Men's Basketball Begins Postseason Play Thursday at Home vs. Holy Cross

What: #10 Holy Cross (16-16, 6-12 PL) at #2 Bucknell (19-11, 13-5 PL) in Patriot League Tournament Quarterfinals
Where: Sojka Pavilion, Lewisburg, Pa. | BUY TICKETS
When: Thursday, March 7, 7 p.m.
TV: Stadium | Over-the-Air Channel Listings | Stadium Cable Channels
Local Radio: Eagle 107 (107.3 FM WEGH)
Listen Live: BucknellBison.com and Eagle107.com
Live Stats: BucknellBison.com

• COMPLETE GAME NOTES

Bucknell Probable Starters
G: Jimmy Sotos (8.4 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 6.0 apg)
G: Kimbal Mackenzie (16.9 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 2.9 apg)
G: Avi Toomer (8.6 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 1.9 apg)
F: Bruce Moore (10.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 0.9 apg)
C: Nate Sestina (15.5 ppg, 8.4 rpg, 1.1 apg)

With a Win over Holy Cross, Bucknell Would ...

... advance to the Patriot League Tournament semifinals for the 22nd time in the 29-year history of the Patriot League. The Bison would host the winner of the Lehigh-Army game on Sunday at 12 or 2 p.m.
... reach the 20-win mark for the 15th time in school history and third year in a row.
... win its 11th straight home game and improve to 11-3 at Sojka Pavilion this season.
... win its 20th straight home game against Patriot League opponents.

Headlines

Bucknell's postseason journey begins on Thursday night with a home game against familiar foe Holy Cross in the Patriot League Tournament quarterfinal round. The Bison and Crusaders will be meeting for the 16th time in 29 Patriot League Tournaments, making it the most-played postseason matchup in league history.

Most-Played Patriot League Tournament Matchups (includes Thursday's quarterfinals)
1. 16 Bucknell vs. Holy Cross
2. 10 Bucknell vs. Army
10 Colgate vs. Lafayette
4. 9 Bucknell vs. Lehigh
5. 8 Bucknell vs. Navy
8 Colgate vs. Lehigh

Bucknell and Colgate both finished the regular season 13-5 in Patriot League play, with Lehigh one game back at 12-6. The Bison and Raiders split the season series and both teams swept Lehigh, but Colgate was awarded the No. 1 seed based on a better record against fourth-place American.
This is Bucknell's fifth consecutive Patriot League regular-season title and its eighth in the last nine years. All of the others in this nine-year run have been outright titles.
With Kansas mathematically eliminated from winning the Big 12 regular-season championship this year, ending its run of 14 consecutive crowns, the two longest active streaks now belong to Gonzaga (7) and Bucknell (5).
This will be Bucknell's 21st consecutive Patriot League Tournament game played at home. In a format where the higher seed hosts all tournament games, the Bison last played a Patriot League Tournament game on the road on March 4, 2009 (75-56 loss at Holy Cross).
Bucknell senior Kimbal Mackenzie picked up some significant honors this week. First he was named to the All-Patriot League First Team, and then he was selected as the 2019 Patriot League Men's Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Also receiving honors were senior Nate Sestina (Second Team All-PL) and junior Bruce Moore (PL All-Defensive Team).
Bucknell is looking to get its offense going again after two frosty games on the heels of a record-setting performance. On Feb. 24, the Bison set school and league records with 21 3-pointers in a 118-76 win over Lafayette at Sojka Pavilion. But in the two games since then — at Navy and home against Army — the Bison have scored a total of 115 points while shooting 33.0% from the field and 25.0% from the 3-point arc.
Bucknell captured another regular-season title despite 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.
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.
Holy Cross finished in 10th place with a 6-12 Patriot League record, but this is no ordinary No. 10 seed. The Crusaders have a 16-16 overall record and posted good non-league wins over the likes of UMass, Stony Brook and Iona, as well as conference wins over Bucknell and Lehigh. They also boast one of the league's top players in senior center Jehvye Floyd (12.9 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 2.4 rpg), who this week earned his second straight Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year award as well as spot on the All-Patriot League Second Team. Holy Cross, which won the Patriot League title as the No. 9 seed in 2016 — boosted by a win over Bucknell in the quarterfinals — started off with a 79-74 win over No. 7 Lafayette in the first round on Tuesday. Floyd scored 24 points in the win, and Jacob Grandison logged 22 points and 16 rebounds. Grandison is the team's leading scorer on the season at 13.9 points per game, while Austin Butler (12.6) and Caleb Green (10.9) also score in double figures.

How to Get the Game

The Bucknell-Holy Cross game will be televised on Stadium, with Matt Martucci (play-by-play), Mo Cassara (analyst) and Morgan Uber (sideline reporter) describing the action. The game will also stream 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.
The audio feed is available online free of charge via BucknellBison.com.
Live statistics can be accessed at BucknellBison.com.
Follow @Bucknell_MBB for in-game updates on Twitter.

Bucknell Patriot League Tournament History

Bucknell has an all-time record of 39-22 (.639) in the previous 28 Patriot League Tournaments. The Bison have reached the championship game a league-record 12 times, including wins in 2005, 2006, 2011, 2013, 2017 and 2018, and reached at least the semifinals in 21 of 28 years.
This is Bucknell's seventh appearance as the No. 2 seed. The Bison are 9-5 when playing as the second seed, including a championship in 2005.

Bison PL Tourney Log
Year Seed  Results
1991   4   def. Army 67-49; lost Fordham 82-76
1992   2   def. Army 74-55; def. Holy Cross 86-77; lost Fordham 70-65
1993   1   def. Lehigh 69-65; def. Colgate 75-73; lost Holy Cross 98-73
1994   5   lost Holy Cross 96-91
1995   2   lost Army 94-78
1996   4   def. Lafayette 56-55; lost Colgate 67-61
1997   2   def. Lehigh 84-54; def. Colgate 71-58; lost Navy 76-75
1998   3   def. Holy Cross 60-56; lost Navy 80-61
1999   3   def. Holy Cross 76-52; def. Lehigh 58-50; lost Lafayette 67-63
2000   3   lost Lehigh 73-62
2001   6   def. Colgate 75-68; lost Navy 88-64
2002   3   def. Army 70-59; lost Holy Cross 64-57
2003   5   def. Lehigh 52-47; lost Holy Cross 75-50
2004   4   def. Holy Cross 66-60; lost Lehigh 60-45
2005   2   def. Lafayette 70-34; def. American 53-35; def. Holy Cross 61-57
2006   1   def. Army 59-47; def. American 64-50; def. Holy Cross 74-59
2007   2   def. Navy 62-43; def. Army 68-47; lost Holy Cross 74-66
2008   7   def. Navy 87-86 (3OT); lost Colgate 54-40
2009   7   lost Holy Cross 75-56
2010   2   lost Holy Cross 67-64
2011   1   def. Army 78-51; def. Lehigh 66-64; def. Lafayette 72-57
2012   1   def. Navy 87-63; def. Lafayette 79-52; lost Lehigh 82-77
2013   1   def. Navy 58-42; def. Army 78-70; def. Lafayette 64-56
2014   4   lost 72-71 Army
2015   1   def. Holy Cross 90-83 (OT); lost Lafayette 80-74
2016   1   lost Holy Cross 77-72 (2OT)
2017   1   def. Army 78-62; def. Navy 70-65; def. Lehigh 81-65
2018   1   def. Loyola 83-78; def. Boston U. 90-59; def. Colgate 83-54
2019   2   vs. Holy Cross championship games in bold.

PL TOURNAMENT BY OPPONENT
American 2-0
Army 8-2
Boston U. 1-0
Colgate 4-2
Fordham 0-2
Holy Cross 7-8
Lafayette 5-2
Lehigh 6-3
Loyola 1-0
Navy 5-3

Last Time Out

Bucknell clinched a share of the Patriot League regular-season championship in dramatic fashion with a come-from-behind 62-61 win over Army West Point on Saturday afternoon at Sojka Pavilion. The Bison trailed by 14 points with about eight minutes to play before staging their second major rally against Army this season.
Fouled on a driving lay-up attempt, Kimbal Mackenzie hit two free throws with 10.9 seconds remaining in regulation to give the Bison the one-point lead. Army was out of timeouts and scrambled into its half-court offense. Avi Toomer tipped an errant low-post entry pass and followed it into the corner where he saved the ball by throwing it off an Army player. After an officials' review, Bucknell retained possession of the ball with 1.6 ticks left, and Toomer found Bruce Moore on a long inbounds pass into the frontcourt. Moore got a touch on the ball, and the officials determined that the clock expired before Army could get a foul on Moore.
On Senior Day it ended up being freshman Andrew Funk who led the Bison in scoring, finishing with 17 points on five made 3-pointers, none bigger than his trey with 3:13 to go that made it a 3-point game. Makenzie scored 11 of his 15 points in the second half, and Nate Sestina scored 10 points, grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds, and added four blocked shots.
It was Bucknell's second unlikely comeback against Army this season. The Bison rallied from 26 down to win 64-63 at West Point on Jan. 2, and this time around Bucknell found itself down 57-43 after a Wilson layup with 8:51 to go. The Bison defense held the Black Knights to one more field goal and just four points the rest of the way.
Bucknell won despite shooting just 36.1% from the field, including a 9-for-33 showing from the 3-point arc. The Bison did hit 9 of 11 free-throw attempts in a game that featured only 23 combined fouls called.
Defensively, Bucknell blocked seven shots, came up with seven steals, and held Army to 34.6% shooting in the second half and 40.7% overall. Army was 6-for-19 from long distance and just 7-for-14 from the foul line.
Sestina's 17 rebounds surpassed his career high of 16, set on opening night at St. Bonaventure, and his four blocks tied his career high, set in the previous game at Navy.

Bucknell vs. Holy Cross

The Bucknell-Holy Cross rivalry has been one of the league's best through the years. Some of the highlights:

The Bison and Crusaders have combined to win 11 of the last 18 Patriot League titles.
These two teams have now met 16 times in the 29 Patriot League Tournaments, with Holy Cross winning eight and Bucknell seven. That includes four times in the championship game. Bucknell defeated Holy Cross in the 2005 and 2006 itle tilts, while the Crusaders topped the Bison in the final in 1993 and 2007.
The Bison and Crusaders had never met until the formation of the Patriot League in 1990-91, but this will be the 74th meeting in 29 years (an average of 2.6 meetings per season).
Bucknell leads the series 43-30. The road team has won just 10 of the last 28.
Bucknell is 23-11 against Holy Cross in Lewisburg and 16-5 at Sojka Pavilion. Bucknell is 16-16 vs. Holy Cross at the Hart Center, with one of the wins coming in the 2005 Patriot League championship game.
The two teams split this year's regular-season matchups, with the home team winning each time. Bucknell won 93-78 at Sojka Pavilion on Jan. 14, but Holy Cross snapped a five-game series losing streak with a 72-71 victory at the Hart Center on Feb. 16.
In this season's first meeting at Sojka Pavilion, Nate Sestina scored a career-high 32 points on 11-for-11 shooting from the field in Bucknell's 93-78 victory. Kimbal Mackenzie added 17 points, including the 1,000th of his career. Jehyve Floyd scored 25 points and Austin Butler 17 for Holy Cross. Bucknell led the game by as many as 26 points before the Crusaders made a late run to get as close as nine.
In the rematch in Worcester, Matt Faw answered Mackenzie's late go-ahead 3-pointer with one of his own with six seconds remaining, sending Holy Cross to a 72-71 victory. Sestina posted his ninth double-double of the season with 17 points and 15 rebounds, and Mackenzie added 16 points for the Bison. Floyd had 19 points and Jacob Grandison 17 for the Crusaders.
In five career games against Holy Cross, Nate Sestina is 25-for-33 (.758) from the field, including 18-for-23 (.783) this season.

Bison Are Kings of the Comeback

Bucknell has erased a double-digit deficit to win a game eight times this season, including an epic 26-point rally in the win at Army on Jan. 2.

Opponent Largest Deficit Result
at St. Bonaventure   13 (52-39 with 12:13 left 2nd half)   won 88-85 (OT)
at Vermont 13 (36-23 with 18:06 left 2nd half)   won 69-61
vs. Rhode Island 11 (38-27 with 2:38 left 1st half) won 84-82
at Army 26 (39-13 with 19:42 left 2nd half)   won 64-63
vs. Colgate 13 (27-14 with 10:44 left 1st half)    won 84-81
vs. American 10 (28-18 with 6:06 left 1st half) won 55-54
vs. Lehigh 11 (22-11 with 8:10 left 1st half) won 87-75
vs. Army 14 (57-43 with 8:03 left 2nd half) won 62-61

Numbers Worth Noting

Freshman Andrew Funk has connected on five 3-pointers in each of Bucknell's last two home games. He is 10-for-15 from the arc and 13-for-19 overall in his last two home appearances.
Senior Nate Sestina had never before blocked four shots in a game, but he has now done it in each of Bucknell's last two games against Navy and Army. Sestina now has 29 blocks on the season.
Sophomore John Meeks comes off the bench ready to score. He averages 11.1 minutes per game since returning from a foot injury at Ohio State on Dec. 15, and in his 23 appearances he averages 15.6 field-goal attempts and 18.9 points per 40 minutes.
Mackenzie needs five more 3-pointers to become the sixth player in Bucknell history with 200 in his career.
Rebounding has been a major key to success for the Bison this season. They are 12-2 when outrebounding their opponent, but 6-9 when losing the battle on the glass.
After getting dominated on the glass in back-to-back games against Boston University and Colgate early in the Patriot League schedule, the Bison have made a concerted effort to improve their rebounding margin. In the 14 games since then, Bucknell is +73 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.
Head coach Nathan Davis now ranks 11th in career winning percentage among all active Division I head coaches with at least three years of experience. At 228-83 (.733), Davis finds himself in some elite company.
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 21 drawn charges this season.
Sophomore Jimmy Sotos struggled in the turnover category early in the season, but over his last 21 games, he has 133 assists with only 54 turnovers. Sotos averages 6.7 assists per game in Bucknell's victories and 5.0 in the losses.
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.
As a team, the Bison rank 27th nationally in assists per made field goal (.594).
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 13.6 minutes per game.
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.

2019 All-Patriot League Notes

Bucknell picked up some postseason honors earlier this week, 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.
Mackenzie is now a two-time All-Patriot League honoree. He was a Third Team pick as a sophomore in 2017, and this year he bounced back nicely from an injury-plagued junior season.
This is the 12th time in the 29-year history of the Patriot League that Bucknell has claimed the Scholar-Athlete of the Year honoree in men's basketball. Mackenzie follows in the footsteps of former teammate Nana Foulland, who received the honor last year, as well as Mike Muscala (2013), Chris McNaughton (2005, 2006, 2007), Dan Blankenship (2002, 2003), Valter Karavanic (1999, 2000), Tom Welch (1997) and Paul Olkowski (1993). Mackenzie is an economics major who carries a stellar 3.52 cumulative grade-point average. He also garnered one of the five spots on the 2019 Academic All-Patriot League Team.
Sestina and Moore were so honored for the first time in their careers.
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.

Patriot League Success

Bucknell is 294-122 (.707) all-time in Patriot League regular-season games, the best record of any league team. The Bison this season finished at least .500 in PL play for the 25th time in 29 Patriot League seasons.
Bucknell owns a Patriot League record of 119-31 (.793) over the last nine 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 won 13 Patriot League regular-season titles in 29 years. No other team has more than five.
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.

Who's Got Next?

Should Bucknell get past Holy Cross, the Bison will await the winner of No. 3 Lehigh and No. 6 Army in the semifinals on Sunday.
The game will be played at either 12 p.m. or 2 p.m., and it will be televised nationally on CBS Sports Network.

Men's Basketball Begins Postseason Play Thursday at Home vs. Holy Cross

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Stephen Brown

Nana Foulland

Andrew Funk

Kimbal Mackenzie

John Meeks

Bruce Moore

Paul Newman

Nate Sestina

Jimmy Sotos

Zach Thomas

Avi Toomer

Men's Basketball Begins Postseason Play Thursday at Home vs. Holy Cross

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Stephen Brown

Nana Foulland

Andrew Funk

Kimbal Mackenzie

John Meeks

Bruce Moore

Paul Newman

Nate Sestina

Jimmy Sotos

Zach Thomas

Avi Toomer

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