Cold-Shooting Bison Fall to Navy, 60-56

Wednesday, January 8

Lewisburg, Pa.

7 p.m.

Bucknell University

6-10,2-1Patriot

Navy

8-6,2-1Patriot

Team	1	2	F
Navy	27	33	60
Bucknell	25	31	56

Photo by: Jon Lambert

1/8/2020 8:58:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Note: The next Bucknell Basketball Luncheon will be held this Thursday, Jan. 9, at Matty's Sporthouse Grill in Lewisburg. Student-athletes and coaches from the Bison men's and women's basketball teams will speak and take questions. The $11 admission includes lunch. Seating is available at 11:45, with the program set to start at noon.

LEWISBURG, Pa. – Cam Davis netted a game-high 20 points, including a tie-breaking 3-pointer with 27 seconds left in the game, and Navy went on to defeat Bucknell 60-56 in Patriot League men's basketball action on Wednesday night at Sojka Pavilion. The Bison saw their 22-game home winning streak against Patriot League opponents and their 12-game home winning streak against Navy come to an end.

Bucknell ran into a Navy team that ranks 10th nationally in scoring defense at 58.7 points per game, and the Bison really struggled from the perimeter in this one. After connecting on 20 of 40 attempts from beyond the arc in wins over Army and Lafayette to start conference play, Bucknell was just 5-for-29 from downtown on Wednesday, one of which was a throw-in at the buzzer in a seven-point game.

The Bison received good play off the bench from freshmen Xander Rice (nine points) and Jake van der Heijden (six points), who combined to go 3-for-5 from deep, but the starting five struggled to the tune of 2-for-23.

Trailing by three at 53-50, the Bison caught a break when John Meeks was fouled on a 3-point attempt with 48 seconds left. Meeks, who led the team with 18 points, made all three free throws to tie the game.

But at the other end, Greg Summers drove from the top of the key and passed back to Davis, who drilled a 3-pointer with a hand in his face to give the Midshipmen the lead back. Navy, which conceded a late three in a close loss at Holy Cross on Sunday, came up with a defensive stop, and Davis added two big free throws after being fouled on a 3-point shot. Tyler Nelson added two more from the line with four seconds left before Jimmy Sotos connected at the buzzer.

"Give Navy a lot of credit, they lost a game that they weren't happy about, and they came out with an attitude that they weren't going to lose today," said head coach Nathan Davis. "We didn't match them with that focus and intensity, and because of that they got some good looks early, we missed some shots and the next thing you know we are fighting to get back in it."

Navy jumped out to a 7-0 lead and still led by seven at 17-10 as Bucknell started 0-for-11 from long range. The drought ended with a Meeks three with 2:10 left in the half, which capped a 14-6 run and gave the Bison their first lead of the night at 24-23.

Navy rallied to go up 27-25 at halftime and then built the margin up to eight at 35-27 after a pair of Summers free throws early in the second stanza.

Bucknell stayed engaged with some tough defense of its own along with a pair of van der Heijden treys, and the Bison tied the game at 39 on Rice's 3-pointer from the deep right corner off an assist from Meeks. Rice put the Bison ahead with two free throws coming out of the under-12 timeout. The score was stuck on 41-39 for more than three minutes before Meeks scored in the lane to give Bucknell its first multi-possession lead of the night at the 8:49 mark.

The Bison led 46-42 after Kahliel Spear found a rare open lane to the basket with 6:53 to play, but that would be Bucknell's last field goal until the Sotos three at the buzzer. Meeks' free throws gave the Bison a 50-47 lead before John Carter Jr. hit Navy's first 3-pointer of the second half, knotting the game at 50-50 with 2:54 to play.

Bucknell missed two 3-pointers and two free throws while Navy went 3-for-4 at the line to take the 53-50 lead. Meeks, who was 5-for-5 at the line on the night, made all three in a pressure situation in the final minute, but Navy had the answer at the other end.

Meeks was Bucknell's lone double-figure scorer with 18 points, giving him 51 in three Patriot League games. The Bison shot 34.6 percent from the field on the night and also left eight possible points on the table at the foul line (15-23).

Summers joined Davis in double figures with 13 points along with a game-high seven rebounds.

The Bison held the Midshipmen to 42.9 percent shooting, including a 4-for-16 mark from 3-point range, although Navy did well at the free-throw line (20-25). Bucknell forced 20 turnovers and came up with 11 steals.

Bucknell's last home loss to a Patriot League team came back on Jan. 2, 2018 against Boston University (84-79). Navy's last win at Sojka Pavilion was on Jan. 9, 2010 (69-67). Bucknell has won 19 of the last 22 in the series with the Midshipmen, but Navy has captured the last two. The two teams will meet again in Annapolis on Feb. 12.

The Bison will look to rebound on Saturday when they host Holy Cross at 2 p.m. Bucknell will celebrate the 16th Annual Dirk Sojka's Slam Dunk with Bison Basketball during the Holy Cross game. The day serves as a major fundraiser for Suncom Industries, a local organization that employs adults with developmental disabilities. Dirk Sojka, the late son of former Bucknell president Gary Sojka and his wife Sandy, was employed at Suncom before his passing in 2002.

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