Bison Men Get Offense Rolling in 98-83 Win over Loyola

Saturday, January 25

Lewisburg, Pa.

7 p.m.

Bucknell University

9-12,5-3Patriot

Loyola

9-12,1-7Patriot

Team	1	2	F
Loyola Maryland	41	42	83
Bucknell	42	56	98

Photo by: Marc Hagemeier

Bison Men Get Offense Rolling in 98-83 Win over Loyola

1/25/2020 9:43:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

LEWISBURG, Pa – Andrew Funk scored a career-high 22 points to lead the Bucknell men's basketball team to a 98-83 win over Loyola Maryland on Saturday night at Sojka Pavilion. Walter Ellis also hit a career high with 13 to lead a 39-point performance from the Bison bench, which was critical on a night when the team was whistled for 30 fouls.

The Bison improve to 9-12 overall and 5-3 against Patriot League opponents, moving them back into a four-way tie for second place in the conference alongside American, Navy and Boston University. Loyola is also now 9-12, but 1-7 in league play.

The Greyhounds led for the majority of the first half, but the Bison closed the half strong to take a 42-41 lead into halftime. The Bison run came with starters Bruce Moore, John Meeks and Avi Toomer all spending the majority of the half on the bench in foul trouble. Ellis scored 10 points in extended first-half minutes, while Malachi Rhodes added six points and four rebounds playing the final 10 minutes of the half.

Multiple lead changes took place early in the second half before a dunk by Moore gave the Orange and Blue a 49-47 lead with 16:53 on the clock. Funk hit back-to-back threes to extend the Bison lead to seven and the Greyhounds would not get closer than five the rest of the way. Bucknell shot a blistering 65.5 % (19-for-29) from the field in the second half, including shooting 7-for-13 from three.

Jimmy Sotos added 14 points and a team-high four assists while accruing a +25 rating in 27 minutes of action. Ellis scored 13 to go along with five rebounds and three steals. Meeks added 10 points, giving him a double-digit total in all eight Patriot League games.

The contest featured 57 combined fouls and 78 free throw attempts, with the Greyhounds attempting a facility record 46 shots from the charity stripe. Loyola, whose 31 made free throws tied an opponent record at Sojka, was led by 18 points each from Isaiah Hart and Andrew Kostecka, while Kavaughn Scott and Golden Dike each had 13. Kostecka, the Patriot League's leading scorer at better than 21 per game, also had some first-half foul trouble, and the Bison kept him to four made field goals in the game and just one in the second half.

"I thought we came out a little slow, made some mistakes and missed some shots in the first half," said head coach Nathan Davis, who secured his 98th win in five seasons at Bucknell. "Guys dug deep and found a way to get the lead, and in the second half we played pretty well. If we could have done a little better defending without fouling it would have been even better. Any time you win by double figures in the league, you take it and run."

Sotos and Funk connected on Bucknell's first two 3-point attempts of the night to give the Bison an early 10-7 lead. But the team missed its next eight long-distance attempts and went just 4-for-18 from deep in the first half.

Loyola came into the night shooting just 61 percent as a team from the free-throw line, but the Greyhounds made 11 of their first 12 to make some early headway. Scott's dunk just past the halfway mark of the period gave Loyola a seven-point lead at 24-17.

Ellis had a key stretch later in the half when he knocked down a 3-pointer to tie the game at 29, and then recovered to block a shot on the defensive end. That led to a missed three in transition, but Rhodes made a sensational play to reach back and tip in the rebound.

Ellis bookended an 8-0 run with a 3-pointer and two free throws to give the Bison a 42-36 lead, but Loyola scored the final five points of the half to pull within one at the break.

The key stretch in the second half came two minutes in, after Loyola regained a 47-45 lead on a Scott put-back. Moore had a layup and a dunk in succession, and after Kostecka split a pair at the foul line, Sotos assisted on two straight Funk 3-pointers. The latter was a pull-up in transition that gave the Bison a 55-48 lead.

Scott missed two free throws coming out of the under-16 television timeout, and Bucknell extended the run to 15-1 and the lead to 60-48 with a Newman post move and an Ellis 3-pointer.

Kostecka shook loose for a 3-pointer – his only field goal of the second half – and he made all three free throws after being nudged on a deep jumper to help bring the Greyhounds within 61-56.

It was still a five-point game after both teams went 1-for-2 at the foul line, when the Bison ran the margin back into double figures with a big 10-0 run. Funk started it with an offensive rebound and put-back, Toomer and Meeks canned 3-pointers, and Newman scored in the paint for a 72-57 lead with 9:56 to go.

Bucknell's lead bulged to 20 at 85-65 on Funk's free throw with 5:06 left.

Newman had a nice night off the bench with eight points on 4-for-4 shooting, and Xander Rice also scored eight.

Bucknell shot a season-best 54.1 percent from the field. The Bison had not eclipsed the 50-percent mark all season until last Saturday against Lehigh, and they have now done it in back-to-back home games. They also finished 11-for-31 from downtown and 21-for-32 from the free-throw line. The 98 points were the team's most since last year's record-setting 118-76 win over Lafayette.

"A big thing for us is just making shots," said Davis. "I think overall we've gotten a lot of good shots, but for whatever reason they haven't always gone down. In the first half they didn't, we were 4 of 18, but we didn't put our heads down."

Loyola shot 48.0 percent overall, including 4-for-13 from the arc, and finished 31-for-46 from the stripe. The Greyhounds were hindered by 16 turnovers, compared to just 10 for the Bison.

Funk's 22 points came on an efficient 8-for-10 from the field, 3-for-5 from the arc and 3-for-6 from the foul line. He also had a team-high six rebounds.

It was quite a day for the Funk brothers. Earlier in the day, older brother Tommy scored 26 in Army's road win over service academy rival Navy. Andrew followed with his career high, giving the Funk duo a combined 48 points on the day.

The two will meet again on Wednesday at West Point. Tip-off is set for 11 a.m. at Christl Arena.

Additional Notes:
Bucknell is now 19-3 all-time against Loyola with six straight wins … the 98 points are the second-most in series history … the Bison beat the Greyhounds 116-95 in Davis Gym in 1992-93 behind Hall-of-Famer Mike Bright's 9-for-10 shooting night from 3-point range … Bucknell is now 6-3 at home this season and 137-27 against Patriot League opponents in Sojka Pavilion … this is the 30th season of Patriot League basketball, and it was Bucknell's 299th PL win … Funk's previous scoring high was 21 points in that 118-76 win over Lafayette last season … 11 different Bison scored in the game.

Postgame Press Conference:

Gallery: (1/25/2020) Men's Basketball vs. Loyola