Bucknell, American Clash Wednesday Night in D.C.

Wednesday, January 15

Washington, D.C.

7 p.m.

Bucknell University

American

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Photo by: Jon Lambert

Bucknell, American Clash Wednesday Night in D.C.

1/14/2020 2:32:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Bucknell starts a run of weeknight road games on Wednesday at American. While the Bison are home on the next three Saturdays, they travel to D.C. this week, to Colgate on Monday for a rematch of last year's Patriot League title game, and then to Army on Wednesday, Jan. 29. Bucknell is off to a 3-1 start in conference play after Saturday's 75-60 win over Holy Cross. That matched the Nov. 13 Hofstra game (86-71) for the largest victory margin of the season.

The Bison will be looking to keep up their strong recent defensive play after forcing 22 turnovers while logging 12 steals and seven blocked shots against Holy Cross. Bucknell has coerced a league-high 17.8 turnovers per game in Patriot League play, and American is next at 15.5. The Bison will have their hands full with senior guard Sa'eed Nelson, the Patriot League Preseason Player of the Year who has already scored over 1,800 points and has a career scoring average of 17.5 ppg.

Bucknell will be looking to keep pace with Boston University, which won at Loyola on Monday to get to 4-1 in the Patriot League. First-place Colgate (4-0) plays Wednesday morning (11 a.m.) at Lafayette. American is 2-2 in the league and will be looking for a win to remain in the top four.

Here's more info on Wednesday's game vs. American:

What: Bucknell (7-10, 3-1 PL) at Lafayette (6-9, 2-2 PL)
Where: Bender Arena, Washington, D.C. | TICKETS
When: Wednesday, Jan. 15, 7 p.m.
Webcast: Patriot League Network
Local Radio: Eagle 107 (WEGH 107.3 FM)
Listen Live: BucknellBison.com and Eagle107.com
Live Stats: AUEagles.com

COMPLETE GAME NOTES

Bucknell Probable Starters
G: Jimmy Sotos (12.7 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 4.3 apg)
G: Andrew Funk (10.8 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 1.2 apg)
G: Avi Toomer (12.1 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 1.5 apg)
F: John Meeks (12.0 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 0.8 apg)
F: Bruce Moore (9.6 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 0.9 apg)

With a Win over American, Bucknell Would ...

... improve to 4-1 in Patriot League play and 8-10 overall.
... improve to 36-6 in the month of January over the last five seasons..
... improve to 43-23 all-time against the Eagles and 18-3 in the last 21 meetings.
... improve to 298-123 all-time in Patriot League play.
... give Nathan Davis his 97th win as Bucknell's head coach.

Headlines

Bucknell bounced back from a tough home loss to Navy with a 75-60 victory over Holy Cross on Saturday. The Bison are 3-1 in Patriot League play, one game behind first-place Colgate and a half-game behind Boston University, which moved to 4-1 with a blowout win at Loyola on Monday night.
Bucknell's defensive numbers in Patriot League play have been strong. In four league games the Bison are conceding 62.8 points per game and 0.9 points per possession. Opponents are shooting 42.8% from the field and 27.8% from 3-point distance. Normally not known as a team that piles up a lot of steals, the Bison are averaging a league-high 9.5 steals per game in league play and forcing 17.8 turnovers per game. Bucknell leads the league with a +6.0 turnover margin, and its 5.5 blocked shots per game also ranks No. 1 in the PL.
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 second in the Patriot League in scoring at 17.5 points per game in conference action. Meeks is shooting 56.8% from the field and is 13-for-14 from the foul line in the four PL contests.
Bucknell has used six different starting lineups this season, primarily due to injuries. Meeks, Avi Toomer, Paul Newman, Ben Robertson and Bruce Moore have missed a combined 16 games this season. Moore returned to the lineup on Saturday after sitting out the previous two games, and Robertson is expected to be available on Wednesday after missing the last six games.
American has split its first four Patriot League contests, with wins over Boston University and Army sandwiched by losses to Colgate and Lehigh. Only the Boston University game has been played at home, but now the Eagles start a key stretch with four of their next five at Bender Arena. American went 4-7 in non-conference play, with victories against George Washington, Howard, UMBC and Mount St. Mary's. Common opponents include Siena (both lost), Albany (Bucknell won, American lost) and Army (both won).
Patriot League Preseason Player of the Year Sa'eed Nelson is American's catalyst. He leads the Eagles in both scoring (16.1) and assists (4.7), and he also grabs 4.6 rebounds per game. Jamir Harris (11.5) and Jacob Boonyasith (10.3) also score in double figures and are two of the league's top 3-point shooters. Center Mark Gasperini posts 8.5 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. While Bucknell leads the Patriot League in steals and forced turnovers in league play, American ranks No. 2 with 8.3 and 15.5 respectively.

How to Get the Game

The Bucknell-American game will be streamed live on the Patriot League Network at PatriotLeague.tv. Dan Laing and David Aldridge will be on the call along with sideline reporter Penny Kmitt.
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 AUEagles.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

John Meeks scored 19 points to lead four Bucknell players in double figures, and the Bison got back on the winning side with a 75-60 victory over Holy Cross on Saturday afternoon at Sojka Pavilion. The Bison also received 17 points from Andrew Funk, 13 from Avi Toomer and 12 from Bruce Moore.
The Bison closed the first half on a 9-2 run to go up 37-29 at the break, and then they strung together an 11-0 run in the early minutes of the second half to pull away from a young Crusaders squad.
Bucknell continued its recent solid defensive form, recording 12 steals while forcing 22 Holy Cross turnovers. Meeks, Toomer and Jimmy Sotos all collected three steals apiece, and the Bison also blocked seven shots and committed only 10 turnovers of their own.
The Bison made a concerted effort to get the ball inside and outscored the Crusaders 38-24 in the paint. Bucknell also repeatedly pushed the ball up the floor, scoring 18 fastbreak points, many coming off of Holy Cross turnovers.
Funk got the Bison going with 13 first-half points, including a make on the team's first 3-point attempt of the night. After going just 5-for-29 from the arc against Navy, the Bison were 6-for-14 (.429) in this one. They shot 46.8% overall.
Meeks scored 13 of his 19 in the second half. Sotos, Bucknell's leading scorer coming in, was held to four in this one, but he did have eight assists while opposing point guard Drew Lowder had seven turnovers.
The Bison have now won 11 of the last 13 against the Crusaders, including five in a row at Sojka Pavilion.

Bucknell vs. American

Bucknell has an overall 42-23 lead in an all-time series with American that includes some historic dates. The very first meeting on Jan. 14, 1939 also happened to be the first game ever played in Davis Gym (AU won 38-33). Coincidentally, American was also the opponent for the very last game ever played in Davis Gym on Jan. 11, 2003 (a 63-52 Bison win).
As Patriot League rivals, Bucknell leads 27-11, including victories in the 2005 and 2006 PL Tournament semifinals.
Bucknell has won 24 of 31 series meetings in Lewisburg, including 16 out of 18 at Sojka Pavilion, but the Bison are just 10-8 at Bender Arena since American joined the Patriot League in 2001-02.
Bucknell had won five straight games in the series until the Eagles won 76-68 at Bender Arena in the second of two meetings last season. Sa'eed Nelson led American with 20 points in that game, while Bruce Moore had 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Bison. Bucknell shot just 33.3% in the game, compared to American's 48.8%.
In the first meeting of last season, Nate Sestina hit a game-tying 3-pointer with 2:43 remaining and then the go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:17 to play, helping the Bison to a 55-54 win in a game where both teams shot under 40%. Twice in the final minute Bucknell missed front ends of 1-and-1s to give American a chance to take the lead, but the defense came up with timely stops. Nelson's 25-footer at the final buzzer rimmed out. Sestina overcame foul trouble to score a team-high 14 points for the Bison, while Moore chipped in 10 points and a career-high 15 rebounds. Nelson had 18 points, seven assists and six boards for the Eagles.
Bucknell has had some rough shooting nights in Bender Arena in recent years. The Bison are 24-for-98 (.245) from 3-point range in their last seven games in Bender, even though they are 5-2 in those contests. That ledger includes an 0-for-15 performance in 2016, which is the only game in the last 16 years in which Bucknell did not make a 3-pointer.

Who's Got Next?

Bucknell returns home on Saturday to face Lehigh at 7 p.m.
The Bison took three games from the Mountain Hawks last season, sweeping the regular-season series before winning 97-75 in the Patriot League Tournament semifinals.