Bucknell University Athletics
Sunday, February 23
Bethlehem, Pa.
12 p.m.
Bucknell University
11-18,7-9Patriot
60
at
69
Lehigh
8-20,5-11Patriot
1
2
F
Bucknell
27
33
60
Lehigh
36
33
69
Photo by: Marc Hagemeier
Bucknell Men’s Basketball Falls 69-60 at Lehigh
2/23/2020 2:23:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh frontcourt mates James Karnik and Nic Lynch scored 17 points apiece to lead the Mountain Hawks to a wire-to-wire 69-60 victory over Bucknell on Saturday afternoon at Stabler Arena. The Bison saw their two-game winning streak snapped, despite a 20-point performance from Jimmy Sotos.
Walter Ellis and Andrew Funk scored 10 points each for Bucknell, which fell to 11-18 overall and 7-9 in the Patriot League. The Bison are now in a tie for sixth place with Navy, and they could be joined by Loyola if the Greyhounds can win at Lafayette later in the day.
Bucknell endured a tough offensive day, shooting 39.3 percent overall while hitting 7 of 32 from 3-point territory. Meanwhile, Lehigh shots 46 percent, with much of the damage coming in the paint. The Mountain Hawks started their two centers, Karnik and Lynch, together for the first time, and that led to a 38-24 edge in points in the paint and a 17-5 scoring disparity from the foul line.
Bucknell started the game 1-for-7 while Lehigh made six layups on the way to a 14-2 lead. Ellis got the Bison going with a 3-pointer followed by a driving layup, and John Meeks made it an 8-0 run with another triple.
Later the Bison had a good look at a 3-pointer go in and out that would have cut the margin to one, and Lehigh followed with an 11-0 run. A 3-pointer by Evan Taylor gave the Mountain Hawks their largest lead at 32-16 with 4:58 to go, but the Bucknell held them to only two more field goals over the remainder of the half.
Sotos scored Bucknell's final six points of the half and helped the Bison pull within 36-27 at the break.
Karnik opened the second-half scoring before the Bison scored six straight to pull within 38-33 on a Kahliel Spear layup. But Bucknell missed its next five shots, and Lynch scored five points in a 7-0 Lehigh run that pushed the margin back to double figures.
Lehigh's second-half lead grew to as many as 15 on a Jordan Cohen 3-pointer with 10:46 left. Bucknell chipped the margin down to single digits in the final four minutes but just could not get enough shots to drop. The Bison twice missed 3-pointers while trailing by seven points, and after a Funk 3-pointer cut it to 66-60 with 1:27 to play, they got a big defensive stop but Funk could not get a three to drop that would have made it a one-possession game.
Sotos recorded his fifth 20-point game of the season and sixth in his career. He also logged five rebounds and three assists. Kahliel Spear led the Bison with six rebounds to go with six points off the bench.
Bucknell returns home on Wednesday for Senior Night against Colgate at 7 p.m.
Gallery: (2/23/2020) Men's Basketball at Lehigh
Walter Ellis and Andrew Funk scored 10 points each for Bucknell, which fell to 11-18 overall and 7-9 in the Patriot League. The Bison are now in a tie for sixth place with Navy, and they could be joined by Loyola if the Greyhounds can win at Lafayette later in the day.
Bucknell endured a tough offensive day, shooting 39.3 percent overall while hitting 7 of 32 from 3-point territory. Meanwhile, Lehigh shots 46 percent, with much of the damage coming in the paint. The Mountain Hawks started their two centers, Karnik and Lynch, together for the first time, and that led to a 38-24 edge in points in the paint and a 17-5 scoring disparity from the foul line.
Bucknell started the game 1-for-7 while Lehigh made six layups on the way to a 14-2 lead. Ellis got the Bison going with a 3-pointer followed by a driving layup, and John Meeks made it an 8-0 run with another triple.
Later the Bison had a good look at a 3-pointer go in and out that would have cut the margin to one, and Lehigh followed with an 11-0 run. A 3-pointer by Evan Taylor gave the Mountain Hawks their largest lead at 32-16 with 4:58 to go, but the Bucknell held them to only two more field goals over the remainder of the half.
Sotos scored Bucknell's final six points of the half and helped the Bison pull within 36-27 at the break.
Karnik opened the second-half scoring before the Bison scored six straight to pull within 38-33 on a Kahliel Spear layup. But Bucknell missed its next five shots, and Lynch scored five points in a 7-0 Lehigh run that pushed the margin back to double figures.
Lehigh's second-half lead grew to as many as 15 on a Jordan Cohen 3-pointer with 10:46 left. Bucknell chipped the margin down to single digits in the final four minutes but just could not get enough shots to drop. The Bison twice missed 3-pointers while trailing by seven points, and after a Funk 3-pointer cut it to 66-60 with 1:27 to play, they got a big defensive stop but Funk could not get a three to drop that would have made it a one-possession game.
Sotos recorded his fifth 20-point game of the season and sixth in his career. He also logged five rebounds and three assists. Kahliel Spear led the Bison with six rebounds to go with six points off the bench.
Bucknell returns home on Wednesday for Senior Night against Colgate at 7 p.m.
Team Stats
Buck
Lehigh
FG%
.393
.462
3FG%
.219
.333
FT%
.556
.739
RB
29
42
TO
9
12
STL
6
6
Game Leaders
Pts
20
FGM
7
3FGM
2
FTM
4
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Pts
9
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
F
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