Quick Turnaround for Men's Basketball with Monday Night Game at Colgate on CBS Sports Network

Monday, January 20

Hamilton, N.Y.

7 p.m.

Bucknell University

Colgate

Photo by: Marc Hagemeier

Quick Turnaround for Men's Basketball with Monday Night Game at Colgate on CBS Sports Network

1/19/2020 2:45:00 PM | Men's Basketball

The Bucknell men's basketball team had very little time to revel in its victory over Lehigh on Saturday night, as a clash with first-place Colgate looms on Monday night in Hamilton, N.Y. Fresh off a 16-point win over the Mountain Hawks at Sojka Pavilion, the Bison got right back on the practice floor on Sunday afternoon to prepare for the 14-5 (5-1 PL) Raiders. After practice, it's a bus ride up to Central New York for a nationally televised contest that also happens to be a rematch of the last two Patriot League Tournament finals.

Colgate brought back the bulk of its rotation after winning the title last season, and the Raiders have been especially hot of late. They have won eight of their last nine, with the lone blemish since Dec. 11 a 71-67 loss at Lafayette last Wednesday morning in Easton. Colgate bounced back with a 79-70 home win over Boston University on Saturday afternoon. Those two teams were tied for first place going in, but now the Terriers drop into a four-way tie for second place alongside Bucknell, Navy and American. Lafayette is two games back at 3-3.

Bucknell can move into a tie for first with a victory, but Cotterell Court has been a very difficult road venue over the last year. Colgate is 8-0 at home this season, and the Raiders have won 15 straight on their home floor dating back to last season. Two of those 15 came against Bucknell -- a 74-65 verdict in the regular season and a 94-80 decision in the Patriot League championship game -- and the Bison would love to get a jump on the 2020 series with a win on Monday night. The two teams will square off again on Feb. 26 at Sojka Pavilion.

Here's more info on Monday's game vs. Colgate:

What: Bucknell (8-11, 4-2 PL) at Colgate (14-5, 5-1 PL)
Where: Cotterell Court, Hamilton, N.Y. | TICKETS
When: Monday, Jan. 20, 7 p.m.
TV: CBS Sports Network
Local Radio: Eagle 107 (WEGH 107.3 FM)
Listen Live: BucknellBison.com and Eagle107.com
Live Stats: GoColgateRaiders.com

COMPLETE GAME NOTES

Bucknell Probable Starters
G: Jimmy Sotos (12.4 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 4.1 apg)
G: Andrew Funk (10.3 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 1.2 apg)
G: Avi Toomer (12.0 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 1.8 apg)
F: John Meeks (12.1 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 0.9 apg)
F: Bruce Moore (9.9 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 0.9 apg)

With a Win over Colgate, Bucknell Would ...

... improve to 5-2 in Patriot League play and move into a tie for first place.
... improve to 37-7 in the month of January over the last five seasons.
... snap a two-game losing streak to the Raiders and improve to 69-46 all-time against them.
... break the Raiders' 15-game home winning streak (8-0 this season).
... improve to 299-124 all-time in Patriot League play.
... give Nathan Davis his 98th win as Bucknell's head coach.

Headlines

Bucknell and Colgate meet Monday night in a reprise of the last two Patriot League title games. The Bison defeated the Raiders in the 2018 PL final at Sojka Pavilion, but the Raiders returned the favor last season in Hamilton. Over the last two-plus seasons, Bucknell (38-10) and Colgate (36-13) are a combined 74-23 against Patriot League opponents (including postseason).
We just passed the 100-year anniversary of the very first Bucknell-Colgate meeting. The two teams first clashed on Jan. 8, 1920. Colgate prevailed 56-38 in Hamilton with a big second half. The game was tied at 21-21 at halftime, but as The Bucknellian recounts, "In the second half, Colgate broke loose for 15 baskets, seven being tallied by N.G. Anderson." Mathieson led Bucknell with seven made field goals. For Bucknell, that game marked the end of a tough road trip to upstate New York. On three consecutive nights, they lost to Syracuse (38-25), Cornell (36-25) and Colgate. The 1919-20 season was otherwise successful, however, as Bucknell finished 14-6.
On the heels of a tough loss at the buzzer at American, Bucknell responded with one of its best first halves of the season in Saturday night's 72-56 victory over Lehigh. The Bison shot 53.8% and held the Mountain Hawks to 30.8% on the way to a 38-23 halftime lead. Lehigh got as close as five in the second half, but Bucknell ended the game on a 19-8 run to win by 16.
For the first time since the Yale game in Orlando on Nov. 26, Bucknell had all 13 players available. Due to a string of injuries/illnesses, 10 different Bison have started games this season, leading to seven different starting lineup combinations. The current iteration — Jimmy Sotos, Andrew Funk, Avi Toomer, John Meeks and Bruce Moore — is 3-1 overall and 3-0 against Patriot League opponents.
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 fifth in the Patriot League in scoring at 15.8 points per game in conference action. Meeks is shooting 51.5% from the field, 45.5% from 3-point distance and 15-for-16 from the foul line in the six PL contests.
Beyond the starting five, the Bison have received strong play from freshman Xander Rice and sophomores Walter Ellis and Kahliel Spear in recent games. Spear is coming off one of the best games of his career, when he logged nine points, six rebounds, three blocked shots and a +20 rating in 15 minutes off the bench against Lehigh. In the previous outing, Spear had six big second-half points to help lead a comeback at American. Ellis made his first career start at American with Funk out of the lineup (illness) and matched his career high with 12 points. He added eight more off the bench against Lehigh, all coming in Bucknell's big first half. Rice has played his best basketball over the last five games, when he is 10-for-18 from the field and has committed only one turnover in 86 minutes.
Bucknell's defensive numbers in Patriot League play continue to be strong. In six league games, the Bison are conceding 61.3 points per game and 0.9 points per possession. Opponents are shooting 41.5% from the field and 28.9% from 3-point distance. Normally not known as a team that piles up a lot of steals, the Bison are averaging a league-high 9.0 steals per game in league play while forcing 16.0 turnovers per game. Bucknell leads the league with a +4.0 turnover margin, and its 4.8 blocked shots per game also ranks No. 1 in the PL.
Bucknell is shooting a league-best 38.8% from 3-point range in Patriot League play. But taking out a 5-for-29 performance against Navy, that figure balloons to 45.7%.
Colgate responded nicely to its first Patriot League loss of the season at Lafayette, beating Boston University 79-70 on Saturday. Will Rayman had 21 points and 13 rebounds for the Raiders, who moved back into sole possession of first place with the victory. Colgate has used the same starting lineup in all 19 games, and all five score in double figures. Jordan Burns leads the way at 14.6 points per game, followed by reigning Patriot League Player of the Year Rapolas Ivanauskas (13.0), Nelly Cummings (11.3), Rayman (10.9) and Tucker Richardson (10.2).

How to Get the Game

The Bucknell-Colgate game will be televised nationally on CBS Sports Network with Jason Knapp and Mo Cassara on the call.
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 GoColgateRaiders.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

Seniors Avi Toomer and Bruce Moore scored 15 points apiece to lead four Bison in double figures as Bucknell posted a wire-to-wire 72-56 win over Lehigh on Saturday evening at Sojka Pavilion.
Jimmy Sotos chipped in 12 points, including a two critical 3-pointers in the final 5:30 to help stave off a Lehigh comeback attempt. John Meeks posted his first career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, and Kahliel Spear played a major role off the bench with nine points, six rebounds and three blocks.
Moore scored Bucknell's first seven points of the night, including a fadeaway in the lane on the very first possession that gave the Bison a lead that they would never relinquish. Bucknell led by 15 points at the half, and after Lehigh pulled within five at 53-48 with 5:50 to go, the Bison closed the game on a 19-8 run. The final 16-point margin matched the biggest lead of the game for Bucknell.
One game after the Bison lamented an 11-for-31 shooting performance on 2-point attempts against American, they finished at a 16-for-28 rate inside the arc against Lehigh. That led to a season-best 51.0% mark on the night. The forward trio of Moore, Meeks and Spear combined to go 15-for-21 from the field.
Bucknell is now 107-68 all-time against Lehigh, which is the most wins against any opponent in school history. The Bison have won six of the last seven from the Mountain Hawks, including five in a row at home
Spear's nine points, six rebounds and three blocks came in 15 minutes of action. Bucknell outscored Lehigh by 20 points while Spear was on the floor. Walter Ellis was also +20, and Toomer was +17.

Bucknell vs. Colgate

This will be the 115th all-time meeting between Bucknell and Colgate in a series that dates back 100 years to 1920. The Bison have a 68-46 series lead. The only other opponents that Bucknell has played at least 100 times are Lehigh (175), Lafayette (168), Gettysburg (126) and Penn State (104).
As Patriot League rivals, Bucknell is 47-19, including 25-5 in Lewisburg.
Bucknell is 15-8 in its last 23 games in Hamilton, despite two losses there last year.
Bucknell had won six straight games in the series until the Raiders prevailed 74-65 at Cotterell Court on Feb. 19, 2019. Rapolas Ivanauskas scored 21 points to lead Colgate. Avi Toomer scored 16 points for the Bison, who cut a 14-point deficit down to four late in the second half but could not get over the hump.
In last year's first meeting in Lewisburg, the Bison rallied for an 84-81 win behind 25 points from Kimbal Mackenzie and 15 and nine rebounds from Nate Sestina. Bucknell trailed by as many as 13 points in the first half but took over the game late, with Mackenzie and Sestina scoring 13 of the team's final 15 points down the stretch. Jordan Burns recorded 28 points, nine rebounds and six assists for Colgate, and Ivanauskas added 20 points.
The rubber match came in the Patriot League championship game, which was held in Hamilton because Colgate prevailed in a tiebreaker after the two teams shared the regular-season title. The Raiders won it 94-80 behind a sensational 35-point performance from Burns. Mackenzie scored 16 of his 23 points in a second-half flurry that cut what had been a 17-point deficit down to two, but the Bison could not overcome Colgate's 71% shooting in the second half.
The two teams also squared off in the 2018 Patriot League title game at Sojka Pavilion. The Bison built a 14-point halftime lead and sailed to an 83-54 win over Colgate. Bucknell rode a 22-point, six-assist performance from Tournament MVP Stephen Brown. Sestina scored 16 off the bench on 7-for-9 shooting, and the Bison posted the largest victory margin in the history of the Patriot League championship game.