Men's Basketball Continues Road Swing Tuesday at Colgate

What: Bucknell (17-9, 11-3 PL) at Colgate (17-10, 9-5 PL)
Where: Cotterell Court, Hamilton, N.Y.
When: Tuesday, Feb. 19, 7 p.m.
TV: Stadium | Over-the-Air Channel Listings | Stadium Cable Channels
Internet: Patriot League Network
Local Radio: Eagle 107 (107.3 FM WEGH)
Listen Live: BucknellBison.com and Eagle107.com
Live Stats: GoColgateRaiders.com

• COMPLETE GAME NOTES

Bucknell Probable Starters
G: Jimmy Sotos (8.4 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 6.0 apg)
G: Kimbal Mackenzie (17.2 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 3.0 apg)
G: Avi Toomer (8.7 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 1.9 apg)
F: Bruce Moore (10.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 0.8 apg)
C: Nate Sestina (16.4 ppg, 8.1 rpg, 1.1 apg)

With a Win over Colgate, Bucknell Would ...

... improve to 18-9 overall and 12-3 in the Patriot League.
... avoid its first two-game losing streak since mid-December (at Ohio State and Saint Mary's).
... maintain at least a one-game lead in the Patriot League.
... clinch a top-two seed for the Patriot League Tournament.
... improve to 8-5 on the road and 10-6 in road/neutral games this season.
... improve to 293-120 all-time in Patriot League play and 118-29 in the PL over the last nine seasons.
... up its series winning streak against the Raiders to seven in a row.

Headlines

After beating Lehigh on Feb. 11 to take a two-game lead atop the Patriot League standings, Bucknell saw its cushion trimmed back to one game on Saturday. The Bison dropped a 72-71 verdict at Holy Cross to fall to 11-3 in league play, and then later in the day Lehigh held off Boston University to improve to 10-4. Colgate rallied to beat American in overtime, bringing the third-place Raiders to 9-5 and within two games of the lead.
A victory over Colgate on Tuesday would give Bucknell a three-game edge (and a season sweep) over the Raiders with three to play. That means the Bison would be assured of the No. 1 or 2 seed for the Patriot League Tournament. On the other hand, a Colgate victory means Bucknell, Lehigh and Colgate would all be separated by just one game.
Bucknell has done well to avoid Patriot League losing streaks in recent years. The Bison have not dropped consecutive conference games since mid-February of 2016, when they fell to Lehigh and Colgate in succession. Bucknell has won its last eight games following a loss in Patriot League play.
Bison seniors Kimbal Mackenzie and Nate Sestina have been sensational of late, particularly in the five games during the month of February, when the senior duo has combined for 219 points, or 52.4% of Bucknell's offense. Mackenzie has topped the 20-point mark in four of those games, including a career-high 31 at Lafayette on Feb. 2, while Sestina has gone over 20 points in three of the five games while also averaging 10.0 rebounds per game.

LAST 5 GAMES PPG FG% 3FG%   FT%
Kimbal Mackenzie   23.6   .500   .500   .895
Nate Sestina 20.2   .689   .412   .769

Bucknell has had a knack for coming from behind this season. The Bison have won a game after trailing by 10 or more points seven different times this season, including on four occasions in Patriot League play. The most recent comeback came on Monday against Lehigh, when Bucknell trailed by as many as 11 points in the first half. The Bison are 8-7 this season when trailing at halftime.
Head coach Nathan Davis is now in the top 10 in career winning percentage among all active Division I head coaches with at least three years of experience. At 226-81 (.739), Davis finds himself in some elite company.

ACTIVE HEAD COACH WINNING PERCENTAGE Pct. W   L
1. Mark Few (Gonzaga) .823   559   120
2. Rick Croy (Cal Baptist) .789   146 39
3. Roy Williams (Kansas/North Carolina) .788   861   232
4. Eric Musselman (Nevada) .776   104 30
5. John Calipari (UMass/Memphis/Kentucky) .772   698   206
6. Mike Kyrzyzewski (Army/Duke) .767 1122   340
7. Bill Self (Oral Roberts/Tulsa/Illinois/Kansas) .765   673   207
8. Chris Jans (Bowling Green/New Mexico St.) .761 70 22
9. Sean Miller (Xavier/Arizona) .743   381   132
10. Nathan Davis (Randolph-Macon/Bucknell) .736   226 81
11. Chris Beard (McMurry/Angelo St./UALR/Texas Tech) .732   161 59
12. Steve Forbes (East Tennessee St.) .727 96 36
13. Dave Rose (BYU) .724   346   132
14. Ray Harper (KY Wesleyan/Oklahoma City/Western KY/Jacksonville St.)   .723   395   151
15. Tom Izzo (Michigan State) .721   594   230

Nate Sestina has lived up to his Preseason All-Patriot League billing thus far. The Bison are 17-7 this season with Sestina in the lineup — he missed the Fairfield and Canisius games with an injury — and he is averaging 16.4 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. Sestina, who served as the backup center behind former Patriot League Player of the Year Nana Foulland for the last three seasons, was named to the All-Tournament Team at the Diamond Head Classic. Sestina was the Patriot League Player of the Week on Jan. 7 after averaging 24.5 points and 10.5 rebounds against Army and Boston University. His 27 points against the Terriers was a career high, until he surpassed it with 32 against Holy Cross.
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 — Nate Sestina — was a Preseason All-Patriot League selection.
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.
Colgate has won four straight games, with the last three coming by margins of four points or fewer. Most recently, the Raiders topped American 83-81 in overtime on Saturday. That was a big win, as it pushed Colgate two games ahead of the fourth-place Eagles. Jordan Burns, who recently returned from a five-game injury absence, leads the team in scoring (16.4) and assists (5.6). Northwestern transfer Rapolas Ivanauskas is having a big year, scoring 15.6 ppg while leading the team in rebounding at 8.3 per game. Will Rayman also scores in double figures at 12.8 ppg. Colgate owns the Patriot League's top rebounding margin (+3.6), and the Raiders rank fourth in the league in all three shooting percentage categories.

How to Get the Game

The Bucknell-Colgate game will be televised by Stadium and streamed on the Patriot League Network at PatriotLeague.tv. Matt Martucci and Ben Braun will have the call for Stadium.
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 is available online free of charge via BucknellBison.com.
Live statistics can be accessed at GoColgateRaiders.com.
Follow @Bucknell_MBB for in-game updates on Twitter.

Last Time Out

Matt Faw answered Kimbal Mackenzie's late go-ahead 3-pointer with one of his own with six seconds remaining, sending Holy Cross to a 72-71 victory over Bucknell on Saturday afternoon at the Hart Center.
The Bison saw their five-game winning streak come to an end and fell to 17-9 overall and 11-3 in the Patriot League.
Nate Sestina posted his ninth double-double of the season with 17 points and 15 rebounds, and Mackenzie added 16 points for the Bison.
Bucknell piled up a 45-27 rebounding edge, which led to a 26-12 margin in second-chance points, but the Bison could not overcome a season-high 23 turnovers, the last of which was a pivotal call in the game.
Bucknell trailed 69-65 in the final 90 seconds before Avi Toomer hit a big 3-pointer. The Bison got a defensive stop, and then Andrew Funk came up short on a three attempt. The ball was tipped out of bounds and initially given to Holy Cross, but the call was overturned after a lengthy replay review. On the ensuing inbounds, Mackenzie took a pass from Funk on the left wing and swished the go-ahead three.
Holy Cross had been just 2-for-15 from outside the arc on the day, but Faw caught a pass at the top of the key, waited for a defender to fly by, and then put the Crusaders back in front 72-71 with six seconds to go.
Mackenzie raced the ball up the court and passed to Funk on the right wing, but well after Mackenzie released the ball he landed on Jehyve Floyd, and the charging foul was given with 4.2 seconds left.
The Crusaders shot 42.4% for the game, but turned Bucknell's 23 turnovers into a 28-5 edge in second-chance points.
Bucknell finished at 44.8% from the floor, including a 9-for-29 showing from 3-point distance. The Bison were whistled for 23 fouls and played the final few minutes without starters Bruce Moore and Jimmy Sotos, who fouled out. That helped lead to a 19-10 scoring margin from the foul line for Holy Cross.

Bucknell vs. Colgate

This will be the 113th all-time meeting between Bucknell and Colgate in a series that dates back to 1920. The Bison have a 68-44 series lead. The only other opponents that Bucknell has played at least 100 times are Lehigh (173), Lafayette (166), Gettysburg (126) and Penn State (103).
As Patriot League rivals, Bucknell is 47-17, including 25-5 in Lewisburg.
Bucknell is 15-6 in its last 21 games in Hamilton.
Bucknell has won six straight against Colgate, including all three meet-ups last year. The Bison won a defensive struggle in Hamilton, 63-51, behind 17 points and 15 rebounds from Zach Thomas. Back in Lewisburg later in the year, Bucknell scored nine straight points in the final 21 seconds to win 65-64 on Kimbal Mackenzie's 3-pointer at the buzzer. And then on March 7 at Sojka Pavilion, Bucknell captured the Patriot League title with a convincing 83-54 victory in the league championship game. Stephen Brown led the way with 22 points and six assists, and Nate Sestina came off the bench to record 16 points (7-9 FG) in 18 minutes.
In this year's first meeting on Jan. 9 in Lewisburg, the Bison rallied for an 84-81 win behind 25 points from Mackenzie and 15 and nine rebounds from Sestina. Bucknell trailed by as many as 13 points in the first half but took over the game late, with Mackenzie and Sestina scoring 13 of the team's final 15 points down the stretch. Jordan Burns recorded 28 points, nine rebounds and six assists for Colgate, and Rapolas Ivanauskas added 20 points.

Numbers Worth Noting

Bucknell has held seven of its last eight opponents under 30% shooting from 3-point distance.
Rebounding has been a major key to success for the Bison this season. They are 10-2 when outrebounding their opponent, but 6-7 when losing the battle on the glass.
After getting dominated on the glass in back-to-back games against Boston University and Colgate earlier this month, the Bison have made a concerted effort to improve their rebounding margin. In the 10 games since then, Bucknell is +73 on the boards.
Kimbal Mackenzie has been a more efficient scorer on the road this season. He averages 18.8 points per game in true road contests while shooting 46.1% from the field. At home, he scores at a 15.7 ppg clip while shooting 37.5%.
Bucknell had lost 24 straight games dating back five years when the opponent shot 50% or better from the field. The Bison broke that streak in the Jan. 14 home win over Holy Cross, when the Crusaders hit on an even 50%, and now Bucknell has won two straight in that circumstance after Lehigh shot 51.7% on Jan. 19.
Mackenzie has a knack for taking charges. He drew four offensive fouls in the La Salle game on Dec. 4, and he has a team-high 19 drawn charges this season.
Sophomore Jimmy Sotos struggled in the turnover category early in the season, but over his last 17 games, he has 108 assists with only 42 turnovers. Sotos averages 6.6 assists per game in Bucknell's victories and 5.0 in the losses.
As a team, the Bison rank 26th nationally in assists per made field goal (.591).
Sophomore Paul Newman has played well in the first extended action of his career, and he has emerged as one of the Patriot League's top shot-blockers. Newman ranks fourth in the league with 1.2 blocks per game, even though he plays just 14.0 minutes per game.
When Nate Sestina went 11-for-11 against Holy Cross, he raised his career field-goal percentage from .529 to .540. Sestina set the Bucknell single-game record and tied the Patriot League mark on his way to a career-high 32 points. He made his lone 3-point field goal attempt and all 10 of his two-point field goals, while also making nine out of 10 free throw attempts. Donald Brown held the previous Bucknell mark of made field goals in a game without a miss, making all 10 of his shots against Lehigh, exactly 15 years earlier, Jan. 14, 2004.
Sestina's 32 points tied the Sojka Pavilion record for points scored by a Bison player, matching the output by Chris Hass, on March 5, 2015, against Holy Cross, and Zach Thomas, on Jan. 31, 2018, against Army. Sestina also had seven rebounds in the victory.
Sestina is now hitting on 87.9% of his free-throw attempts this season, including 89.7% in conference play. Sestina ranks 27th nationally in free-throw percentage and No. 1 among all players 6'9" or taller.

NCAA LEADERS, FREE-THROW PERCENTAGE AMONG PLAYERS 6-9 OR TALLER
1. Nate Sestina (Bucknell) 6-9   .865
2. Nick Mayo (Eastern Kentucky) 6-9   .862
3. Luka Garza (Iowa) 6-11   .853
4. Nick Muszynski (Belmont) 6-11   .848
5. Mike Daum (South Dakota State) 6-9   .837

Bucknell's shot chart from the La Salle game was a statistical analyst's dream. In a game in which the Bison scored 92 points, all 29 made field goals were either dunks (6), layups (12), or 3-pointers (11). In fact, Bucknell did not attempt a 2-point shot outside the paint all night.
Bucknell went 3-0 against the Atlantic 10 this season. The Bison averaged 88 points per game in wins over St. Bonaventure, La Salle and Rhode Island.
Mackenzie has played 261 of a possible 280 minutes in the second halves of Patriot League games thus far.

Who's Got Next?

The Bison play two of their final three regular-season games at home, starting Sunday against Lafayette. The 2 p.m. contest will be televised on WQMY in Northeast PA, and it will also stream on the Patriot League Network.

Men's Basketball Continues Road Swing Tuesday at Colgate

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Stephen Brown

Nana Foulland

Andrew Funk

Kimbal Mackenzie

Bruce Moore

Paul Newman

Nate Sestina

Jimmy Sotos

Zach Thomas

Avi Toomer

Men's Basketball Continues Road Swing Tuesday at Colgate

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Stephen Brown

Nana Foulland

Andrew Funk

Kimbal Mackenzie

Bruce Moore

Paul Newman

Nate Sestina

Jimmy Sotos

Zach Thomas

Avi Toomer

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