Men's Basketball Opens PL Tourney at Home Against Familiar March Foe

Photo by: Marc Hagemeier

Men's Basketball Opens PL Tourney at Home Against Familiar March Foe

3/2/2020 6:31:00 PM | Men's Basketball

It's a brand new season, as the calendar has flipped to March and the Patriot League Tournament has arrived. No Patriot League team has won more championships than Bucknell and Holy Cross, who have six each, but this year these two teams find themselves playing in the first round. Since the Patriot League went to a 10-team tournament in 2014, the Bison have never played in the first round, which includes the 7-10 seeds. That is the case this year, as even though Bucknell tied for sixth place with Navy, the Midshipmen held the head-to-head tiebreaker and secured the No. 6 seed.

Bucknell and Holy Cross are no strangers to March matchups. This is the 30th Patriot League Tournament, and the Bison and Crusaders are meeting for the 17th time in the event. It is by far the most-played Patriot League Tournament matchup.

Most-Played Patriot League Tournament Matchups (includes Tuesday's first round)
1. 17   Bucknell vs. Holy Cross
2. 10   Bucknell vs. Army
10   Colgate vs. Lafayette
10   Bucknell vs. Lehigh
5. 8   Bucknell vs. Navy
   8   Colgate vs. Navy
   8   Colgate vs. Lehigh
   8   Holy Cross vs. Lafayette

Bucknell finished the regular season 3-2 in its last five games, including wins over the top two tournament seeds in Colgate and American. The Bison nearly added third-seeded Boston University to the list on Saturday in the regular-season finale, but the Terriers overcame a 16-point deficit to win 74-71 at Case Gym. Junior forward John Meeks earned Third Team All-Patriot League honors on Monday. Meeks is one of four Bison scoring in double figures. Jimmy Sotos, who is averaging 18.7 points over his last three games, regained the team scoring lead at 11.7 ppg, followed by Meeks (11.6), Andrew Funk (11.0) and Avi Toomer (10.6).

Holy Cross played a first-round game on the road twice in the previous four seasons and won them both. The Crusaders made headlines in 2016, when they were seeded ninth but won four straight road games to claim the Patriot League championship. One of those wins came in double overtime at Sojka Pavilion in the quarterfinals. Last season, 10th-seeded Holy Cross upset Lafayette in the first round before falling to Bucknell 77-65 in the quarters.

Holy Cross has lost 11 straight games since beating Lehigh 96-95 in overtime on Jan. 22. The Crusaders are coming off a 90-47 loss to American on Saturday. They do feature the Patriot League's Rookie of the Year and a Third Team All-PL selection in Joe Pridgen, who is the league's fourth-leading scorer at 17.2 points per game. Pridgen shoots 55.2% from the field and 42.3% from 3-point distance, and he also grabs 6.7 rebounds per game. Bucknell did a nice job on Pridgen during the regular season, limiting him to 4 and 12 points in the two meetings.

Here's more info on Tuesday's game vs. Holy Cross:

What: #10 Holy Cross (3-28, 2-16 PL) at Bucknell (12-19, 8-10 PL)
Where: Sojka Pavilion, Lewisburg, Pa. | TICKETS
When: Tuesday, March 3, 7 p.m.
Internet: Patriot League Network
Local Radio: Eagle 107 (107.3 FM WEGH)
Listen Live: BucknellBison.com and Eagle107.com
Live Stats: BucknellBison.com

COMPLETE GAME NOTES

Bucknell Probable Starters
G: Jimmy Sotos (11.7 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 3.9 apg)
G: Andrew Funk (11.0 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 1.6 apg)
G: Avi Toomer (10.6 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 1.9 apg)
F: John Meeks (11.6 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 1.0 apg)
C: Paul Newman (4.9 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 0.6 bpg)

With a Win over Holy Cross, Bucknell Would ...

... advance to the Patriot League Tournament quarterfinals to play at American on Thursday night.
... defeat the Crusaders three times in one season for the fourth time (1998, 1999, 2006).
... improve to 9-8 against the Crusaders in the Patriot League Tournament and 47-30 overall.
... improve to 42-23 in Patriot League Tournament games.

Last Time Out

Javante McCoy hit the tying and go-ahead jumpers in the final two minutes to lift Boston University to a 74-71 victory over Bucknell on Saturday at Case Gym in the final game of the Patriot League men's basketball regular season.
Jimmy Sotos tallied 19 points for the Bison, who led by as many as 16 points in the second half. The margin was still 15 after a John Meeks 3-pointer made it 66-51 with 7:54 to play. But that would be Bucknell's last field goal of the day, as Boston University finished the game on a 23-5 run.
Andrew Funk scored 15 points and Walter Ellis added 11 for the Bison, who played very well in long stretches against the league's co-second-place team before running out of steam in the final minutes.

Bucknell vs. Holy Cross
The Bucknell-Holy Cross rivalry has been one of the league's best through the years. Some of the highlights:

The Bison and Crusaders have combined to win 11 of the last 19 Patriot League titles.
These two teams have now met 17 times in the 30 Patriot League Tournaments, with both teams winning eight of the first 16. That includes four times in the championship game. Bucknell defeated Holy Cross in the 2005 and 2006 title tilts, while the Crusaders topped the Bison in the final in 1993 and 2007.
The Bison and Crusaders had never met until the formation of the Patriot League in 1990-91, but this will be the 77th meeting in 30 years (an average of 2.6 meetings per season).
Bucknell leads the series 46-30. The road team has won just 11 of the last 31.
Bucknell is 25-11 against Holy Cross in Lewisburg and 18-5 at Sojka Pavilion. Bucknell is 17-16 vs. Holy Cross at the Hart Center, with one of the wins coming in the 2005 Patriot League championship game.
Bucknell claimed this season's first meeting 75-60 on Jan. 11, behind 19 points from John Meeks, 17 from Andrew Funk and 13 from Avi Toomer. The Bison forced 22 turnovers and blocked seven shots. Drew Lowder scored 21 to lead Holy Cross in his final game before leaving the team.
The Bison also captured the rematch in Worcester on Feb. 17, 69-48. Bucknell led 30-25 at the half before outscoring the Crusaders 39-23 after the break. It was Bucknell's largest margin of victory and lowest opponent point total of the season. The Bison went 15-for-33 from 3-point range in the game, including five from Funk on the way to a team-high 19 points. Meeks added 18 and Toomer had 10.
In his last three games against the Crusaders, Meeks has totaled 51 points on 20-for-33 (.606) shooting from the field.

Bucknell Patriot League Tournament History

Bucknell has an all-time record of 41-23 (.641) in the previous 29 Patriot League Tournaments. The Bison have reached the championship game a league-record 13 times, including wins in 2005, 2006, 2011, 2013, 2017 and 2018, and reached at least the semifinals in 22 of 29 years.
This is Bucknell's third appearance as the No. 7 seed and its first time playing in a first-round game as part of a 10-team field. The Bison do have a win as a No. 7 seed, that being the memorable 87-86 triple-overtime win at Navy in 2008 that culminated with John Griffin's half-court buzzer-beater.

Bison PL Tourney Log
Year   Seed   Results
1991   4   def. Army 67-49; lost Fordham 82-76
1992   2   def. Army 74-55; def. Holy Cross 86-77; lost Fordham 70-65
1993   1   def. Lehigh 69-65; def. Colgate 75-73; lost Holy Cross 98-73
1994   5   lost Holy Cross 96-91
1995   2   lost Army 94-78
1996   4   def. Lafayette 56-55; lost Colgate 67-61
1997   2   def. Lehigh 84-54; def. Colgate 71-58; lost Navy 76-75
1998   3   def. Holy Cross 60-56; lost Navy 80-61
1999   3   def. Holy Cross 76-52; def. Lehigh 58-50; lost Lafayette 67-63
2000   3   lost Lehigh 73-62
2001   6   def. Colgate 75-68; lost Navy 88-64
2002   3   def. Army 70-59; lost Holy Cross 64-57
2003   5   def. Lehigh 52-47; lost Holy Cross 75-50
2004   4   def. Holy Cross 66-60; lost Lehigh 60-45
2005   2   def. Lafayette 70-34; def. American 53-35; def. Holy Cross 61-57
2006   1   def. Army 59-47; def. American 64-50; def. Holy Cross 74-59
2007   2   def. Navy 62-43; def. Army 68-47; lost Holy Cross 74-66
2008   7   def. Navy 87-86 (3OT); lost Colgate 54-40
2009   7   lost Holy Cross 75-56
2010   2   lost Holy Cross 67-64
2011   1   def. Army 78-51; def. Lehigh 66-64; def. Lafayette 72-57
2012   1   def. Navy 87-63; def. Lafayette 79-52; lost Lehigh 82-77
2013   1   def. Navy 58-42; def. Army 78-70; def. Lafayette 64-56
2014   4   lost 72-71 Army
2015   1   def. Holy Cross 90-83 (OT); lost Lafayette 80-74
2016   1   lost Holy Cross 77-72 (2OT)
2017   1   def. Army 78-62; def. Navy 70-65; def. Lehigh 81-65
2018   1   def. Loyola 83-78; def. Boston U. 90-59; def. Colgate 83-54
2019   2   def. Holy Cross 77-65; def. Lehigh 97-75; lost Colgate 94-80
2020   7   vs. Holy Cross

PL TOURNAMENT BY OPPONENT
American   2-0
Army   8-2
Boston U.   1-0
Colgate   4-3
Fordham   0-2
Navy   5-3
Holy Cross   8-8
Lafayette   5-2
Lehigh   7-3
Loyola   1-0

Meeks an All-Star

Junior forward John Meeks earned a spot on the All-Patriot League Third Team earlier this week. It was his first career all-conference citation.
Meeks is Bucknell's 59th All-Patriot League honoree, the most in league history. Lehigh is next with 44, followed by Holy Cross with 43.

Notable Numbers

Bucknell has done well to limit opponents' 3-point shooting in recent games. Over the last seven contests, Bison foes are just 29-for-116 (.250) from downtown. Over the course of the entire season, only four teams have made more than seven 3-pointers in a game against the Bison: Syracuse (14), Princeton (13), Colgate (14) and Lafayette (9).
Bucknell held 14 of its 18 Patriot League opponents to 33% shooting or worse from 3-point range. The big anomaly came in the loss at Colgate, where the Raiders went 14-for-23 (.609) from the arc.
Kahliel Spear is 26-for-43 (.605) from the field over the last eight games, upping his season field-goal percentage to .536. Spear shot 59.7% in Patriot League play. Despite playing in a reserve role (14.5 mpg), Spear leads the Bison in 3-point play opportunities with 11. He scored a career-high 20 points in the win over American on Feb. 15, doubling his previous personal best.
Jimmy Sotos scored 20 points at Lehigh on Feb. 23 after combining for 20 in his previous four games. Sotos now has five 20-point games this season, the most on the team. He followed that up with 17 points against Colgate and 19 at Boston University, giving him 56 points in his last three games.
Sotos has multiple steals in eight of his last nine games and now has 50 on the season. In the last 13 seasons, only Stephen Brown (57 in 2016-17) has had more.
John Meeks is averaging 7.2 rebounds over his last nine games.
Walter Ellis has made a 3-pointer in 14 straight games, and he is averaging 10.5 ppg off the bench in his last six games. Ellis has three triples in four of his last six games, and he now ranks second in the Patriot League in 3-point percentage at .410.
The Bison had been a solid free-throw shooting team for most of the season, but they have struggled of late. In the last six games the Bison are 51-for-92 (.554) from the line.
In addition to getting back to a better percentage, the Bison would also like to earn more chances at the foul line. Opponents have attempted 155 more free throws this season, leading to a 469-359 scoring edge. Bucknell has attempted more charity tosses than its opponents in each of the last five seasons.
Bucknell has struggled to finish around to the basket this season. The Bison are now shooting 47.2% from 2-point distance, which ranks 10th in the Patriot League. Bucknell was just 12-for-35 (.343) from inside the arc against Colgate last Wednesday.
Bucknell's streak of 10 straight seasons with a positive assist-to-turnover ratio is likely to end, but over the last five games the Bison have 62 assists and 54 turnovers. Bucknell is now on the plus side in Patriot League play with 229 assists compared to 218 turnovers.
Bucknell had a perfect day at the free-throw line at La Salle, finishing 18-for-18. That is the fifth-most free throws without a miss in team history. The Bison ran their streak to 25 straight made free throws before missing late in the Army game.

Possible Upcoming Milestones

Jimmy Sotos needs 19 assist to catch Cal Puriefoy (399) for seventh on Bucknell's career chart.
Andrew Funk needs 16 points for 500 in his career.
Avi Toomer needs 19 points for 800 in his career.

Who's Got Next?