half, nine coming on 3-for-4 shooting from the arc. Spear played a career-high 20 minutes — his previous high was nine — and his near-double-double was needed on a night when starting center Paul Newman played only 11 minutes due to foul trouble.
Bruce Moore was Bucknell's fourth double-digit scorer with 15 points. Moore went 7-for-8 from the foul line in his 99th career appearance.
Bucknell fared well in its first official game with the extended 3-point distance. The Bison went 10-for-23 (.435) from the arc, compared to 12-for-32 (.375) from 2-point distance.
Funk and senior Ben Robertson both made their first career starts. Robertson's first start came in his 82nd career appearance.
The Bison played without senior Avi Toomer, a projected starter on the wing.
Defensively, Bucknell held Fairfield to 40.7% shooting, including a 2-for-12 showing from 3-point range. Jesus Cruz led the Stags with 24 points.

Bucknell vs. Vermont Series Notes

The Bison and Catamounts have meet on four previous occasions, with both teams winning twice. The first two clashes came in opening-weekend, neutral-site tournaments, both won by Vermont. Bucknell came back with wins in each of the last two seasons.
Last year in Burlington, Nate Sestina recorded a then-career-high 20 points with 10 rebounds in his return from a two-game injury absence, and Bruce Moore scored 14 of his 16 points in a huge second half as Bucknell rallied past Vermont 69-61. The Bison got out to a frigid start coming off a 12-day layoff, but they outscored the Catamounts 49-29 in the second half and overcame a 13-point deficit. Moore hit four of his five 3-point attempts, with all four makes coming in the second half, and he was part of a stellar defensive effort on Vermont star Anthony Lamb. After Ernie Duncan (20 points) tied the game at 51 with a 3-pointer with 4:52 remaining, Moore immediately answered with his fourth triple, and Bucknell never trailed again.
In 2017-18 at Sojka Pavilion, Bucknell prevailed 81-77. Zach Thomas recorded 24 points and nine rebounds, Stephen Brown had 17 points, and Nana Foulland recorded 14 in Bucknell's victory. With the game tied at 58 in the second half, the Bison went on an 8-0 run keyed by 3-pointers from Moore and Sestina to take control. Sestina hit two second-half treys and scored all 10 of Bucknell's bench points in the game.
Prior to the resumption of the series, the previous meeting came on Nov. 17, 2001, when Vermont won 77-60 in the consolation game of the Mohegan Sun Classic, hosted by Central Connecticut State. Bryan Bailey had 17 points and Boakai Lalugba had 13 points and nine rebounds for the Bison. T.J. Sorrentine led the Catamounts with 23 points, and Taylor Coppenrath had 16.
The only other meeting between the two squads came in the 1994-95 season-opener at the Pepsi-Marist Classic. That was Pat Flannery's very first game as head coach of the Bison. Vermont prevailed 67-66 behind 19 points from high-scoring guard Eddie Benton. The Bison trailed by 10 at the half and by six with a minute to play, but they nearly pulled it out anyway. Sekou Hamer's driving layup rimmed out at the final buzzer after Vermont missed two free throws at the other end. Kihlon Golden led the Bison with 14 points and 12 rebounds.

Bucknell vs. The America East

Bucknell does not have a long history with the America East Conference, but has had some success. The Bison are 21-10 against the nine teams that currently comprise the America East: 6-2 vs. Albany, 6-2 vs. UMBC, 3-1 vs. Binghamton, 2-2 vs. Vermont, 2-2 vs. Maine, 1-0 vs. Stony Brook, and 1-1 vs. Hartford. Bucknell has never played New Hampshire or UMass-Lowell.

Who's Got Next?

Bucknell returns home on Wednesday to face defending CAA regular-season champion Hofstra at 7 p.m. The Pride won 27 games last season but fell to Northeastern in the CAA title game and then to N.C. State in the first round of the NIT.
Wednesday's game will be the nightcap of a hoops doubleheader at Sojka Pavilion. The Bison women play St. Bonaventure at 4 p.m.