Tuesday, January 4
Lewisburg, Pa.
7 p.m.
Bucknell University
3-11,0-2Patriot
89
vs
96
Army
8-6,2-0Patriot
1
2
F
Army West Point
50
46
96
Bucknell
49
40
89
Photo by: Phil Inglis
Army Defeats Bucknell 96-89 in High-Scoring Affair at Sojka Pavilion
1/4/2022 9:03:00 PM | Men's Basketball
LEWISBURG, Pa. – Bucknell and Army West Point both had their offenses clicking at Sojka Pavilion on Tuesday night, but it was the Black Knights who were able to cobble together a few more defensive stops down the stretch as the visitors prevailed, 96-89, in the highest-scoring game in series history.
Bucknell (3-11, 0-2 Patriot League) saw its three-game home winning streak come to an end, as well as a seven-game home streak against Army, despite 28 points from Andrew Funk and a career-high 20 points from Jake van der Heijden. Andre Screen added 17 points on 8-for-9 shooting from the field, and Xander Rice tallied 15, as that quartet combined for 80 of Bucknell's 89 points.
Army (8-6, 2-0) also had two 20-point scorers, with Jalen Rucker (21) and Aaron Duhart (20) both hitting that mark. Duhart came in averaging 5.0 points per game on the season, but he hit his career-high on 9-for-13 shooting.
Bucknell made 34 of 61 field goals (55.7 percent), but the Black Knights converted on 39 of 65 (60.0 percent) and scored 58 points in the paint, thanks to effective dribble penetration from their backcourt group.
"Obviously our performance at the defensive end of the floor was the difference in the game," said coach Nathan Davis. "I thought we played maybe our best defensive game of the season up in Boston, and then tonight was our worst. It's on me to find ways to make us more consistent defensively. When you shoot 56 percent from the floor, 46 percent from three, and 83 percent from the foul line, like we did, that's a game you feel like you have to win. Credit to Army and Coach Allen, they really executed offensively and were the aggressors for most of the night. We have to get back to work and get ready to play a very physical Navy team on Friday."
Army led 50-49 after a frenetic first half, but it was the Bison who made the first move early in the second. Rice hit a couple of 3-pointers, and Funk's 3-point play gave Bucknell a 64-57 lead. A pair of free throws by Alex Timmerman made it 68-62 at the 13:18 mark, but Army went on a 22-5 run to flip that six-point deficit into an 11-point lead.
The Bison were limited to two field goals over an eight-minute stretch, and Army quickly took the lead back on a three by Duhart and paint buckets from forwards Charlie Peterson and Matt Dove. Rucker's driving layup at the 5:31 mark gave Army its largest lead at 84-73.
Bucknell got back in it with seven straight points, keyed by a van der Heijden tip-in and a 3-pointer from Elvin Edmonds IV, to pull within 84-80 with 3:30 still to play. But Army came out of the under-4 media timeout and found Chris Mann open for a backdoor layup, and then Rucker hit two free throws to make it 88-80.
In the closing minutes, van der Heijden made all three free throws after being fouled on a shot outside the arc, and Rice converted a 4-point play, but the Bison could get no closer than five.
Bucknell started the night 7-for-9 from 3-point distance, including a 4-for-4 showing from van der Heijden, who equaled his career high with 15 points in the first half alone. His driving layup capped a 10-0 run that gave the Bison an early 15-6 lead.
Funk's jumper made it 17-9, but then Army rattled off 12 straight points to take the lead. The rest of the half was a track meet, with three ties and nine lead changes over the final 8:30. In one stretch in the final 90 seconds, the teams swapped the lead on seven straight possessions.
Funk hit a contested jumper with five seconds left in the half, but Josh Caldwell sprinted down the floor for a layup at the buzzer to give the Black Knights the 50-49 lead at intermission. All told, the game featured 17 lead changes and four ties.
After struggling from long distance on Saturday at Boston University, the Bison finished 11-for-24 (.458) in this one. Army was 8-for-22 (.364) from downtown.
Funk recorded his sixth 20-point game of the season and second in a row. He upped his season scoring average to 18.6 points per game and regained the Patriot League scoring lead by two-tenths of a point over Loyola's Cam Spencer.
Postgame Press Conference:
Postgame Highlights:
Photo Gallery:
Gallery: (1-4-2022) Men's Basketball vs. Army
Bucknell (3-11, 0-2 Patriot League) saw its three-game home winning streak come to an end, as well as a seven-game home streak against Army, despite 28 points from Andrew Funk and a career-high 20 points from Jake van der Heijden. Andre Screen added 17 points on 8-for-9 shooting from the field, and Xander Rice tallied 15, as that quartet combined for 80 of Bucknell's 89 points.
Army (8-6, 2-0) also had two 20-point scorers, with Jalen Rucker (21) and Aaron Duhart (20) both hitting that mark. Duhart came in averaging 5.0 points per game on the season, but he hit his career-high on 9-for-13 shooting.
Bucknell made 34 of 61 field goals (55.7 percent), but the Black Knights converted on 39 of 65 (60.0 percent) and scored 58 points in the paint, thanks to effective dribble penetration from their backcourt group.
"Obviously our performance at the defensive end of the floor was the difference in the game," said coach Nathan Davis. "I thought we played maybe our best defensive game of the season up in Boston, and then tonight was our worst. It's on me to find ways to make us more consistent defensively. When you shoot 56 percent from the floor, 46 percent from three, and 83 percent from the foul line, like we did, that's a game you feel like you have to win. Credit to Army and Coach Allen, they really executed offensively and were the aggressors for most of the night. We have to get back to work and get ready to play a very physical Navy team on Friday."
Army led 50-49 after a frenetic first half, but it was the Bison who made the first move early in the second. Rice hit a couple of 3-pointers, and Funk's 3-point play gave Bucknell a 64-57 lead. A pair of free throws by Alex Timmerman made it 68-62 at the 13:18 mark, but Army went on a 22-5 run to flip that six-point deficit into an 11-point lead.
The Bison were limited to two field goals over an eight-minute stretch, and Army quickly took the lead back on a three by Duhart and paint buckets from forwards Charlie Peterson and Matt Dove. Rucker's driving layup at the 5:31 mark gave Army its largest lead at 84-73.
Bucknell got back in it with seven straight points, keyed by a van der Heijden tip-in and a 3-pointer from Elvin Edmonds IV, to pull within 84-80 with 3:30 still to play. But Army came out of the under-4 media timeout and found Chris Mann open for a backdoor layup, and then Rucker hit two free throws to make it 88-80.
In the closing minutes, van der Heijden made all three free throws after being fouled on a shot outside the arc, and Rice converted a 4-point play, but the Bison could get no closer than five.
Bucknell started the night 7-for-9 from 3-point distance, including a 4-for-4 showing from van der Heijden, who equaled his career high with 15 points in the first half alone. His driving layup capped a 10-0 run that gave the Bison an early 15-6 lead.
Funk's jumper made it 17-9, but then Army rattled off 12 straight points to take the lead. The rest of the half was a track meet, with three ties and nine lead changes over the final 8:30. In one stretch in the final 90 seconds, the teams swapped the lead on seven straight possessions.
Funk hit a contested jumper with five seconds left in the half, but Josh Caldwell sprinted down the floor for a layup at the buzzer to give the Black Knights the 50-49 lead at intermission. All told, the game featured 17 lead changes and four ties.
After struggling from long distance on Saturday at Boston University, the Bison finished 11-for-24 (.458) in this one. Army was 8-for-22 (.364) from downtown.
Funk recorded his sixth 20-point game of the season and second in a row. He upped his season scoring average to 18.6 points per game and regained the Patriot League scoring lead by two-tenths of a point over Loyola's Cam Spencer.
Postgame Press Conference:
Postgame Highlights:
Photo Gallery:
Team Stats
ARM
Buck
FG%
.600
.557
3FG%
.364
.458
FT%
.714
.833
RB
31
27
TO
8
14
STL
7
4
Game Leaders
Pts
28
FGM
12
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
20
FGM
6
3FGM
4
FTM
4
Pts
17
FGM
8
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
15
FGM
5
3FGM
4
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
G
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