Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
5-9,1-0Patriot
Army
5-7,0-1Patriot
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Army West Point | 36 | 29 | 65 |
| Bucknell | 31 | 36 | 67 |
Newman's Blocked Shot Seals Victory as Men's Basketball Defeats Army West Point 67-65 in PL Opener
1/2/2020 9:07:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Newman was a difference-maker defensively all night, particularly with starting center Bruce Moore sidelined in the second half due to injury. Newman finished with four points, four rebounds and three of Bucknell's eight blocked shots in just over 19 minutes of playing time, and he helped limit Army (5-7, 0-1 PL) scoring leader Matt Wilson to just six points on five field goal attempts. Wilson entered the game averaging more than 14 points per game.
Paul Newman with the game-saving blocked shot and the BISON WIN! Fitting end for Newman, who was spectacular defensively tonight. #rayBucknell #TheBisonWay pic.twitter.com/NK3SRfMjdf
— Bucknell MBasketball (@Bucknell_MBB) January 3, 2020
Meeks' 22 points came on 8 of 14 shooting, including 3-for-5 from 3-point range. Overall, the Bison were 10-for-21 from deep, with Meeks, Jimmy Sotos and Avi Toomer combining for all 10 makes.
Sotos added 16 points and five assists while locked up in quite an entertaining point guard battle with Army's Tommy Funk, who finished 19 points and eight assists. Sotos now has 317 career assists, and he moved past Bryan Cohen into 10th place on Bucknell's career chart.
Toomer went 4-for-5 from the arc on the way to 14 points, and Andrew Funk – Tommy's younger brother – added 11 points and two of Bucknell's eight steals.
Bucknell (5-9, 1-0 PL) came from behind to beat Army by one point twice last season, and this one figured to be tight again. It turned out to be a game of big momentum swings, and in the end there were eight ties and 15 lead changes.
The last of those came with 1:43 remaining in the game, when Sotos broke a 62-all tie with a step-back 3-pointer. After Wilson missed the front end of a 1-and-1 for Army, the Bison used up most of the shot clock. Sotos' contested three was an air ball, but Meeks came all the way from the opposite corner to snatch the rebound, and without looking at the basket he flipped it over his head off the glass and in to give Bucknell a 67-62 lead with 58 seconds to go.
Miraculous put-back by John Meeks to beat the shot clock buzzer, but Grayson answers with a 3 the other way. pic.twitter.com/uWvTV6MzzQ
— Bucknell MBasketball (@Bucknell_MBB) January 3, 2020
Lonnie Grayson (17 points) quickly answered with a three just five seconds later to bring Army within 67-65. The Bison could not connect on a pick-and-roll play and turned it over, but the defense held strong. Sotos blocked Tommy Funk's layup out of bounds, and then Sotos contested Funk's 3-point attempt, grabbed the rebound and got fouled with 9.8 seconds left.
Sotos' front end rimmed out – ending Bucknell's streak of 25 straight made free throws dating all the way back to the Siena game on Dec. 21 – giving the Black Knights one more shot to tie or take the lead. Toomer stepped in front of Tommy Funk and made him pass back out to Grayson outside the arc. Grayson drove and momentarily appeared to have a lane to the basket, but Newman came over from the weak side and smashed his shot off the backboard as time expired.
"I thought Army came out and played with great purpose and great pride, I thought they really competed," said head coach Nathan Davis. "Like you need to do in league games, we found a way to get it done. I thought what won it for us is that we started to do some of the things that no one notices. Matt Wilson is obviously a really good post player, but [Newman] did such a good job getting around him that he only got five shots off. People don't notice him moving his feet so they can't throw it in. We can talk about the blocked shot at the end of the game, but a three we got came because he sprints up at full speed and gets somebody else open. It's about the stuff that often doesn't get noticed, but if you do that stuff right continuously, you will find yourself in a pretty good spot."
Bucknell led 10-9 at the first media break after a Meeks short jumper, but Tommy Funk scored six points in a 10-0 Army run that gave the Black Knights their largest lead of the night at 19-10. But Josh Caldwell's fastbreak layup would be Army's last points for five minutes, and the Bison shot back with a 15-0 run to go up 25-19.
Sotos, Meeks and Toomer all connected on 3-pointers as the Bison scored on six out of seven possessions in a span of just over four minutes. But then it was Bucknell's turn for a drought, as Army responded with eight straight points, and the Black Knights would go on to take a 36-31 lead into the locker room.
Threes by Toomer and Meeks highlighted an 8-0 Bucknell run to start the second half, and there would be seven more lead changes over the remainder of the game.
Army grabbled a two-possession lead back around the nine-minute mark, but the Bison stayed within arm's reach thanks to 3-point plays by Meeks, Sotos and Funk, the last a spectacular play by the Bucknell sophomore. Andrew Funk was the only defender back as Grayson tried to score on the break, but Funk blocked his layup from behind, grabbed the rebound and raced 94 feet the other way for his own layup with a foul. That gave the Bison a 60-58 lead with 5:15 to go.
What a play by Andrew Funk! He blocks a layup at one and, and then finishes the and-1 94 feet later! pic.twitter.com/JvZ8Bhb59o
— Bucknell MBasketball (@Bucknell_MBB) January 3, 2020
Army went ahead 61-60 on Tommy Funk's short fadeaway in the key, but Newman answered with a nice move in the low post. Tommy Funk split two free throws to tie it at 62 with 2:37 to go, and after an exchange of traveling violations, Sotos canned the tiebreaking three with 1:43 to go.
Jimmy Sotos breaks the tie! pic.twitter.com/5eYaPGY4Vg
— Bucknell MBasketball (@Bucknell_MBB) January 3, 2020
Bucknell shot 45.6 percent from the floor and hit double-digit 3-pointers for the first time since canning 13 against Yale in Orlando on Nov. 26. After going 18-for-18 from the foul line against La Salle on Saturday, the Bison were 5-for-6 from the stripe in this one.
Defensively, Bucknell set a season-high with eight blocked shots and forced 14 turnovers. The Black Knights shot 44.4 percent overall but just 29.4 percent (5-17) from 3-point distance. Army came into the game shooting just 55 percent from the free-throw line as a team, but it hit its first 10 in this one before finishing 12-for-16.
Bucknell is back in action on Sunday at Lafayette at 2 p.m.
Additional Notes: Bucknell won its Patriot League opener for the sixth straight year … the Bison have beaten Army 12 straight times, the second-longest streak in series history … Bucknell won 15 in a row from 2002-07 … the last three Bucknell-Army games have been decided by a total of four points, and the one before that went to overtime before the Bison pulled away and won by 12 … in the last three wins over Army, Bucknell has held the lead for 14:24 of a possible 120:00 … Meeks' previous career high was 19 points against Fairfield on opening night … his nine rebounds tied his career best, set at Canisius on Nov. 16 … Meeks, Sotos, Funk and Toomer combined for 63 of Bucknell's 67 points, with Newman accounting for the other four … Kahliel Spear grabbed five rebounds in 10 minutes off the bench … the Bison are now 295-122 all-time in Patriot League play.
POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE:
