Bucknell University Athletics
Sunday, January 5
Easton, Pa.
2 p.m.
Bucknell University
6-9,2-0Patriot
78
at
66
Lafayette
8-5,0-2Patriot
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bucknell | 30 | 48 | 78 |
| Lafayette | 39 | 27 | 66 |
Photo by: Jon Lambert
Bucknell Rides Big Second Half to 78-66 Win at Lafayette
1/5/2020 4:07:00 PM | Men's Basketball
EASTON, Pa. – Andrew Funk and Avi Toomer scored 15 points each to lead all five Bucknell starters in double figures, and the Bison stormed back from 13 points down to beat Lafayette 78-66 on Sunday afternoon at Kirby Sports Center. The Bison are now off to a 2-0 start in Patriot League play, while Lafayette fell to 0-2 after going 8-3 during the non-league session.
Jimmy Sotos scored 13 points, Paul Newman added a season-high 12 with 10 rebounds for his first career double-double, and John Meeks scored 11 points to lead the Bison. Bucknell shot 55.6 percent in the second half after 33.3 percent in the first 20 minutes.
A big key to the turnaround was interior scoring. The Bison went just 7-for-23 on two-point shots in the first half, but they attacked to the tune of 13-for-24 in the second half. All the while Bucknell was knocking them down from long range. The Bison hit seven second-half threes and finished 10-for-19 from the arc on the day.
Trailing 43-30 after Lafayette scored the first four points of the second half, the Bison scored 17 straight points to grab the lead and then kept going. Bucknell outscored Lafayette 48-23 over the final 18:17 to flip the 13-point deficit into a 12-point win.
With Bruce Moore, a senior starter in the frontcourt, sidelined by injury and Toomer and Meeks both out with two fouls for much of the first half, Bucknell struggled to get into a flow offensively. But that starting group was instrumental in the second-half surge.
After back-to-back layups gave Lafayette its largest lead of the day in the opening moments of the second stanza, Newman's put-back got the Bison going. Toomer picked off a pass and took it the length of the court for a layup, and then Sotos finally got a jumper to drop after a tough 0-for-7 start. Meeks scored in the paint, Sotos splashed a 3-pointers, Toomer and Meeks crashed the offensive glass for buckets and Funk drove to the rim to complete the stunning 17-0 run that left Bucknell with a 47-43 lead.
Myles Cherry's layup ended Lafayette's 5:40 scoring drought, but the Bison never relinquished the lead. Newman scored at the rim off a nice feed from Sotos, and even though they were stymied by a couple missed point-blank layups, the Bison kept getting defensive stops against the top offensive team in the league statistically.
Kahiel Spear was strong again for Bucknell off the bench. He fed Toomer for a 3-pointer and a 52-47 lead, and then Spear's deflection led to free throws for Newman. Freshman Leo O'Boyle kept the Leopards engaged with a couple of 3-pointers, but back-to-back treys by Spear and Meeks pushed the Bison run up to 34-9 and the lead into double digits at 64-52.
Lafayette got as close as eight on an O'Boyle 3-pointer and a Cherry layup, but Sotos' late-shot-clock triple off a drive and dish from Funk made it 71-60 with 2:58 to go. Toomer made one more dagger three from the left corner with 0:48 left to erase any doubt.
"Lafayette is a very difficult team to guard, and I thought the two biggest keys to the turnaround were better ball pressure that allowed us to string together a bunch of stops in a row, and then just finishing our layups," said head coach Nathan Davis. "It's great to be 2-0 in the league, but we still have a long way to go to be where we want to be. The guys continue to work really hard, and it is nice that they were rewarded with a road win against a good team."
Justin Jaworski, the Patriot League's second-leading scorer at 18.8 points per game coming in, scored 10 points in a span of three possessions to get Lafayette off to a good start. Jaworski swished two 3-pointers and then finished a 4-point play to give the Leopards an early 12-7 lead. The 4-point play was particularly pivotal, as it sent Toomer to the bench with his second foul after just 3:30 of action.
Toomer was sensational in the second half, however, when he scored 12 of his 15 points while holding Jaworski without another field goal the rest of the way.
Lafayette led by as many as 12 in the first half after an O'Boyle 3-pointer made it 37-25. Spear answered with a tip-dunk and a 3-pointer before Neal Quinn hit an elbow jumper to give the hosts a 39-30 lead at the break.
Bucknell shot 45.5 percent overall, compared to Lafayette's 40.0 percent. The Leopards were just 9-for-27 in the second half, including 2-for-15 from 3-point distance. Lafayette entered the day shooting better than 48 percent from the field and 39 percent from downtown, by far the best marks in the Patriot League. They also led the league and ranked 25th nationally in opponent 3-point percentage (.276), but Bucknell went 10-for-19 on the heels of a 10-for-21 performance against Army in a win on Thursday.
The Bison committed only seven turnovers in the game, compared to 15 for Lafayette. Spear had two of Bucknell's seven steals, to go along with eight points and three rebounds.
E.J. Stephens led Lafayette with 15 points, while Jaworski had 13, O'Boyle 12 and Cherry 11.
The Bison return home to face Navy on Wednesday at 7 p.m. It will be Community Night, presented by M&T Bank, as well as Scout Night. For ticket information, call 570-577-1000.
Additional Notes: Bucknell is 2-0 in league play for the first time since 2016-17 … in each of the last two seasons, the Bison won their first game but dropped their second … Bucknell snapped a six-game road losing streak dating back to the season opener at Fairfield … Newman's double-double was the first of the season for Bucknell … it was Newman's third career double-digit rebounding effort … he also had three assists and two blocked shots … Bucknell beat Lafayette for the ninth straight time … it is Bucknell's second-longest winning streak in the 105-year-old series, trailing only a 13-game run from 1990-96 … the Bison have now won consecutive games for the first time this season, while Lafayette has now lost back-to-back games for the first time.Gallery: (1/5/2020) Men's Basketball at Lafayette
Jimmy Sotos scored 13 points, Paul Newman added a season-high 12 with 10 rebounds for his first career double-double, and John Meeks scored 11 points to lead the Bison. Bucknell shot 55.6 percent in the second half after 33.3 percent in the first 20 minutes.
A big key to the turnaround was interior scoring. The Bison went just 7-for-23 on two-point shots in the first half, but they attacked to the tune of 13-for-24 in the second half. All the while Bucknell was knocking them down from long range. The Bison hit seven second-half threes and finished 10-for-19 from the arc on the day.
Trailing 43-30 after Lafayette scored the first four points of the second half, the Bison scored 17 straight points to grab the lead and then kept going. Bucknell outscored Lafayette 48-23 over the final 18:17 to flip the 13-point deficit into a 12-point win.
With Bruce Moore, a senior starter in the frontcourt, sidelined by injury and Toomer and Meeks both out with two fouls for much of the first half, Bucknell struggled to get into a flow offensively. But that starting group was instrumental in the second-half surge.
After back-to-back layups gave Lafayette its largest lead of the day in the opening moments of the second stanza, Newman's put-back got the Bison going. Toomer picked off a pass and took it the length of the court for a layup, and then Sotos finally got a jumper to drop after a tough 0-for-7 start. Meeks scored in the paint, Sotos splashed a 3-pointers, Toomer and Meeks crashed the offensive glass for buckets and Funk drove to the rim to complete the stunning 17-0 run that left Bucknell with a 47-43 lead.
Myles Cherry's layup ended Lafayette's 5:40 scoring drought, but the Bison never relinquished the lead. Newman scored at the rim off a nice feed from Sotos, and even though they were stymied by a couple missed point-blank layups, the Bison kept getting defensive stops against the top offensive team in the league statistically.
Kahiel Spear was strong again for Bucknell off the bench. He fed Toomer for a 3-pointer and a 52-47 lead, and then Spear's deflection led to free throws for Newman. Freshman Leo O'Boyle kept the Leopards engaged with a couple of 3-pointers, but back-to-back treys by Spear and Meeks pushed the Bison run up to 34-9 and the lead into double digits at 64-52.
Lafayette got as close as eight on an O'Boyle 3-pointer and a Cherry layup, but Sotos' late-shot-clock triple off a drive and dish from Funk made it 71-60 with 2:58 to go. Toomer made one more dagger three from the left corner with 0:48 left to erase any doubt.
"Lafayette is a very difficult team to guard, and I thought the two biggest keys to the turnaround were better ball pressure that allowed us to string together a bunch of stops in a row, and then just finishing our layups," said head coach Nathan Davis. "It's great to be 2-0 in the league, but we still have a long way to go to be where we want to be. The guys continue to work really hard, and it is nice that they were rewarded with a road win against a good team."
Justin Jaworski, the Patriot League's second-leading scorer at 18.8 points per game coming in, scored 10 points in a span of three possessions to get Lafayette off to a good start. Jaworski swished two 3-pointers and then finished a 4-point play to give the Leopards an early 12-7 lead. The 4-point play was particularly pivotal, as it sent Toomer to the bench with his second foul after just 3:30 of action.
Toomer was sensational in the second half, however, when he scored 12 of his 15 points while holding Jaworski without another field goal the rest of the way.
Lafayette led by as many as 12 in the first half after an O'Boyle 3-pointer made it 37-25. Spear answered with a tip-dunk and a 3-pointer before Neal Quinn hit an elbow jumper to give the hosts a 39-30 lead at the break.
Bucknell shot 45.5 percent overall, compared to Lafayette's 40.0 percent. The Leopards were just 9-for-27 in the second half, including 2-for-15 from 3-point distance. Lafayette entered the day shooting better than 48 percent from the field and 39 percent from downtown, by far the best marks in the Patriot League. They also led the league and ranked 25th nationally in opponent 3-point percentage (.276), but Bucknell went 10-for-19 on the heels of a 10-for-21 performance against Army in a win on Thursday.
The Bison committed only seven turnovers in the game, compared to 15 for Lafayette. Spear had two of Bucknell's seven steals, to go along with eight points and three rebounds.
E.J. Stephens led Lafayette with 15 points, while Jaworski had 13, O'Boyle 12 and Cherry 11.
The Bison return home to face Navy on Wednesday at 7 p.m. It will be Community Night, presented by M&T Bank, as well as Scout Night. For ticket information, call 570-577-1000.
Additional Notes: Bucknell is 2-0 in league play for the first time since 2016-17 … in each of the last two seasons, the Bison won their first game but dropped their second … Bucknell snapped a six-game road losing streak dating back to the season opener at Fairfield … Newman's double-double was the first of the season for Bucknell … it was Newman's third career double-digit rebounding effort … he also had three assists and two blocked shots … Bucknell beat Lafayette for the ninth straight time … it is Bucknell's second-longest winning streak in the 105-year-old series, trailing only a 13-game run from 1990-96 … the Bison have now won consecutive games for the first time this season, while Lafayette has now lost back-to-back games for the first time.
Let's get some thoughts from Coach Davis after the win at Lafayette. pic.twitter.com/LxZGh4upQu
— Bucknell MBasketball (@Bucknell_MBB) January 5, 2020
More from Coach Davis on being 2-0 in the Patriot League with two home games coming up this week. pic.twitter.com/gVDFgWOSoU
— Bucknell MBasketball (@Bucknell_MBB) January 5, 2020
Team Stats
Buck
Laf
FG%
.455
.400
3FG%
.526
.280
FT%
.571
.789
RB
38
37
TO
7
15
STL
7
3
Game Leaders
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
2
FTM
1
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
13
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
3
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballC
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballG
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