Wednesday, February 27
Annapolis, Md.
7 p.m.
Bucknell University
18-11, 12-5PL
53
at
64
Navy
10-18, 7-10PL
1
2
F
Bucknell
21
32
53
Navy
35
29
64
Photo by: Marc Hagemeier
Bucknell Falls at Navy 64-53, Now in Three-Way Tie for Patriot League Lead
2/27/2019 9:47:00 PM | Men's Basketball
ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Hasan Abdullah scored 17 points, including eight big ones in the closing minutes to help stave off a Bucknell rally, leading Navy to a 64-53 decision over the Bison on Wednesday night at Alumni Hall. Kimbal Mackenzie scored 15 points for Bucknell, which fell into a three-way tie for first place in the Patriot League with just one regular-season game remaining.
Jimmy Sotos tallied nine points and seven assists, and Nate Sestina had eight points and 12 rebounds, but the Bison (18-11, 12-5 PL) could not keep their offensive prowess going after scoring 118 points against Lafayette on Sunday. The Bison shot 29.6 percent in the game, went 6-for-27 from the 3-point arc, and were chasing the game right from the start after Navy (10-18, 7-10) came out on fire on its Senior Night.
Abdullah, one of Navy's four seniors honored prior to the game, also had eight assists, six rebounds and four steals. John Carter Jr. had 12 points and George Kiernan 10 for the Midshipmen.
"This was obviously a disappointing outcome," said Bucknell head coach Nathan Davis. "Give a lot of credit to Navy because they played very well, but a lot of it falls on us. We did not shoot well and had a poor offensive night in general, but our preparation played into that."
On the heels of one of the most prolific offensive performances in school history, Bucknell just could not get anything going in this one against Navy's active defense.
While the Bison were starting 3-for-13, Navy was 9-for-13 and 5-for-6 from the arc while running out to a 24-9 lead. The Midshipmen led 29-12 at the 6:46 mark, but then Bucknell held them scoreless for the 4:45. The Bison could only trim seven points off the lead, however, pulling within 29-19 when Sotos' fastbreak layup resulted in a goaltending call.
Carter ended Navy's drought with a three, and then Cam Davis hit another with 32 seconds left to make the Mids 7-for-13 from downtown in the half and give them a 35-21 lead.
Bucknell came up with plenty of stops in the second half but still struggled to put together any sustained runs. The Bison did chip away at the deficit and pulled within six on two occasions in the final five minutes, but both times Abdullah answered with driving layups to push the margin back to eight.
The Midshipmen went 7-for-8 from the foul line in the final three minutes to finish it off.
Navy finished the night shooting 37 percent after the hot start. The Bison held them to 28.6 percent shooting in the second half (1-for-7 from the arc) but shot just 34.6 percent themselves.
Bucknell saw its 11-game series winning streak come to an end and missed a chance to secure a top-two seed and at least a share of the Patriot League regular-season title.
Instead, Bucknell, Colgate and Lehigh are all 12-5 in the league heading into the regular-season finale. The Bison will host Army West Point on Saturday at noon on CBS Sports Network.
Jimmy Sotos tallied nine points and seven assists, and Nate Sestina had eight points and 12 rebounds, but the Bison (18-11, 12-5 PL) could not keep their offensive prowess going after scoring 118 points against Lafayette on Sunday. The Bison shot 29.6 percent in the game, went 6-for-27 from the 3-point arc, and were chasing the game right from the start after Navy (10-18, 7-10) came out on fire on its Senior Night.
Abdullah, one of Navy's four seniors honored prior to the game, also had eight assists, six rebounds and four steals. John Carter Jr. had 12 points and George Kiernan 10 for the Midshipmen.
"This was obviously a disappointing outcome," said Bucknell head coach Nathan Davis. "Give a lot of credit to Navy because they played very well, but a lot of it falls on us. We did not shoot well and had a poor offensive night in general, but our preparation played into that."
On the heels of one of the most prolific offensive performances in school history, Bucknell just could not get anything going in this one against Navy's active defense.
While the Bison were starting 3-for-13, Navy was 9-for-13 and 5-for-6 from the arc while running out to a 24-9 lead. The Midshipmen led 29-12 at the 6:46 mark, but then Bucknell held them scoreless for the 4:45. The Bison could only trim seven points off the lead, however, pulling within 29-19 when Sotos' fastbreak layup resulted in a goaltending call.
Carter ended Navy's drought with a three, and then Cam Davis hit another with 32 seconds left to make the Mids 7-for-13 from downtown in the half and give them a 35-21 lead.
Bucknell came up with plenty of stops in the second half but still struggled to put together any sustained runs. The Bison did chip away at the deficit and pulled within six on two occasions in the final five minutes, but both times Abdullah answered with driving layups to push the margin back to eight.
The Midshipmen went 7-for-8 from the foul line in the final three minutes to finish it off.
Navy finished the night shooting 37 percent after the hot start. The Bison held them to 28.6 percent shooting in the second half (1-for-7 from the arc) but shot just 34.6 percent themselves.
Bucknell saw its 11-game series winning streak come to an end and missed a chance to secure a top-two seed and at least a share of the Patriot League regular-season title.
Instead, Bucknell, Colgate and Lehigh are all 12-5 in the league heading into the regular-season finale. The Bison will host Army West Point on Saturday at noon on CBS Sports Network.
Team Stats
BUCKNELL
NAVY
FG%
.296
.370
3FG%
.222
.400
FT%
.833
.667
RB
33
46
TO
9
12
STL
5
7
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
15
FGM
3
3FGM
3
FTM
6
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
8
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's BasketballF/C
/ Men's BasketballG
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