Men's Basketball Starts Final Week of Regular Season Wednesday at Navy

Happenings

Patriot League Tournament Tickets -- Tickets for both the men's and women's quarterfinal round games of the upcoming Patriot League Tournaments in Sojka Pavilion will go on sale Wednesday, Feb. 27, beginning at 10 a.m. The men will open tournament play on March 7 at 7 p.m. vs. an opponent to be determined, while the women will do so on March 11 at 6 p.m., also vs. an opponent to be determined. Tickets can be purchased in person at the Weis Center Campus Box Office, or online here: MEN'S TICKETS | WOMEN'S TICKETS
Backcourt Club Luncheon -- The final Backcourt Club Luncheon of the season will take place on Thursday, Feb. 27, at noon at Matty's Sporthouse Grill in Lewisburg. The $10 admission includes lunch. Head coach Nathan Davis and the Bison seniors will speak and take questions. In addition, new head football coach Dave Cecchini and his staff will be introduced.
Senior Day -- Fans are encouraged to come early to Saturday's regular-season finale vs. Army West Point on Saturday. Tip-off is set for noon, but the Senior Day ceremonies will be conducted beforehand in order to tip on time for the national television broadcast. The Sojka Pavilion doors will open at 10:30 a.m. -- 30 minutes earlier than usual -- and fans wishing to see the senior recognition are recommended to be seated by 11:30 a.m.

What: Bucknell (18-10, 12-4 PL) at Navy (9-18, 6-10 PL)
Where: Alumni Hall, Annapolis, Md.
When: Wednesday, Feb. 26, 7 p.m.
Internet: Patriot League Network
Local Radio: Eagle 107 (107.3 FM WEGH)
Listen Live: BucknellBison.com and Eagle107.com
Live Stats: NavySports.com

• COMPLETE GAME NOTES

Bucknell Probable Starters
G: Jimmy Sotos (8.7 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 6.0 apg)
G: Kimbal Mackenzie (17.0 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 3.0 apg)
G: Avi Toomer (9.0 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 1.9 apg)
F: Bruce Moore (10.1 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 0.8 apg)
C: Nate Sestina (16.0 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 1.1 apg)

With a Win over Navy, Bucknell Would ...

... improve to 19-10 overall and 13-4 in the Patriot League.
... gain at least a share of the Patriot League regular-season title for the eighth time in the last nine years.
... be assured of a top-two seed for the Patriot League Tournament.
... clinch the No. 1 seed if Holy Cross defeats Colgate on Wednesday.
... win the regular-season title outright if Holy Cross defeats Colgate and American defeats Lehigh.
... win its 12th straight game against the Midshipmen and fifth straight at Alumni Hall.
... improve to 294-121 all-time in Patriot League play and 119-30 in the PL over the last nine seasons.

Headlines

Coming off a record-setting performance against Lafayette on Sunday, the Bison now hit the road for the final time in the regular season when they visit Navy on Wednesday evening.
This is a pivotal game for both teams. Bucknell has a one-game lead over both Colgate and Lehigh with two games remaining. With a victory, the Bison would be assured of at least a share of the Patriot League regular-season title, and they would lock up a top-two seed and Patriot League Tournament hosting rights at least through the semifinals. Bucknell can even secure the No. 1 seed with a win and a Colgate loss, and it can win the title outright with a win and losses by both Colgate and Lehigh. Meanwhile, Navy comes in at 6-10 in league play, which puts it in a four-way tie for seventh place along with Loyola, Boston University and Holy Cross. The Midshipmen are two games out of fourth place and one game out of fifth place, and they will be looking to move up in order to avoid playing in one of the two Patriot League Tournament first-round games.
Heading into the final week of the regular season, Bucknell (12-4), Lehigh (11-5) and Colgate (11-5) are all separated by one game, while fourth-place American is well back at 8-8.

Team Remaining Schedule Record vs. Other Leaders
Bucknell (12-4) Navy (A), Army (H) 2-0 vs. Lehigh, 1-1 vs. Colgate
Lehigh (11-5) American (A), Loyola (A) 0-2 vs. Bucknell, 0-2 vs. Colgate
Colgate (11-5) Holy Cross (H), Lafayette (A) 2-0 vs. Lehigh, 1-1 vs. Bucknell

Bucknell has already clinched a home game for the Patriot League Tournament quarterfinal round on March 7. Tickets go on sale on Wednesday at the Campus Box Office.
The Bison will be trying to stay hot after piling up 118 points against Lafayette on Sunday. The Bison broke team and league records with 21 3-pointers, and they fell one shy of the school record for points in a game. Bucknell will be going up against a Navy team that is typically strong defensively, but conceded 17 threes in a 93-71 loss at Colgate on Saturday.
Senior Nate Jones picked up a nice honor last week when he was named to the five-man Google Cloud Academic All-District Team. Jones is now eligible for the national Google Cloud Academic All-America ballot.
The March 2 Bucknell-Army game has been picked up by CBS Sports Network. The game tips off at noon, with Senior Day festivities beforehand.
Nate Sestina has lived up to his Preseason All-Patriot League billing thus far. The Bison are 18-8 this season with Sestina in the lineup — he missed the Fairfield and Canisius games with an injury — and he is averaging 16.0 points and 7.9 rebounds per game. Sestina, who served as the backup center behind former Patriot League Player of the Year Nana Foulland for the previous 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. Sestina is currently one of just eight Division I players shooting at least 50% from the field (min. 100 att.), 40% from 3-point range (min. 60. att.), and 80% from the free-throw line (min. 60 att.).

50/40/80 Players, Division I FG%   3FG%   FT%
Jordan Cohen (Lehigh) .525   .494   .851
Robert Franks (Washington State) .519   .408   .822
Matt Morgan (Cornell) .516   .452   .843
Nate Sestina (Bucknell) .559   .412   .846
Jake Toolson (Utah Valley) .574   .491   .857
Quinndary Weatherspoon (Mississippi State)   .510   .410   .826
Dylan Windler (Belmont) .536   .410   .833
Justin Wright-Foreman (Hofstra) .515   .433   .866

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.
Navy has dropped two straight and four of its last five, but the Midshipmen are typically tough to beat at home. Navy is 5-3 in Patriot League home games this season, including a 79-68 win over arch-rival Army in its most recent game at Alumni Hall on Feb. 16. George Kiernan (12.5) and Hasan Abdullah (10.2) are Navy's two double-figure scorers, and they are two of the team's four seniors who will be honored during Senior Night ceremonies prior to the game.

How to Get the Game

The Bucknell-Navy game will be streamed on 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.
The audio feed is available online free of charge via BucknellBison.com.
Live statistics can be accessed at NavySports.com.
Follow @Bucknell_MBB for in-game updates on Twitter.

Last Time Out

Bucknell put an emphatic end to a two-game losing streak and regained sole possession of first place in the Patriot League behind a scintillating, record-setting offensive performance in a 118-76 win over Lafayette on Saturday afternoon at Sojka Pavilion.
The Bison were simply unconscious offensively for the first 32 minutes. They were shooting just over 75% from the field when Andrew Funk's floater in the lane gave them a 57-point lead at 107-50 with 8:29 to go.
Bucknell broke a school record with a 63-point first half, buoyed by 72.7% shooting overall, including 10-for-15 from the arc.
The potential record-setting shooting percentages dropped a bit over the final eight minutes when the game got a bit ragged, but the 118 points are the second-most in school history, trailing only the 119 points Bucknell scored in a win over Colgate in Davis Gym on Jan. 29, 1968. The previous record of 61 first-half points also came in that game.
Funk went 8-for-9 from the field and 5-for-6 from the arc on the way to a career-high 21 points. Kimbal Mackenzie (18 points), Jimmy Sotos (17) and Avi Toomer (11) each hit three 3-pointers, while Nate Sestina (11) had a pair, both coming on Bucknell's first two possessions of the day to set the tone for the long-range barrage. Ten different Bison hit at least one from downtown, also a new school record.
Sotos added nine assists and four rebounds to his 17 points, while Sestina had a game-high seven rebounds. Bruce Moore had 16 points, five rebounds and three assists. Nate Jones had eight points, three rebounds and three assists, while Ben Robertson contributed seven points, six rebounds and six assists in 16 minutes off the bench.
The Bison assisted on 29 of their Patriot League-record 45 made field goals, finishing at 64.3% from the field for the game (45-for-70) and 58.3% from downtown (21-for-36). Bucknell outrebounded Lafayette 42-24 and scored 19 points off of only nine Leopards' turnovers. The Bison scored 50 points before committing their first turnover of the day, and they finished with just nine.
Bucknell defeated Lafayette 94-66 in the first meeting of the season between the two teams. That gives the Bison 212 points in the two games against the Leopards, or 9.8% of Bucknell's season scoring total.

School Records Set
Points in a First Half – 63 (previous was 61 vs. Colgate, Jan. 29, 1968)
3-Point Field Goals – 21 (previous was 17, twice, most recently vs. Lafayette, Feb. 22, 2017)
Most Players with a 3-Pointer – 10 (previous was 8 vs. Lafayette, Feb. 22, 2017)

Patriot League Records Set
Field Goals -- 45 (previous was 44 by Fordham vs. Navy, Nov. 24, 1990)
3-Point Field Goals – 21 (previous was 18, 5 times, most recently by Boston U. vs. Lafayette, Jan. 8, 2017)

Sojka Pavilion Records Set or Tied
Total Points – 118 (previous was 115 by Bucknell vs. Siena, Nov. 20, 2017)
Points in Any Half – 63 (previous was 59 by Bucknell vs. Siena, Nov. 20, 2017)
Field Goals – 45 (previous was 42 by Bucknell vs. Shenandoah, Nov. 13, 2015)
3-Point Field Goals – 21 (previous was 17, 3 times, most recently by Bucknell vs. Lafayette, Feb. 22, 2017)
Assists – 29 (ties record of 29, also by Bucknell vs. Shenandoah, Nov. 13, 2015)

Points in a Game vs. Division I Opponent in 2018-19
1. 139 South Dakota State vs. Savannah State, 12/11/18
2. 122  Louisiana Lafayette vs. Prairie View, 12/11/18
3. 121  Arkansas vs. Florida International, 12/1/18
4. 120  Vanderbilt vs. Savannah State, 11/27/18
120  Gonzaga vs. Idaho State, 11/6/18
6. 119 Sam Houston State vs. Houston Baptist, 2/23/19
7. 118 Bucknell vs. Lafayette, 2/24/19
118  Duke vs. Kentucky, 11/6/18

Field Goals in a Game vs. Division I Opponent in 2018-19
1. 53 South Dakota State vs. Savannah State, 12/11/18
2. 45  Bucknell vs. Lafayette, 2/24/19
45 Duke vs. Stetson, 12/1/18
45  Buffalo vs. Dartmouth, 11/21/18
45  North Florida vs. Elon, 11/9/18

3-Point Field Goals in a Game vs. Division I Opponent in 2018-19
1.   23 South Dakota State vs. Savannah State, 12/11/18
23 The Citadel vs. High Point, 11/27/18
3.   22 Nicholls State vs. Central Arkansas, 2/23/19
4.   21  Bucknell vs. Lafayette, 2/24/19
21  Purdue Fort Wayne vs. Eastern Illinois, 11/28/18

Bucknell vs. Navy

This will be the 80th all-time meeting between the Bison and Midshipmen, with Bucknell holding a 44-35 edge in the series.
Bucknell has won 11 straight and 19 of the last 20 meetings, including a sweep in each of the last four seasons. Navy's last win over the Bison was 62-61 verdict in Annapolis on Jan. 15, 2014.
The Mids won 12 of 16 from the Bison prior to joining the Patriot League in 1991-92.
As conference rivals, Bucknell leads 40-23, with the home team winning most of the time. Since Navy joined the league, Bucknell is 27-5 against the Mids at home but is only 13-18 against Navy in Alumni Hall, although the Bison have won seven of their last eight there.
Bucknell is 5-3 all-time against Navy in the Patriot League Tournament, including the Midshipmen's 76-75 win in the 1997 championship game. Navy won the first three postseason clashes, but the Bison have won the last five, including a 70-65 decision in the 2017 semifinal round.
Bucknell managed a rare one-sided win at Alumni Hall in last season's first meeting. Led by a career-high 27 points on 7-for-9 3-point shooting from Stephen Brown, the Bison rolled to an 87-67 verdict. Bryce Dulin led Navy with 14 points. Prior to that affair, Bucknell's previous three wins in Annapolis came by a total of nine points.
In the rematch at Sojka Pavilion on Senior Day, the Bison senior class of Brown, Nana Foulland and Zach Thomas combined to score 60 points in Bucknell's 85-61 win. Brown tallied 25, giving him 52 in the two games against Navy last season. Hasan Abdullah paced the Midshipmen with 19 points.
In this year's first meeting back on Jan. 30 in Lewisburg, Bucknell won 69-57 behind 14 points apiece from Kimbal Mackenzie and Avi Toomer. On a night when Bucknell played without injured point guard Jimmy Sotos, and three other starters missed most of the first half with foul trouble, the Bison bench played a big role in the victory. The reserves contributed 20 of the team's 36 first-half points, and they accounted for 26 points, 18 rebounds and six assists on the night. George Kiernan led Navy with 13 points.

Numbers Worth Noting

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 Feb. 11 against Lehigh, when Bucknell trailed by as many as 11 points in the first half. The Bison are 8-8 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 227-82 (.735), Davis finds himself in some elite company.

ACTIVE HEAD COACH WINNING PERCENTAGE Pct. W L
1. Mark Few (Gonzaga) .824   562   120
2. Roy Williams (Kansas/North Carolina) .788   864   232
3. Rick Croy (Cal Baptist) .786   147 40
4. Eric Musselman (Nevada) .774   106 31
5. John Calipari (UMass/Memphis/Kentucky) .773   701   206
6. Chris Jans (Bowling Green/New Mexico St.)    .768 73 22
7. Mike Kyrzyzewski (Army/Duke) .767   1124   341
8. Bill Self (Oral Roberts/Tulsa/Illinois/Kansas) .764   675   208
9. Sean Miller (Xavier/Arizona) .742   383   133
10. Nathan Davis (Randolph-Macon/Bucknell) .735   227 82
11. Chris Beard (McMurry/Angelo St./UALR/Texas Tech) .734   163 59
12. Steve Forbes (East Tennessee St.) .726 98 37
13. Ray Harper (KY Wesleyan/Oklahoma City/Western KY/Jacksonville St.) .725 398   151
14. Tom Izzo (Michigan State) .722   597   230
15. Dave Rose (BYU) .721   347   134

Bucknell has held seven of its last 10 opponents under 30% shooting from 3-point distance.
Rebounding has been a major key to success for the Bison this season. They are 11-2 when outrebounding their opponent, but 6-8 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 12 games since then, Bucknell is +82 on the boards.
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.
Kimbal 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 19 games, he has 120 assists with only 47 turnovers. Sotos averages 6.8 assists per game in Bucknell's victories and 4.8 in the losses.
As a team, the Bison rank 32nd nationally in assists per made field goal (.588).
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 13.9 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.

NCAA LEADERS, MOST FIELD GOALS WITHOUT A MISS IN 2018-19
Levi Bradley (Northern Illinois) 13   11/25 vs. Oakland
Raasean Davis (North Carolina Central 12   1/14 vs. Delaware State
Connor MacDougall (Utah Valley) 12   12/19 vs. Idaho State
Darius Brown II (Cal-State Northridge) 12   11/27 vs. Washington State
Xavier Hill-Mais (Oakland) 12   11/19 vs. Defiance
Nate Sestina (Bucknell) 11   1/14 vs. Holy Cross
Obi Toppin (Dayton) 11   12/19 vs. Western Michigan
Matt Wilson (Army) 11   11/17 vs. UMass-Lowell

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 84.6% of his free-throw attempts this season. Sestina ranks 27th nationally in free-throw percentage and No. 2 among all players 6'9" or taller.

NCAA LEADERS, FREE-THROW PERCENTAGE AMONG PLAYERS 6-9 OR TALLER
1. Nick Mayo (Eastern Kentucky) 6-9   .865
2. Nate Sestina (Bucknell) 6-9   .846
3. Luka Garza (Iowa)    6-11   .841
4. Mike Daum (South Dakota State) 6-9   .834
5. Robert Franks (Washington State) 6-9   .813

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 needs nine more 3-pointers to become the sixth player in Bucknell history with 200 in his career.
Sotos needs nine more assists to crack Bucknell's single-season top-10 chart.

Who's Got Next?

Bucknell wraps up the 2018-19 regular season at home against Army West Point on Saturday at noon.
The game will be televised on CBS Sports Network.
Fans are encouraged to arrive early, as Senior Day festivities will take place before the game.

Men's Basketball Starts Final Week of Regular Season Wednesday at Navy

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Stephen Brown

Nana Foulland

Andrew Funk

Nate Jones

Kimbal Mackenzie

Bruce Moore

Paul Newman

Ben Robertson

Nate Sestina

Jimmy Sotos

Zach Thomas

Avi Toomer

Men's Basketball Starts Final Week of Regular Season Wednesday at Navy

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Stephen Brown

Nana Foulland

Andrew Funk

Nate Jones

Kimbal Mackenzie

Bruce Moore

Paul Newman

Ben Robertson

Nate Sestina

Jimmy Sotos

Zach Thomas

Avi Toomer

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