Men's Basketball Hosts Holy Cross on 16th Dirk Sojka's Slam Dunk with Bison Basketball

Saturday, January 11

Lewisburg, Pa.

2 p.m.

Bucknell University

Holy Cross

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Photo by: Marc Hagemeier

Men's Basketball Hosts Holy Cross on 16th Dirk Sojka's Slam Dunk with Bison Basketball

1/10/2020 2:39:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Back home to defend Sojka Pavilion tomorrow at 2 p.m. against Holy Cross. Can't wait. #rayBucknell #TheBisonWay pic.twitter.com/DQg9QpqoNQ
— Bucknell MBasketball (@Bucknell_MBB) January 10, 2020

The Bucknell men's basketball team is looking to bounce back from Wednesday's frustrating loss to Navy when Holy Cross comes to town on Saturday afternoon. After winning the first two game of the Patriot League campaign, the Bison turned in a solid defensive effort against Navy but just could not find the shooting touch in a 60-56 loss. Despite a 5-for-29 showing from 3-point range, the game was tied at 53 until Navy's Cam Davis hit the go-ahead trey with 27 seconds left.

After the tough turn of events on Wednesday, Bucknell quickly turned its attention to Holy Cross, a very young team under the direction of a first-year head coach in Brett Nelson. The departure of coach Bill Carmody also means the departure of the "Princeton Offense", so the Bison staff has been hard at work scouting this new-look team. The Crusaders are 2-14 on the season, but one of the wins came six days ago against the very same Navy team that walked out of Sojka Pavilion with a victory. Holy Cross features two of the Patriot League's top freshmen in forward Joe Pridgen and guard Drew Laowder, who have combined for seven PL Rookie of the Week awards this season.

Looking ahead, Bucknell's next four home games are all on Saturdays, with road contests at American, Colgate and Army interspersed.

This Saturday, Bucknell will celebrate the 16th Annual Dirk Sojka's Slam Dunk with Bison Basketball during the Holy Cross game. The day serves as a major fundraiser for Suncom Industries, a local organization that employs adults with developmental disabilities. Dirk Sojka, the late son of former Bucknell president Gary Sojka and his wife Sandy, was employed at Suncom before his passing in 2002. Fans are encouraged to participate in the raffle drawing and silent auction, with all proceeds benefiting Suncom.

Sojka Slam Dunk

Here's more info on Saturday's game vs. Holy Cross:

What: Holy Cross (2-14, 1-2 PL) at Bucknell (6-10, 2-1 PL)
Where: Sojka Pavilion, Lewisburg, Pa. | TICKETS
When: Saturday, Jan. 11, 2 p.m.
Webcast: Patriot League 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 (13.2 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 4.0 apg)
G: Andrew Funk (10.4 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 1.3 apg)
G: Avi Toomer (12.1 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 1.5 apg)
F: John Meeks (11.5 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 0.8 apg)
F: Bruce Moore (9.4 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 0.9 apg)

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

... improve to 3-1 in Patriot League play and 7-10 overall.
... improve to 35-6 in the month of January over the last five seasons.
... beat the Crusaders in Sojka Pavilion for the fifth straight time.
... improve to 45-30 all-time against the Crusaders and 11-2 in the last 13 meetings.
... improve to 135-27 against Patriot League foes at Sojka Pavilion.
... improve to 297-123 all-time in Patriot League play.
... give Nathan Davis his 96th win as Bucknell's head coach.

Headlines

After a 2-0 start to Patriot League play, the Bison suffered a frustrating home loss to Navy on Wednesday to drop out of a tie for first place. The loss ended a 22-game home winning streak against Patriot League foes and a 12-game home winning streak against Navy.
The Bison had been shooting the ball very well from long range, hitting on 20 of 40 in the first two league games against Army and Lafayette. But Wednesday was a different story, as the team went just 5-for-29 and the starting five was 2-for-23. The Bison have been hit or miss from the arc for most of the season. Among the 16 games played, they have shot 40% or better five times but under 30% seven times.
John Meeks entered the starting lineup just before the start of league play and has been terrific in the month of January. He set career highs with 22 points and nine rebounds in the win over Army, and he ranks third in the Patriot League in scoring at 17.0 points per game in conference action. Meeks is shooting 54.5% from the field and is 10-for-10 from the foul line in the three PL contests.
Bucknell has used six different starting lineups this season, primarily due to injuries. Meeks, Avi Toomer, Paul Newman and Bruce Moore have missed a combined 10 games this season. Moore sat out the last two games after suffering an injury in the first half of the Army game, but he is expected to return on Saturday against Holy Cross.
Holy Cross is playing its first season under head coach Brett Nelson. The young Crusaders squad struggled to a 1-12 record in non-league play, but they have a 63-61 home win over Navy in the last week. Holy Cross has dropped road PL games at Loyola and Lafayette.
Holy Cross has been led by a pair of freshmen in Joe Pridgen (16.2 ppg, 6.6 rpg) and Drew Lowder (13.5 ppg, 3.4 apg). Pridgen has averaged 18.9 ppg over his last 10 games, including 26 at Loyola, and he is the seventh-leading freshman scorer in the nation. Pridgen is a five-time Patriot League Rookie of the Week, while Lowder has won the award twice. All told, the freshman class is accounting for better than 44% of the team's scoring.

How to Get the Game

The Bucknell-Holy Cross game will be streamed live 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). Doug Birdsong handles the play-by-play duties. The pregame show begins 30 minutes before tip-off.
Live statistics can be accessed at BucknellBison.com.
The audio feed is available online free of charge via BucknellBison.com and Eagle107.com.
Follow @Bucknell_MBB for in-game updates on Twitter.

Last Time Out

Cam Davis netted a game-high 20 points, including a tie-breaking 3-pointer with 27 seconds left in the game, and Navy went on to defeat Bucknell 60-56 on Wednesday night at Sojka Pavilion. The Bison saw their 22-game home winning streak against Patriot League opponents and their 12-game home winning streak against Navy come to an end.
Bucknell ran into a Navy team that ranked 10th nationally in scoring defense at 58.7 points per game, and the Bison really struggled from the perimeter in this one. Bucknell was just 5-for-29 from downtown, one of which was a throw-in at the buzzer in a seven-point game.
The Bison received good play off the bench from freshmen Xander Rice (nine points) and Jake van der Heijden (six points), who combined to go 3-for-5 from deep, but the starting five struggled to the tune of 2-for-23.
Trailing by three at 53-50, the Bison caught a break when John Meeks was fouled on a 3-point attempt with 48 seconds left. Meeks, who led the team with 18 points, made all three free throws to tie the game. But at the other end, Greg Summers drove from the top of the key and passed back to Davis, who drilled a 3-pointer with a hand in his face to give the Midshipmen the lead back. Navy came up with a defensive stop, and Davis added two big free throws after being fouled on a 3-point shot. Tyler Nelson added two more from the line with four seconds left before Jimmy Sotos connected at the buzzer.
The Bison shot 34.6% from the field on the night and also left eight possible points on the table at the foul line (15-23).
The Bison held the Midshipmen to 42.9% shooting, including a 4-for-16 mark from 3-point range, although Navy did well at the free-throw line (20-25). Bucknell forced 20 turnovers and came up with 11 steals.
Bucknell's last home loss to a Patriot League team came back on Jan. 2, 2018 against Boston University (84-79).
Navy's last win at Sojka Pavilion was on Jan. 9, 2010 (69-67). Bucknell has won 19 of the last 22 in the series with the Midshipmen, but Navy has captured the last two. The two teams will meet again in Annapolis on Feb. 12.

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 19 Patriot League titles.
These two teams have met 16 times in the 29 Patriot League Tournaments, with both teams winning eight. That includes four times in the championship game. Bucknell defeated Holy Cross in the 2005 and 2006 title 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 75th meeting in 30 years (an average of 2.6 meetings per season).
Bucknell leads the series 44-30. The road team has won just 10 of the last 29.
Bucknell is 24-11 against Holy Cross in Lewisburg and 17-5 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 last 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 last 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.
Bucknell and Holy Cross also met in the 2019 Patriot League Tournament quarterfinals at Sojka Pavilion. The second-seeded Bison defeated the 10th-seeded Crusaders 77-65 behind 27 points from Mackenzie, who hit seven 3-pointers in 13 attempts. John Meeks added 14 points off the bench.

Notable Numbers

Over his last seven games, Jimmy Sotos has 97 (16.1 ppg) points.
Sotos has 71 points in the last six second halves of games.
Avi Toomer has hit multiple 3-pointers in eight of his last 10 games and is shooting 43.1% from the arc this season, up from 35.3% last year.
Andrew Funk has 12 steals in his last six games after logging four in his first 10 games.
As a team, Bucknell did not have more than seven steals in any of its first 10 games of the season, but they have pilfered seven or more in five of their last six games and 11 or more in three of the last six.
John Meeks is averaging a team-best 19.2 points per 40 minutes.
Freshman guard Xander Rice had one of his best games of the season last time out at Lafayette. He had a modest four points, three rebounds and two assists in 19 minutes, but he was a +12 in the game, and the team averaged a robust 1.5 points per possession when he was on the floor. Rice then tallied a career-high nine points one game later against Navy.
The Bison have had difficulty shutting down opponents' scoring runs this season. Bucknell foes have put together a run of at least 10 or more unanswered points in a row in 10 of the 16 games thus far.
Bucknell had a perfect day at the free-throw line at La Salle, finishing 18-for-18. That is the fifth-most free throws without a miss in team history. The Bison ran their streak to 25 straight made free throws before missing late in the Army game.

Who's Got Next?

Bucknell hits the road on Wednesday to face American at 7 p.m. at Bender Arena.
The teams split a pair of games last season, with the home team winning both times. The Bison won 55-54 at Sojka Pavilion before the Eagles retaliated with a 76-68 verdict in D.C. later in the year.