Men's Basketball Resumes Schedule With Two More Games vs. Lehigh

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- It's been a roller coaster week for the Bucknell men's basketball team, but the bottom line is that the Bison will be back in action this weekend against Lehigh in a pair of Patriot League Central Division contests. The home-and-home series starts in Bethlehem on Saturday at 2 p.m., and then the Mountain Hawks return to Sojka Pavilion on Sunday at 4 p.m. Both games will stream on ESPN+, and Sunday's home game will also be televised throughout Northeast PA on WQMY-TV.

With last weekend's games at Colgate postponed, the Bison enter the weekend on a two-game winning streak after sweeping Lehigh on Jan. 16-17. The Bison held on for a 75-70 win at Sojka Pavilion in the Saturday game, and then the next day they rode a big second half and the stellar play of John Meeks (31 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists) to a 77-61 victory at Stabler Arena. That extended Lehigh's losing streak to five, but the Mountain Hawks bounced back a week ago with two straight victories over Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass.

Following this weekend's games, the Bison have only two remaining against PL Central games (Feb. 20-21 vs. Lafayette). In the interim, Bucknell plays two-game sets against Loyola and American from the PL Southern Division. In addition, makeup dates for the postponed Colgate series have yet to be announced. In the Central, Lafayette sits in first place at 3-1, followed by Bucknell at 2-2 and Lehigh at 1-3. The Bison could clinch at least second place and a top-six Patriot League Tournament seed with two wins over Lehigh this weekend.

• Complete Game Notes
• 2020-21 Media Guide
• Week 5 Digital Game Program

SERIES GAME ONE
What: Bucknell (2-4, 2-2 PL Central) at Lehigh (3-5, 1-3 PL Central)
Where: Stabler Arena, Bethlehem, Pa.
When: Saturday, January 30, 2 p.m.
Internet Stream (U.S.): ESPN+ | Internet Stream (International): SIDEARM Sports
Local Radio: Eagle 107 (107.3 FM WEGH)
Listen Live: BucknellBison.com and Eagle107.com
Live Stats: LehighSports.com

SERIES GAME TWO
What: Lehigh at Bucknell
Where: Sojka Pavilion, Lewisburg, Pa. | VIRTUAL SEASON TICKETS
When: Saturday, January 16, 2 p.m.
TV: WQMY-TV
Internet Stream (U.S.): ESPN+ | Internet Stream (International): SIDEARM Sports
Local Radio: Eagle 107 (107.3 FM WEGH)
Listen Live: BucknellBison.com and Eagle107.com
Live Stats: BucknellBison.com

Bucknell Tentative Starters
G: Xander Rice (10.5 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 3.5 apg)
G: Andrew Funk (13.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 1.7 apg)
G: Walter Ellis (5.3 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 1.2 apg)
F: John Meeks (21.5 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 2.5 apg)
C: Paul Newman (5.0 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 1.2 bpg)

With a Win over Lehigh on Saturday, Bucknell Would ...

... win its third game in a row and improve to 3-4 on the season.
... record a three-game winning streak for the first time since late in the 2018-19 season.
... improve to 3-0 this season and 110-69 all-time against the Mountain Hawks.
... give head coach Nathan Davis his 106th victory as Bucknell's head coach and bring him within four of Malcolm Musser for fourth on the program's all-time wins list.

Headlines

After a strange 48 hours that included the postponement of last weekend's games at Colgate, Bucknell returned to practice on Monday in preparation for a pair of contests against Lehigh. A reported positive COVID-19 test within Bucknell's Tier 1 group on Saturday resulted in the announcement that the two games at Colgate, along with this week's games against Lehigh, would have to be postponed. However, it was later discovered that the test in question was negative all along but was inadvertently recorded as positive by the testing lab. The positive result was subsequently amended to negative, and the Bison were released from quarantine and cleared to participate against Lehigh this weekend.
Last week's postponements created a scheduling quirk where Bucknell will now play four games in a row against the same opponent. Bucknell has never before played the same team even three times in a row, but by the end of this weekend it will be four straight against Lehigh. This is not unprecedented in college basketball history, however. In the early days of the sport, when travel was not what it is today, it was not uncommon for teams in the West and South to play long series. For example, Oregon and Oregon State met six consecutive times in 1913-14. As recently as 1954-55, there were four-game stretches between Oregon and Washington State as well as Oregon State and Idaho.
The pause in Bucknell's schedule came on the heels of the team's first two victories of the season. After an 0-4 start, the Bison defeated Lehigh 75-70 at home and 77-61 on the road to move into second place in the Patriot League Central Division. The Mountain Hawks recovered nicely from those two defeats, going on the road to sweep a pair from Holy Cross last weekend.
Flipping the order from the Jan. 16-17 games with Lehigh, the Bison will start this weekend's series in Bethlehem before hosting the Mountain Hawks on Sunday. Bucknell has actually been better offensively on the road this season. The Bison are shooting 39.1% from the field while averaging 65.0 ppg at home; on the road those numbers jump to 45.5% and 74.0 ppg.
Bucknell has added key players to the lineup in each of the last two game weeks. First it was junior transfer Miles Latimer making his Bison debut during the Lafayette series after gaining his eligibility. Latimer has been an important player off the bench, averaging 9.5 ppg while shooting 56.5% from the field and 50.0% from 3-point range in his first four games with the team. Then it was senior John Meeks returning after missing the first four games with an injury. Meeks scored 12 points in his first game back, a 75-70 home win over Lehigh, and then in Sunday's 77-61 win at Stabler Arena he exploded for 31 points, 11 rebounds and five assists. Meeks was named Patriot League Player of the Week for the first time in his career.
Lehigh had dropped five straight games before sweeping Holy Cross by scores of 75-72 and 82-74 last weekend. The Mountain Hawks shot 51.3% from the field as a team in the two wins at the Hart Center, and after not making more than four 3-pointers in any of their first six games of the year, they hit six in each of the two contests against the Crusaders.
Marques Wilson (17.3 ppg) and Nic Lynch (14.9) have handled most of the scoring for Lehigh this season. Wilson scored 28 points and hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to beat Lafayette in the season opener, and he had a 26-point outing at Sojka Pavilion on Jan. 16. Lynch is shooting 52.5% from the field this season and leads the team in rebounding at 6.0 per game. Evan Taylor has also really heated up for Lehigh. After averaging 4.4 ppg in the first five games of the season, he has produced 15.0 ppg in the last three while making 18-27 (.667) shots from the field. Taylor also recorded double-digit rebounds in both games against Holy Cross last week.

How to Get the Games

The streaming of Patriot League games moves to the ESPN+ platform in 2020-21, and both of this weekend's Bucknell-Lehigh games will be available on the network. Matt Kerr and Matt Markus will describe the action on Saturday in Bethlehem. Joe Vasile handles the call of Sunday's game from Sojka Pavilion.
In addition, Adam Marco and Bucknell Athletics Hall-of-Famer Pat Flannery will call the action on Sunday for WQMY-TV throughout Northeast Pennsylvania.
Both games can be heard in the Susquehanna Valley on the radio on Eagle 107 (WEGH 107.3 FM), with Doug Birdsong now in his 21st season as play-by-play announcer. The pregame show begins 30 minutes before tip-off both days.
The audio feed is also available online free of charge via BucknellBison.com and Eagle107.com.
Live statistics can be accessed via LehighSports.com on Saturday and BucknellBison.com on Sunday.
Follow @Bucknell_MBB for in-game updates on Twitter.

Bison Improving Offensively

After struggling at the offensive end in the first three games of the season, the Bison have made strides in the last three games. Here are some comparisons:

Points per Game   Points per Poss.   FG%   3FG%   TOs per Game
First 3 Games 63.0 0.87 36.6   26.9    15.7
Last 3 Games 76.0 1.07   48.0   36.6 11.3

Recapping The Latest Action

Bucknell put a couple in the win column in its most recent action, sweeping Lehigh by counts of 75-70 (home) and 77-61 (away).
The Bison built a 15-point lead in the second half of Saturday's game at Sojka Pavilion, but they had to hang on at the end after some shaky free-throw shooting allowed Lehigh to get back in the game. The Mountain Hawks pulled within three with 13 seconds left, but Xander Rice iced it with two free throws with 0:08 remaining. Andrew Funk had a big day for the Bison with 18 points and eight rebounds.
Despite 20 first-half points from John Meeks, Bucknell trailed 37-36 at intermission at Stabler Arena on Sunday. In the second half the Bison held the Mountain Hawks to 10-for-33 shooting and outscored them 41-24 to flip the deficit into a 16-point win, the team's largest victory margin at Lehigh since 1998. Bucknell had 13 second-half field goals and Meeks had a hand in nine of them, scoring four and assisting on five. His 31 points, 11 rebounds and five assists were all career highs. Funk and Deuce Turner added 10 points each. Defensively the Bison limited Marques Wilson to 11 points after he had 26 a day earlier.

Numbers worth Noting

Andrew Funk is 17-for-19 (.895) from the foul line, fourth-best in the Patriot League.
Bucknell's guards are 64-for-76 (.842) from the charity stripe.
Freshman center Andre Screen has blocked at least one shot in every game this season.
Funk and John Meeks are both eight points shy of 600 for their careers.
Funk needs three 3-pointers for 100 in his career.
Bucknell is averaging 23.0 bench points per game.

Bucknell vs. Lehigh Series Notes

Bucknell has played more games (178) and won more games (109) against Lehigh than any other school. The Bison have a 109-69 lead in a series that originated in 1902.
Since the start of Patriot League play in 1990-91, Bucknell holds a 49-23 advantage, including a 28-8 mark at home.
Lehigh is responsible for snapping Bucknell's 35-game home winning streak against Patriot League foes. The Bison had not lost to a conference opponent at Sojka Pavilion in nearly five years, until the Mountain Hawks won 56-54 in Lewisburg on Jan. 30, 2008.
Lehigh also won the first game ever played in Sojka Pavilion, a 60-56 decision on Jan. 15, 2003. Including that game, Bucknell is 14-7 against the Mountain Hawks in Sojka.
Bucknell is 7-3 against Lehigh in Patriot League Tournament action, including an 81-65 win in the 2017 championship game.
The two teams split last year's season series, with the home team winning each time.
In last year's initial meeting at Sojka Pavilion on Jan. 18, Avi Toomer and Bruce Moore scored 15 points apiece in Bucknell's 72-56 victory. Bucknell led by 15 points at the half, and after Lehigh pulled within five at 53-48 with 5:50 to go, the Bison closed the game on a 19-8 run. John Meeks posted his first career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Jeameril Wilson paced Lehigh with 16 points.
Lehigh won the rematch at Stabler Arena, 69-60, behind 17 points each from big men Nic Lynch and James Karnik. The Bison, who were led by 20 points from Jimmy Sotos, hit just 7 of 32 attempts from 3-point range and shot 39.2% overall.

Patriot League Success

Bucknell is 304-136 (.691) all-time in Patriot League regular-season games, the best record of any league team. The Bison have finished at least .500 in PL play 25 times in 30 Patriot League seasons.
Bucknell won three straight Patriot League regular-season titles from 2011-13, becoming the first team in league history to accomplish that feat. The Bison had won five in a row and eight of the previous nine before finishing T-6th last season.
Bucknell has made nine Patriot League Tournament appearances as the No. 1 seed and seven as the No. 2 seed.
Bucknell won Patriot League Tournament titles in 2005, 2006, 2011, 2013, 2017 and 2018. The Bison have made it to the semifinals 23 times and to the championship game 13 times in the league's first 30 years.
The Bison are the only team to go unbeaten in league play in a season (14-0 in 2006).

Who's Got Next?

Bucknell and Loyola meet for the first time this season next Saturday in Baltimore. The 2 p.m. game will be shown on ESPN+.
The Greyhounds return the trip to Sojka Pavilion on Monday, Feb. 8 for a 7 p.m. game that will be televised on CBS Sports Network.