Bison Clash with Lehigh in Patriot League Semifinals Sunday at Sojka Pavilion

What: #3 Lehigh (20-10, 12-6 PL) at #2 Bucknell (20-11, 13-5 PL) in Patriot League Tournament Semifinals
Where: Sojka Pavilion, Lewisburg, Pa. | BUY TICKETS
When: Sunday, March 10, 2 p.m.
TV: CBS Sports Network
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 (8.3 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 6.0 apg)
G: Kimbal Mackenzie (17.2 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 2.9 apg)
G: Avi Toomer (8.6 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 1.8 apg)
F: Bruce Moore (9.6 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 0.9 apg)
C: Nate Sestina (15.4 ppg, 8.4 rpg, 1.1 apg)

With a Win over Lehigh, Bucknell Would ...

... advance to the Patriot League Tournament championship game for the third year in a row and 13th time in league history. The Bison would play the winner of the Colgate-Navy semifinal on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at the site of the higher seed.
... beat Lehigh three times in a season for the first time since 2010-11 and for the sixth time in series history.
... record 21 or more wins in a season for the 13th time in school history.
... win its 12th straight home game and improve to 12-3 at Sojka Pavilion this season.
... win its 21st straight home game against Patriot League opponents.

Headlines

Bucknell and Lehigh — two familiar foes in the month of March in recent years — will square off on Sunday afternoon in the Patriot League Tournament semifinals at Sojka Pavilion. Both teams used big second-half runs to get out of their quarterfinal games. The second-seeded Bison trailed 45-40 before taking the game over with a 19-3 surge in what became a 77-65 win over Holy Cross on Thursday. Over in Bethlehem, the third-seeded Mountain Hawks erased a 15-point second-half deficit and beat Army West Point 75-70.
Bucknell is appearing the Patriot League Tournament semifinals for the 22nd time in the 29-year history of the league.
This will be the fourth meeting between Bucknell and Lehigh in the semifinal round or later in the last nine years. In that span, the Bison won in the 2017 championship game and the 2011 semifinals, and Lehigh won in the 2013 final.
This will be the 10th Bucknell-Lehigh postseason clash in the Patriot League era, trying it for the second-most-played Patriot League Tournament matchup. Bucknell and Holy Cross have met 16 times in 29 Patriot League Tournaments, including Thursday's quarterfinal tilt.

Most-Played Patriot League Tournament Matchups (includes this season)
1.  16   Bucknell vs. Holy Cross
2.  10   Bucknell vs. Lehigh
   10   Bucknell vs. Army
   10   Colgate vs. Lafayette
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 22nd 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 last 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 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.
Lehigh is one of the nation's most prolific offensive teams. In fact, they lead the country in 3-point percentage (.425), even with an uncharacteristic 4-for-23 performance in Thursday's win over Army. The Mountain Hawks put up a league-best 80.1 points per game, they have four players averaging 13.3 points per game or more, and they have four of the league's top eight 3-point shooters. First Team All-Patriot League selection Lance Tejada leads the team in scoring at 14.6 ppg, followed by Kyle Leufroy (13.9), Pat Andree (13.3) and Jordan Cohen (13.3). Leufroy and Cohen were both Second Team All-Patriot League selections. The Bison will also have to mind center James Karnik, who shoots 60.0% from the field while posting 9.4 points and 6.2 rebounds per game.

How to Get the Game

The Bucknell-Lehigh game will be televised on CBS Sports Network, with Jason Knapp (play-by-play), Mo Cassara (analyst) and Jenny Dell (sideline reporter) describing the action.
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 40-22 (.645) in the Patriot League Tournament. 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 22 of 29 years.
This is Bucknell's seventh appearance as the No. 2 seed. The Bison are 10-5 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 def. Holy Cross 77-65; vs. Lehigh championship games in bold.

PL TOURNAMENT BY OPPONENT   BUCKNELL RECORD BY ROUND
American   2-0 First Round 0-0
Army 8-2 Quarterfinals   22-7
Boston U.   1-0   Semifinals 12-9
Colgate 4-2 Championship 6-6
Fordham 0-2
Holy Cross  8-8
Lafayette   5-2
Lehigh 6-3
Loyola 1-0
Navy 5-3

Last Time Out

Backed by a career-high seven 3-pointers and 27 points from senior Kimbal Mackenzie, Bucknell surged past 10th-seeded Holy Cross 77-65 in the Patriot League Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday at Sojka Pavilion.
The Bison trailed 45-40 with 13:47 to go in the second half, but they exploded on a 19-3 run to erase any thoughts of a repeat of the quarterfinal upset spun by the ninth-seeded Crusaders in 2016.
Freshman Andrew Funk, who has emerged as a key player for the Bison late in the year, connected on back-to-back 3-pointers just 19 seconds apart to wipe out that five-point deficit and ignite the decisive run.
Sophomore John Meeks continued his strong play off the bench as well, scoring 12 of his career-high 14 points in the second half. Meeks was 6-for-8 from the field in the game, He scored seven straight Bison points in the midst of the 19-3 run, and later he made a layup and a 3-pointer on back-to-back possessions to give Bucknell a commanding 71-58 lead with 3:08 to play.
Nate Sestina tallied 14 points and nine rebounds in the game. Sestina and the rest of the Bison bigs did a solid job on Holy Cross all-league center Jehyve Floyd, who shot better than 70% from the field in Patriot League play and 68% overall this season. Floyd converted some tough buckets inside, but he finished the night 6-for-13, and Sestina drew two offensive fouls on him during Bucknell's big second-half run.
Mackenzie was sensational from start to finish. He scored Bucknell's first 10 points of the night and had 16 at the half. He finished 9-for-18 from the field, 7-for-13 from the 3-point arc and 2-for-2 from the foul line, and he added five rebounds and four assists to his 27-point ledger. His fifth 3-pointer of the night was also the 200th of his career, making him the sixth Bucknell player ever to reach that plateau.

Bucknell vs. Lehigh

Bucknell has played more games (173) and won more games (105) against Lehigh than any other school. The Bison have a 105-68 lead in a series that originated in 1902.
Since the start of Patriot League play in 1990-91, Bucknell holds a 45-22 advantage, including a 25-8 mark at home.
Lehigh owns the most wins of any team over Bucknell in Sojka Pavilion (7).
Lehigh is responsible for snapping Bucknell's 35-game home winning streak against Patriot League foes. The Bison had not lost to a conference opponent at Sojka Pavilion in nearly five years, until the Mountain Hawks won 56-54 in Lewisburg on Jan. 30, 2008.
Lehigh also won the first game ever played in Sojka Pavilion, a 60-56 decision on Jan. 15, 2003. Including that game, Bucknell is 13-7 against the Mountain Hawks in Sojka.
Bucknell is 6-3 against Lehigh in Patriot League Tournament action, including an 81-65 win in the 2017 championship game.
Bucknell swept the regular-season series from the Mountain Hawks for the first time since 2011, when current NBA players Mike Muscala and C.J. McCollum were sophomores. The Bison won a thriller in Bethlehem, 85-83, on Jan. 19, and then they prevailed 87-75 at Sojka Pavilion on Feb. 11.
In this season's first meeting, Jimmy Sotos raced the length of the floor for a layup with 1.2 seconds remaining, giving Bucknell an 85-83 win at Stabler Arena. The Mountain Hawks had just come up with a steal in the backcourt, which led to Pat Andree's tying layup, but Sotos countered at the other end to cap a crazy finish. Five Bison scored in double figures, led by Kimbal Mackenzie with 25 points and Bruce Moore with a career-high 19. Kyle Leufroy tallied 26 points for Lehigh, which went 14-for-23 from 3-point distance.
In the rematch in Lewisburg, Mackenzie scored 27 points, nine of them coming in a 15-1 run early in the second half that sent the Bison on their way. Bucknell did a much better job against Lehigh's vaunted 3-point shooters in this one, holding the Mountain Hawks to 6-for-22 from the arc. James Karnik led Lehigh with 21 points.
Mackenzie averaged 26.0 points in the two games against Lehigh this season.

Numbers Worth Noting

Freshman Andrew Funk has connected on 13 3-pointers in Bucknell's last three home games. He is 13-for-22 from the arc and 16-for-26 overall in his last three home appearances. Prior to that stretch, Funk was just 3-for-27 from long distance at Sojka Pavilion.
Senior Nate Sestina has blocked 10 shots in his last three games and now has 31 on the season. His backup, sophomore Paul Newman, has a team-high 39 despite playing only 13.3 minutes per game. Newman and Sestina rank 4-5 in the Patriot League in blocks.
Sophomore John Meeks comes off the bench ready to score. He averages 11.5 minutes per game since returning from a foot injury at Ohio State on Dec. 15, and in his 24 appearances he averages 15.6 field-goal attempts and 19.5 points per 40 minutes.
Rebounding has been a major key to success for the Bison this season. They are 13-2 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 15 games since then, Bucknell is +78 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 229-83 (.734), 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 22 drawn charges this season.
Sophomore Jimmy Sotos struggled in the turnover category early in the season, but over his last 21 games, he has 138 assists with only 55 turnovers. Sotos averages 6.6 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 29th nationally in assists per made field goal (.592).
Bucknell ranks 34th nationally in second-half scoring at 41.1 points 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?

The Bucknell-Lehigh winner will get the winner of the other semifinal game between No. 1 Colgate and No. 5 Navy. That game will be played at noon on Sunday. The highest remaining seed hosts the championship game on Wednesday, March 13 at 7:30 p.m. on CBS Sports Network.

Bison Clash with Lehigh in Patriot League Semifinals Sunday at Sojka Pavilion

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

Bison Clash with Lehigh in Patriot League Semifinals Sunday at Sojka Pavilion

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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