Men's Basketball Wraps up First Semester Action Tuesday at La Salle

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- The Bucknell men's basketball squad caps off a busy first semester on Tuesday night against La Salle at Tom Gola Arena in Philadelphia. The Bison, who defeated La Salle at home last season, will then have a 12-day hiatus for final exams before resuming play on Dec. 18 at home against Merrimack.

Bucknell heads to Philly having won two straight and four of its last five to get to 6-3 on the season. The Bison led for more than 35 minutes in Saturday's 79-63 road win over NJIT. Patriot League Player of the Week Xander Rice paced a balanced attack with 14 points, as the Bison shot 52.5% from the field while holding the Highlanders to 32.8%. That has been a familiar theme for the Bison, who are one of only three Division I teams in the nation shooting better than 50% on the season while keeping opponents under 37%. Five of Bucknell's six wins have come by double-digit margins, as the Bison have a Patriot League-best +12 scoring differential on the season.

La Salle is coming off a good win of its own. The Explorers defeated Big 5 rival Penn 84-81 at The Palestra on Saturday, with legendary head coach Fran Dunphy defeating his former team. The Explorers are 4-4 on the season, with the losses coming to Villanova, Wake Forest, Georgetown, and Temple.

GAME DIGEST
What: Bucknell (6-3) at La Salle (4-4)
Where: Tom Gola Arena, Philadelphia, Pa.
When: Tuesday, Dec. 6, 7 p.m.
Streaming: ESPN+
Local Radio: The Valley (WVLY 100.9)
Internet Audio: BucknellBison.com
Live Stats: G oExplorers.com
COMPLETE GAME NOTES

Bucknell Tentative Starters
G: Elvin Edmonds IV (9.2 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 2.8 apg)
G: Xander Rice (17.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 3.8 apg)
F: Ian Motta (6.8 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 0.9 apg)
F: Alex Timmerman (11.7 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 2.0 apg)
C: Andre Screen (10.7 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 1.2 bpg)

With a Win over La Salle, Bucknell Would ...

... improve to 7-3 on the season, which would match its best 10-game start since 2016-17.
... win its third straight game and fifth in six outings.
... win its second straight road game and improve to 2-2 on opponents' home floors this season.
... defeat the Explorers for the second straight year and improve to 10-20 all-time against them.

Headlines

Bucknell closes out the first semester with a road test at La Salle on Tuesday night. Following the game, the Bison will be idle for 12 days for final exams.
The Bison have won two straight and four of their last five after Saturday's 79-63 win at NJIT.
Bucknell shot 52.5% from the field at NJIT, and the Bison have now topped the 50% mark seven times in nine games this season. The Bison are shooting 50.9% on the season, which ranks ninth nationally. Bucknell also ranks ninth in Division I in effective field-goal percentage (.586), which is an adjusted rate that accounts for the added worth of a 3-pointer, and 18th in 3-point percentage (.399).
Bucknell is tied for the national lead in most games this season shooting 50% or better from the field. Colorado State, James Madison, and Xavier also have done it seven times.
Bucknell also ranks 18th nationally in opponent field-goal percentage (.366), and the Bison are one of only three teams in the nation shooting over 50% while holding opponents under 37%.

NCAA Teams Shooting > 50% and Holding Teams <>
Team    FG%   Opponent FG%
1. Indiana .521     .364
2. Bucknell .509 .366
3. UMass-Lowell   .505    .356

Xander Rice has upped his scoring output in his senior season and comes into Tuesday's game as the Patriot League's second-leading scorer at 17.0 ppg. Rice earned his first Patriot League Player of the Week honor on Monday.

2022-23 Patriot League Scoring Leaders
1. Gerrale Gates, Holy Cross 17.8
2. Xander Rice, Bucknell 17.0
3. Chris Mann, Army 16.1
4. Tucker Richardson, Colgate 15.9
5. Tyler Nelson, Navy 15.1

Rice was named Tournament MVP of the Ocean Bracket at the Sunshine Slam during Thanksgiving Week. Rice has averaged 17.9 ppg over the last seven games, and he currently ranks in the top 10 in the league in six different statistical categories.
Alex Timmerman set his career rebounding high in two straight games last week. Timmerman logged 13 boards against Marist and then topped that total one game later with 14 against Saint Francis. Timmerman, who also set his career scoring high with a 23-point performance against Austin Peay in Daytona Beach, now ranks second in the Patriot League in rebounding at 7.6 rpg.
The Bison were picked eighth in the Patriot League preseason coaches' poll, ahead of Holy Cross and Lafayette. Defending-champion Colgate was the preseason No. 1 pick.
Bucknell is looking to bounce back from a 9-23 season a year ago. The Bison were playing well at the end of the season, however, with an overtime win at Lafayette in the Patriot League Tournament first round capping a 3-1 stretch. Bucknell was eliminated by Colgate in the quarterfinal round.
Bucknell won eight Patriot League regular-season titles in a nine-year span from 2011-19, and the Bison went to the NCAA Tournament in 2011, 2013, 2017 and 2018 during that stretch. Now Bucknell is trying to rebound from a rare run of three straight sub-.500 seasons, something that has not happened since 2007-08 to 2009-10, although the Bison did win conference tournament games in each of the last three years.
La Salle brings a 4-4 record into Tuesday's tilt. The Explorers are coming off an 84-81 win over Big Five rival Penn at the Palestra on Saturday. They also have wins over Wagner, Queens, and Binghamton, with the losses coming to Villanova, Wake Forest, Georgetown, and Temple.
Anwar Gill scored 26 points and Jhamir Brickus had 25 in the win over Penn. Josh Nickelberry is the team's leading scorer on the season at 13.0 ppg, followed by Khalil Brantley (12.9) and Gill (9.3).
Philadelphia hoops legend Fran Dunphy is in his first season as La Salle's head coach. Dunphy was previously the head coach at Penn from 1989-2006 and at Temple from 2006-19. He has won 584 games, the most in Philadelphia Big 5 history. Bucknell is 0-3 against Dunphy-coached teams. The Bison fell 73-67 at Temple in the 2015 NIT first round, and they lost both ends of a home-and-home series against Penn in 2003-04 and 2004-05.

How to Get the Game

Tuesday's game will stream live on ESPN+, with Kale Beers and Bron Holland on the call.
Doug Birdsong will have the radio call on The Valley (WVLY 100.9 FM) in the Susquehanna Valley.
The audio feed is also available online free of charge via BucknellBison.com.
Live statistics can be accessed via GoExplorers.com.
Follow @Bucknell_MBB for in-game updates on Twitter.

Bucknell vs. La Salle Series Notes

Bucknell and La Salle are former conference rivals in both the Middle Atlantic Conference and the East Coast Conference.
La Salle has a 20-9 lead in a series that dates all the way back to 1903, but the Bison have won three of the last four.
Bucknell won the very first meeting 45-17 in Lewisburg on March 7, 1903. Hall-of-Famer John Anderson and George Cheesman made 10 field goals apiece to lead Bucknell to victory. According to the Orange & Blue newspaper account, "The game started with a rush and Cheesman soon succeeded in landing a goal. During this half the teamwork was beyond reproach. Especially did the orange and blue do credit to herself in passing the sphere and in breaking up her opponents' team work. La Salle's passing, while good, was easily broken up by our men and at no time were they able to lose our five."
The Bison were 0-11 against La Salle on the Explorers' home floor until 2010-11, when Bucknell prevailed 89-77 behind 21 points from Mike Muscala.
Bucknell won last year's game at Sojka Pavilion 82-70 behind 22 points from Andrew Funk and a combined 25 points and 15 rebounds from the center combo of Andre Screen and Alex Timmerman. The Bison shot 56.1% from the floor, including 8-for-16 from 3-point range, and forced 18 Explorers turnovers.
The most recent meeting in Philadelphia came on Dec. 28, 2019 at The Palestra, with La Salle prevailing 71-59. The Explorers built a 23-point lead before the Bison pulled within 10 points late in the game.
Bucknell's last visit to Tom Gola Arena resulted in a 92-79 win on Dec. 4, 2018. Nate Sestina (24), Kimbal Mackenzie (19) and Avi Toomer (17) all had big scoring nights for the Bison.

Notable Numbers

Through nine games in 2022-23, Bucknell has been much-improved defensively over last season, when the Bison struggled to get stops. Bucknell ranks No. 1 in the league in scoring defense and field-goal percentage defense, and No. 2 in 3-point defense.

   Scoring Defense   Opp. FG%   Opp 3FG%
2021-22     79.4     .466     .373
2022-23    63.0 .366 .312

Bucknell is riding a streak of six straight games holding opponents under 40% shooting from the field. In fact, Saint Peter's (.516) is the only team to hit better than 40% against the Bison this season.
Bucknell shot 50% or better from the field nine times last season and has already done so seven times this year. The Bison are currently one of only six teams in the nation shooting better than 50% from the field and 39% from 3-point distance.
The Bison have a +5.0 rebounding margin on the season, but they would like to improve on the defensive glass. Opponents have 106 offensive rebounds to Bucknell's 78, and that area was particularly costly in the three losses to Saint Peter's, Georgia, and Marist, which combined for a 48-14 edge in second-chance points. Bucknell has seen improvement in that area in the last two games, however, as Saint Francis and NJIT combined for only 12 offensive rebounds and nine second-chance points.
Bucknell's 21 made 3-pointers against Lebanon Valley are the fourth-most by any Division I team so far this season.

Last Time Out

Andre Screen celebrated his 21st birthday with 10 points, eight rebounds, and five assists to lead a balanced effort at both ends of the floor in Bucknell's 79-63 win over NJIT at the Wellness and Events Center on Saturday afternoon.
Xander Rice scored a game-high 14 points, Elvin Edmonds IV scored 11, and Alex Timmerman had 10 and six rebounds to help the Bison improve to 6-3 on the season. Eleven different Bucknell players scored a point, and the bench totaled 26 to help the Bison match their best nine-game start in six years.
It was a familiar blueprint for the Bison, who shot 52.5% from the field while holding NJIT to 32.8%.
The Bison took control with a 20-4 run in the early moments of the game, and they maintained a double-digit lead for the final 23 minutes on the way to their first road win in three tries this season.

Who's Got Next?

Bucknell will take 12 days off for finals and then will have three more non-conference games on tap before Patriot League play starts on Dec. 30.
The Bison host Merrimack on Dec. 18 on Non-Profit Appreciation Day at Sojka Pavilion. That will be the first-ever meeting between the two teams.
Bucknell travels to Richmond (Dec. 21) and Rutgers (Dec. 23) just before Christmas and then makes its Patriot League debut at Holy Cross on Dec. 30.

Men's Basketball Wraps up First Semester Action Tuesday at La Salle

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Elvin Edmonds IV

Andrew Funk

Ian Motta

Xander Rice

Andre Screen

Alex Timmerman

Men's Basketball Wraps up First Semester Action Tuesday at La Salle

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Elvin Edmonds IV

Andrew Funk

Ian Motta

Xander Rice

Andre Screen

Alex Timmerman

Related Videos