Wednesday, March 10
Hamilton, N.Y.
7:30 p.m.
Bucknell University
at
Colgate (PL Semifinals)
Photo by: Marc Hagemeier
Men's Basketball Set for Semifinal Clash with Colgate
3/9/2021 3:16:00 PM | Men's Basketball
LEWISBURG, Pa. -- Bucknell is back in the PenFed Credit Union Patriot League Tournament semifinals for the 24th time in the 31-year history of the conference after defeating third-seeded Lafayette on the road on Saturday, 92-84. The sixth-seeded Bison take on No. 2 Colgate on Wednesday, with tip time from Cotterell Court at approximately 7:40 p.m. on CBS Sports Network. Colgate is the highest remaining team in the field after top-seeded Navy was upset by No. 9 Loyola on Saturday, and the Bison and Raiders will be meeting in the postseason for the third time in the last four years.
It's been a season of starts and stops for the Bison, who endured a four-week pause in the month of February. But for the first time in quite awhile, the team had a full week of practice and a full complement of players available for the quarterfinal round against Lafayette. The preparation paid dividends, as the Bison put together one of their best offensive performances of the season.
Bucknell, the No. 6 seed, shot a season-high 54.5% from the field against the third-seeded Leopards, including 7-for-14 from 3-point range. Playing for the first time since Jan. 31, John Meeks picked right up where he left off before the pause, scoring 31 points with 11 rebounds. It was Meeks' third 30-point game in his last four outings, and he is now averaging 25.8 points and 7.2 rebounds in his five games played this season. Meeks earned a spot on the All-Patriot League Third Team for the second year in a row, even though he was limited to four regular-season games. Including Saturday's game against Lafayette, the Bison are 5-0 with Meeks on the floor, 0-6 without him.
Record PPG FG% 3FG% Rebound Margin
Bucknell With Meeks 5-0 84.0 .498 .411 +2.6
Bucknell Without Meeks 0-6 67.4 .420 .273 -5.3
This is just the fifth time in the Patriot League era that the Bison are seeded sixth or lower, but in four of those five instances they won games to move on to the semifinals. Last season, the seventh-seeded Bison upset No. 2 American in the quarters, before dropping a close 64-61 decision to eventual-champion Boston University in the semis. Bucknell has made a league-high 13 trips to the Patriot League championship game, and 12 of those appearances have come as the No. 1 or 2 seed. The only one lower was in 1993, when the Bison made it to the final as a No. 3 seed.
The Bucknell and Colgate senior classes have very similar postseason resumes. Both classes are 8-2 in their careers in Patriot League Tournament play, and both classes have won a Patriot League championship against the other. The Bison defeated the Raiders in the 2018 championship game, and Colgate returned the favor in 2019.
Colgate comes in with a 12-1 record, including 11 straight victories since suffering their only loss of the year to Army back on Jan. 3. All 13 of Colgate's games have come against the other Northern Division foes — Army, Holy Cross and Boston University — and that includes Saturday's 77-69 win over Boston University in the Patriot League quarterfinals. The Bison and Raiders were scheduled to meet back on Jan. 23-24 in Hamilton, but the games were scratched at the last minute when Bucknell received word of a positive COVID-19 test. It was later determined that the test was negative all along, but it was incorrectly marked by the laboratory. So even though the two teams did not meet during the regular season, players from both teams would have been prepped on scouting reports.
Led by Patriot League Player of the Year Jordan Burns, Colgate is the fourth-highest scoring team in the nation at 85.0 ppg, trailing only Gonzaga (92.9), Baylor (85.3) and Iowa (85.0). The Raiders also rank third nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.67), and defensively they lead all Division I teams in opponent 3-point percentage (.262). Burns is the top scorer at 17.0 ppg, and he also leads the Patriot League in assists at 5.4 per game. Jack Ferguson scores 12.4 ppg off the bench while connecting on 49.2% of his 3-point attempts. Nelly Cummings (12.3) and Tucker Richardson (11.4) also score in double figures.
The Bucknell-Colgate winner will meet either fourth-seeded Army or ninth-seeded Loyola in Sunday's championship game. The Black Knights and Greyhounds play at West Point at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, just before the Bucknell-Colgate game.
• Complete Game Notes
• 2020-21 Media Guide
ABOUT THE GAME
What: #6 Bucknell (5-6, 4-2 PL Central) at #2 Colgate (12-1, 11-1 PL North)
Where: Cotterell Court, Hamilton, N.Y.
When: Wednesday, March 10, 7:30 p.m.
TV: CBS Sports Network
Local Radio: Eagle 107 (107.3 FM WEGH)
Listen Live: BucknellBison.com and Eagle107.com
Live Stats: GoColgateRaiders.com
Bucknell Tentative Starters
G: Xander Rice (11.3 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 3.5 apg)
G: Andrew Funk (12.9 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 1.5 apg)
G: Walter Ellis (8.9 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 1.3 apg)
F: John Meeks (25.8 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 2.2 apg)
C: Paul Newman (5.1 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 0.8 bpg)
With a Win over Colgate, Bucknell Would ...
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 def. Holy Cross 65-62; def. American 64-59; lost Boston U. 64-61
2021 6 def. Lafayette 92-84; vs. Colgate
PL TOURNAMENT BY OPPONENT
American 3-0
Army 8-2
Boston U. 1-1
Colgate 4-3
Fordham 0-2
Navy 5-3
Holy Cross 9-8
Lafayette 6-2
Lehigh 7-3
Loyola 1-0
More on Meeks
John Meeks, Bucknell 25.8
1. Max Abmas, Oral Roberts 24.6
2. Antoine Davis, Detroit 24.0
3. Luka Garza, Iowa 23.8
4. Cameron Thomas, LSU 23.1
MOST 30-POINT GAMES IN A SEASON, BUCKNELL HISTORY
Joe Steiner 4 1960-61
Zach Thomas 4 2017-18
Joe Baccelli 3 1954-55
Hal Danzig 3 1957-58
John Meeks 3 2020-21
Boiling Rice
It's been a season of starts and stops for the Bison, who endured a four-week pause in the month of February. But for the first time in quite awhile, the team had a full week of practice and a full complement of players available for the quarterfinal round against Lafayette. The preparation paid dividends, as the Bison put together one of their best offensive performances of the season.
Bucknell, the No. 6 seed, shot a season-high 54.5% from the field against the third-seeded Leopards, including 7-for-14 from 3-point range. Playing for the first time since Jan. 31, John Meeks picked right up where he left off before the pause, scoring 31 points with 11 rebounds. It was Meeks' third 30-point game in his last four outings, and he is now averaging 25.8 points and 7.2 rebounds in his five games played this season. Meeks earned a spot on the All-Patriot League Third Team for the second year in a row, even though he was limited to four regular-season games. Including Saturday's game against Lafayette, the Bison are 5-0 with Meeks on the floor, 0-6 without him.
Record PPG FG% 3FG% Rebound Margin
Bucknell With Meeks 5-0 84.0 .498 .411 +2.6
Bucknell Without Meeks 0-6 67.4 .420 .273 -5.3
This is just the fifth time in the Patriot League era that the Bison are seeded sixth or lower, but in four of those five instances they won games to move on to the semifinals. Last season, the seventh-seeded Bison upset No. 2 American in the quarters, before dropping a close 64-61 decision to eventual-champion Boston University in the semis. Bucknell has made a league-high 13 trips to the Patriot League championship game, and 12 of those appearances have come as the No. 1 or 2 seed. The only one lower was in 1993, when the Bison made it to the final as a No. 3 seed.
The Bucknell and Colgate senior classes have very similar postseason resumes. Both classes are 8-2 in their careers in Patriot League Tournament play, and both classes have won a Patriot League championship against the other. The Bison defeated the Raiders in the 2018 championship game, and Colgate returned the favor in 2019.
Colgate comes in with a 12-1 record, including 11 straight victories since suffering their only loss of the year to Army back on Jan. 3. All 13 of Colgate's games have come against the other Northern Division foes — Army, Holy Cross and Boston University — and that includes Saturday's 77-69 win over Boston University in the Patriot League quarterfinals. The Bison and Raiders were scheduled to meet back on Jan. 23-24 in Hamilton, but the games were scratched at the last minute when Bucknell received word of a positive COVID-19 test. It was later determined that the test was negative all along, but it was incorrectly marked by the laboratory. So even though the two teams did not meet during the regular season, players from both teams would have been prepped on scouting reports.
Led by Patriot League Player of the Year Jordan Burns, Colgate is the fourth-highest scoring team in the nation at 85.0 ppg, trailing only Gonzaga (92.9), Baylor (85.3) and Iowa (85.0). The Raiders also rank third nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.67), and defensively they lead all Division I teams in opponent 3-point percentage (.262). Burns is the top scorer at 17.0 ppg, and he also leads the Patriot League in assists at 5.4 per game. Jack Ferguson scores 12.4 ppg off the bench while connecting on 49.2% of his 3-point attempts. Nelly Cummings (12.3) and Tucker Richardson (11.4) also score in double figures.
The Bucknell-Colgate winner will meet either fourth-seeded Army or ninth-seeded Loyola in Sunday's championship game. The Black Knights and Greyhounds play at West Point at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, just before the Bucknell-Colgate game.
• Complete Game Notes
• 2020-21 Media Guide
ABOUT THE GAME
What: #6 Bucknell (5-6, 4-2 PL Central) at #2 Colgate (12-1, 11-1 PL North)
Where: Cotterell Court, Hamilton, N.Y.
When: Wednesday, March 10, 7:30 p.m.
TV: CBS Sports Network
Local Radio: Eagle 107 (107.3 FM WEGH)
Listen Live: BucknellBison.com and Eagle107.com
Live Stats: GoColgateRaiders.com
Bucknell Tentative Starters
G: Xander Rice (11.3 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 3.5 apg)
G: Andrew Funk (12.9 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 1.5 apg)
G: Walter Ellis (8.9 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 1.3 apg)
F: John Meeks (25.8 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 2.2 apg)
C: Paul Newman (5.1 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 0.8 bpg)
With a Win over Colgate, Bucknell Would ...
- ... advance to the PenFed Credit Union Patriot League Tournament championship game and play the Army-Loyola winner on Sunday. If Bucknell were to face Loyola, it would be played in Sojka Pavilion, while a Bucknell-Army final would be played at West Point.
- ... reach the Patriot League championship game for the 14th time, extending the league record.
- ... snap a three-game losing streak at Cotterell Court.
- ... improve to 70-47 all-time against the Raiders and 5-3 against them in the postseason.
- ... improve to 4-3 on the road this season.
- ... give head coach Nathan Davis his 109th victory as Bucknell's head coach and bring him within one of Malcolm Musser for fourth on the program's all-time wins list.
- The Bucknell-Colgate semifinal game will be televised on CBS Sports Network. Jason Horowitz and Julianne Viani-Braen will call the action.
- The game 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 GoColgateRaiders.com.
- Follow @Bucknell_MBB for in-game updates on Twitter.
- Bucknell has an all-time record of 44-24 (.647) in 31 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 24 of the 31 years.
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 def. Holy Cross 65-62; def. American 64-59; lost Boston U. 64-61
2021 6 def. Lafayette 92-84; vs. Colgate
PL TOURNAMENT BY OPPONENT
American 3-0
Army 8-2
Boston U. 1-1
Colgate 4-3
Fordham 0-2
Navy 5-3
Holy Cross 9-8
Lafayette 6-2
Lehigh 7-3
Loyola 1-0
More on Meeks
- John Meeks has played in only five of Bucknell's 11 games this season, so he does not qualify for the NCAA or Patriot League statistical rankings. But if he did, he currently would be leading the nation in scoring.
John Meeks, Bucknell 25.8
1. Max Abmas, Oral Roberts 24.6
2. Antoine Davis, Detroit 24.0
3. Luka Garza, Iowa 23.8
4. Cameron Thomas, LSU 23.1
- uMeeks' point totals in his five appearances this season are 12-31-23-32-31. He had topped the 20-point mark once in his career entering this season, and he has now done it four straight times, including three 30-point games.
- uMeeks is the first player in school history to have three 30-point performances in a span of four games, and he is the fifth player in team history to have at least three 30-point games in a single season.
MOST 30-POINT GAMES IN A SEASON, BUCKNELL HISTORY
Joe Steiner 4 1960-61
Zach Thomas 4 2017-18
Joe Baccelli 3 1954-55
Hal Danzig 3 1957-58
John Meeks 3 2020-21
Boiling Rice
- Xander Rice has been on quite a roll of late. In the final regular-season game against American on Feb. 28, Rice went 7-for-7 from the field and scored 16 points. Then on Saturday against Lafayette he went 6-for-10, including a career-high four 3-pointers in six attempts, and tallied 19 points.
- Rice is now shooting 52.6% from the field this season, the highest percentage among all qualified guards in the Patriot League and 10th-best among all players at all positions.
- At 48.3% from the arc, Rice now ranks second in the league in 3-point percentage, trailing only Colgate's Jack Ferguson (.492).
- Rice also continues to handle the ball well. His 2.4 assist-to-turnover ratio ranks second in the Patriot League and 38th nationally. He has committed only 16 turnovers in 315 minutes this season.
- Bucknell's guards are 116-for-144 (.806) from the foul line this season.
- Freshman center Andre Screen has blocked at least one shot in all but one of his games this season.
- Paul Newman is 14-for-20 from the field in his last six games.
- Walter Ellis is in the midst of one of the best scoring spells of his career. He has reached double figures in five straight games for the first time and is 22-for-36 (.611) from the field in that span.
- Bucknell has shot 50% or better from the field four times this season, including a season-best 54.5% against Lafayette on Saturday.
- Bucknell has shot the ball much better on the road (.480) than at home (.428) this season.
- Two of the league's top seniors put on quite a show on Saturday, but it was John Meeks and the Bison outlasting Justin Jaworski and Lafayette 92-84 at Kirby Sports Center. Meeks scored 23 points in the first half and finished with 31 and 11 rebounds. Jaworski, a First Team All-Patriot League honoree, scored 28 for the Leopards.
- The key stretch in the game came over the final eight minutes of the first half, when Bucknell held the Leopards to one field goal and outscored them 20-5 to take a 46-37 halftime lead. The Bison went up by as many as 15 in the second half, then withstood a late flurry and hit some timely free throws down the stretch.
- In addition to Meeks' big performance, Xander Rice hit a career-high four 3-pointers and scored 19 points. His own personal 8-0 run was a big part of that stretch late in the first half. Andrew Funk scored all 14 of his points in the second half, and Walter Ellis scored 13 points and hit career highs in rebounds (8), assists (4) and made free throws (6).
- Bucknell outrebounded Lafayette 38-23 after being -17 on the glass against the Leopards in the two regular-season meetings.
- This will be the 117th all-time meeting between Bucknell and Colgate in a series that dates back 101 years to 1920. The Bison have a 69-47 series lead. The only other opponents that Bucknell has played at least 100 times are Lehigh (180), Lafayette (172), Gettysburg (126) and Penn State (104).
- As Patriot League rivals, Bucknell is 48-20, including 26-5 in Lewisburg.
- These two teams recently met in back-to-back Patriot League championship games. Bucknell won 83-54 in the 2018 title tilt at Sojka Pavilion, and Colgate returned the favor with a 94-80 win at Cotterell Court in 2019.
- Last season the Bison and Raiders split two meetings, with the home team winning each time.
- At Cotterell Court, the Raiders won 80-65 thanks to some lights-out 3-point shooting. Colgate went 11-for-15 from the arc in the second half and 14-for-23 in the game. Jordan Burns hit six of those second-half treys and scored all 23 of his points in the second half. Andrew Funk scored 16 points to lead the Bison, who trailed by three at the half and were right in the game until Colgate pulled away late.
- Bucknell won a nailbiter on Senior Day later in the year, 71-70 at Sojka Pavilion. Paul Newman made a go-ahead free throw with 7.4 seconds remaining, and the Bison came up with a defensive stop at the other end to win the game. Burns led Colgate with 24 points. Jimmy Sotos had 17 and Walter Ellis 12 for the Bison. Bucknell led by as many as 17 points in the game.
- That verdict snapped Bucknell's three-game losing streak in the series, with all three losses coming at Cotterell Court.
- After Wednesday's game, four of the last five Bucknell-Colgate clashes will have taken place in Hamilton.
- Bucknell is 306-138 (.689) 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 31 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 24 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).
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's BasketballBucknell at Fordham Football Highlights 11-8-2025
Monday, November 10
Post Game Interview vs. Fordham
Sunday, November 09
In The Herd: Patriot League Quarterfinal Preview And David Krumov Feature
Friday, November 07
In The Herd: Fordham Game Preview And Chuck Kreinbucher Feature
Thursday, November 06