Sunday, January 17
Bethlehem, Pa.
4 p.m.
Bucknell University
2-4,2-4Patriot
77
at
61
Lehigh
1-5,1-5Patriot
1
2
F
Bucknell
36
41
77
Lehigh
37
24
61
Photo by: Justin Lafleur
Meeks’ Career Game Lifts Bucknell Men’s Basketball to 77-61 Win and Weekend Sweep of Lehigh
1/17/2021 6:16:00 PM | Men's Basketball
LEWISBURG, Pa. – Bucknell head coach Nathan Davis talked all preseason about the toughness and leadership John Meeks was bringing on a daily basis. After Meeks missed the first four games of the season with an injury, the Bison sure are glad to have him back. The senior forward enjoyed the best game of his career on Sunday, piling up 31 points, 11 rebounds and five assists to lead Bucknell to a 77-61 victory over Lehigh at Stabler Arena.
The victory gave Bucknell a weekend sweep of the Mountain Hawks after holding on for a 75-70 verdict at Sojka Pavilion a day earlier. The Bison improved to 2-4 on the season but 2-2 in the Patriot League Central Division, where they now sit in second place. Lehigh fell to 1-5 overall, 1-3 in the Central.
Meeks was sensational, hitting 11 of 20 shots from the field, 4 of 8 from 3-point distance and 5 of 7 from the foul line. Meeks, who had 20 points in the first half alone, posted Bucknell's first 30-point game since Kimbal Mackenzie at Lafayette in 2018-19, and it was the team's first 30-point double-double since Zach Thomas tallied 38 points and 11 rebounds at Stony Brook a year earlier.
"John is a really good player and we missed him, there's no other way around it," said Davis. "He gives our team so much confidence because they know he's going to make plays. This is how he looked in the practices and scrimmages all preseason, and unfortunately he got hurt the week of the first game. We're certainly happy to have him back."
Bucknell trailed by as many as six at 37-31 late in the first half before Meeks hit a 3-pointer and mid-range jumper. That gave him 20 of Bucknell's 36 points at the half, as the Bison went to the locker room trailing by one.
Meeks picked right up where he left off in the second half, opening with a layup and another triple to give the Bison a 41-37 lead. It would turn out to be the final lead change of the day after there were 10 in the first half.
Bucknell limited Lehigh to a 3-for-16 start from the field in the second half and began to take control of the game. The Bison broke open a two-point game around the 17:00-minute mark with a 16-2 run. Xander Rice's 3-pointer off a Meeks kick-out pass ignited the surge, and then the Bucknell freshmen got involved during an important stretch.
Andre Screen finished a 3-point play after a nice back-to-the-basket post move, and then Screen's blocked shot led to a Deuce Turner transition bucket in traffic at the other end. Turner made two free throws, Walter Ellis turned a steal into a pair of free throws, and then Turner's theft led to a breakaway dunk by Miles Latimer. Meeks followed with a bank shot from just inside the foul line, and the Bison had a 59-43 lead with 12:05 to play.
A day earlier at Sojka Pavilion, Lehigh whittled a 15-point deficit down to three in the late stages, and this one seemed far from over when the Mountain Hawks used a 10-3 run to pull within 10 at 65-55 with 7:08 to play.
Latimer, in just his fourth game in a Bucknell uniform, hit two of the biggest shots of the day to restore a comfortable margin. After two Marques Wilson free throws cut the gap to 10, Latimer caught a skip pass from Meeks on the left wing and buried a 3-pointer. Then Turner slipped a nice bounce pass to Meeks for a reverse layup, and Latimer canned another three from the left flank for a 73-55 lead with 5:48 to go.
"We played at a good comfort level from start to finish today, and that was nice to see," said Davis. "We got the ball in the paint and played inside out, and when we do that we can be pretty good offensively."
Bucknell shot 47.4 percent from the field and hit 9 of 26 (.346) from 3-point distance and 14 of 20 (.700) from the foul line. After the Mountain Hawks shot 52.0 percent from the floor in the first half, the Bison held them to 10-for-33 (.303) in the second half, including 0-for-5 from 3-point range. Lehigh finished at 39.7 percent overall and 4-for-15 (.267) from the arc.
Backing up Meeks' 31 points were Turner and Andrew Funk with 10 apiece. Funk hit two big 3-pointers in the second half just after Lehigh switched back to a zone defense. Latimer followed with eight points, and Screen had seven points and nine rebounds.
Evan Taylor paced Lehigh with 15 points, 11 coming in the first half. Nick Lynch had 12 points, and Wilson was limited to 11 after exploding for 26 a day earlier.
The Bison finished with a 36-35 rebounding edge, and they were boosted by 17 fastbreak points, compared to four for Lehigh.
The 16-point victory was Bucknell's largest over Lehigh at Stabler Arena since a 19-point win (83-64) in 1998. The Bison are now 109-69 all-time against Lehigh dating back to 1902.
Next up for the Bison is a trip to Colgate for two games at Cotterell Court next Saturday and Sunday. Both games start at 1 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN+.
Gallery: (1-17-2021) Men's Basketball at Lehigh
The victory gave Bucknell a weekend sweep of the Mountain Hawks after holding on for a 75-70 verdict at Sojka Pavilion a day earlier. The Bison improved to 2-4 on the season but 2-2 in the Patriot League Central Division, where they now sit in second place. Lehigh fell to 1-5 overall, 1-3 in the Central.
Meeks was sensational, hitting 11 of 20 shots from the field, 4 of 8 from 3-point distance and 5 of 7 from the foul line. Meeks, who had 20 points in the first half alone, posted Bucknell's first 30-point game since Kimbal Mackenzie at Lafayette in 2018-19, and it was the team's first 30-point double-double since Zach Thomas tallied 38 points and 11 rebounds at Stony Brook a year earlier.
"John is a really good player and we missed him, there's no other way around it," said Davis. "He gives our team so much confidence because they know he's going to make plays. This is how he looked in the practices and scrimmages all preseason, and unfortunately he got hurt the week of the first game. We're certainly happy to have him back."
Bucknell trailed by as many as six at 37-31 late in the first half before Meeks hit a 3-pointer and mid-range jumper. That gave him 20 of Bucknell's 36 points at the half, as the Bison went to the locker room trailing by one.
Meeks picked right up where he left off in the second half, opening with a layup and another triple to give the Bison a 41-37 lead. It would turn out to be the final lead change of the day after there were 10 in the first half.
Bucknell limited Lehigh to a 3-for-16 start from the field in the second half and began to take control of the game. The Bison broke open a two-point game around the 17:00-minute mark with a 16-2 run. Xander Rice's 3-pointer off a Meeks kick-out pass ignited the surge, and then the Bucknell freshmen got involved during an important stretch.
Andre Screen finished a 3-point play after a nice back-to-the-basket post move, and then Screen's blocked shot led to a Deuce Turner transition bucket in traffic at the other end. Turner made two free throws, Walter Ellis turned a steal into a pair of free throws, and then Turner's theft led to a breakaway dunk by Miles Latimer. Meeks followed with a bank shot from just inside the foul line, and the Bison had a 59-43 lead with 12:05 to play.
A day earlier at Sojka Pavilion, Lehigh whittled a 15-point deficit down to three in the late stages, and this one seemed far from over when the Mountain Hawks used a 10-3 run to pull within 10 at 65-55 with 7:08 to play.
Latimer, in just his fourth game in a Bucknell uniform, hit two of the biggest shots of the day to restore a comfortable margin. After two Marques Wilson free throws cut the gap to 10, Latimer caught a skip pass from Meeks on the left wing and buried a 3-pointer. Then Turner slipped a nice bounce pass to Meeks for a reverse layup, and Latimer canned another three from the left flank for a 73-55 lead with 5:48 to go.
"We played at a good comfort level from start to finish today, and that was nice to see," said Davis. "We got the ball in the paint and played inside out, and when we do that we can be pretty good offensively."
Bucknell shot 47.4 percent from the field and hit 9 of 26 (.346) from 3-point distance and 14 of 20 (.700) from the foul line. After the Mountain Hawks shot 52.0 percent from the floor in the first half, the Bison held them to 10-for-33 (.303) in the second half, including 0-for-5 from 3-point range. Lehigh finished at 39.7 percent overall and 4-for-15 (.267) from the arc.
Backing up Meeks' 31 points were Turner and Andrew Funk with 10 apiece. Funk hit two big 3-pointers in the second half just after Lehigh switched back to a zone defense. Latimer followed with eight points, and Screen had seven points and nine rebounds.
Evan Taylor paced Lehigh with 15 points, 11 coming in the first half. Nick Lynch had 12 points, and Wilson was limited to 11 after exploding for 26 a day earlier.
The Bison finished with a 36-35 rebounding edge, and they were boosted by 17 fastbreak points, compared to four for Lehigh.
The 16-point victory was Bucknell's largest over Lehigh at Stabler Arena since a 19-point win (83-64) in 1998. The Bison are now 109-69 all-time against Lehigh dating back to 1902.
Next up for the Bison is a trip to Colgate for two games at Cotterell Court next Saturday and Sunday. Both games start at 1 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN+.
Team Stats
Buck
Lehigh
FG%
.474
.397
3FG%
.346
.267
FT%
.700
.688
RB
36
35
TO
10
13
STL
8
7
Game Leaders
Pts
31
FGM
11
3FGM
4
FTM
5
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
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