Men's Basketball Right Back at it Monday Night at Lehigh on CBS Sports Network

LEHIGH SPECTATOR POLICY

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- Bucknell and Lehigh are looking to bounce back from Saturday losses on short rest, with a Monday-night affair on tap at Stabler Arena. The 7 p.m. contest will be televised nationally on CBS Sports Network.

Bucknell split a pair of home games last week, holding on to defeat American 68-66 on Wednesday before falling short in a comeback attempt against Holy Cross on Saturday. The Bison take on a Lehigh team that has been in the top half of the Patriot League standings all season, but the Mountain Hawks have dipped to 7-7 in PL play after a three-game losing streak. Lehigh fell at home to arch-rival Lafayette on Saturday.

Bucknell will certainly have revenge on its mind on Monday, as Lehigh waltzed to a 97-64 win at Sojka Pavilion back on Jan. 13. The Mountain Hawks hit a school-record 18 3-pointers in that game, and they have been the league's most accurate team from long range (.393) this season.

The Bison will have just three games remaining in the regular season after the Lehigh game. Bucknell hosts Lafayette and Boston University on the next two Saturdays, with a trip to Army in between.

• Complete Game Notes
• Digital Program
• 2021-22 Media Guide

GAME DIGEST
What: Bucknell (6-20, 3-11 PL) at Lehigh (9-17, 7-7 PL)
Where: Stabler Arena, Bethlehem, Pa.
When: Monday, Feb. 14, 7 p.m.
TV: CBS Sports Network
Local Radio: The Valley WVLY 100.9 FM
Internet Audio: BucknellBison.com
Live Stats: LehighSports.com

Bucknell Tentative Starters
G: Xander Rice (12.3 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 3.9 apg)
G: Andrew Funk (17.8 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 2.1 apg)
G: Elvin Edmonds IV (5.7 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 2.1 apg)
F: Jake van der Heijden (6.3 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 1.4 apg)
C: Andre Screen (11.1 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 1.1 bpg)

With a Win over Lehigh, Bucknell Would ...

... gain a spit of the season series with the Mountain Hawks
... win for the third straight time at Stabler Arena.
... defeat the Mountain Hawks for the fifth time in the last six games and improve to 112-70 all-time against them.

Headlines

Bucknell and Lehigh are back in action on Monday night on short rest, as both teams are looking to bounce back from Saturday-afternoon home losses. The Bison fell 78-72 to red-hot Holy Cross at Sojka Pavilion, while the Mountain Hawks dropped a 73-69 decision to local rival Lafayette at Stabler Arena.
Bucknell has played better in recent weeks but has not been able to sustain any momentum. The Bison have won three of their last seven, but each of those wins has been followed by a loss. Last week, Bucknell held off American at home but then struggled to keep Holy Cross off the glass in Saturday's close loss.
Bucknell has shot the ball well from long distance in recent games. The Bison have hit 40% or better from the arc in five of their last six games, including a 16-for-33 (.485) clip in the last two.
On the other hand, the Bison have defended the three better of late. Over the last three games, opponents are 20-for-69 (.290) from downtown. Bucknell will need to be on point in that department against a Lehigh team that went 18-for-34 at Sojka Pavilion in the first meeting between these two teams.
Wednesday's win over American moved Bucknell past the Eagles into ninth place in the Patriot League standings, and that is where the Bison sit with four games remaining in the regular season. The Bison are three games behind eighth-place Lafayette. Finishing in the No. 7 or 8 spot would mean a home game for the first round of the Patriot League Tournament. Bucknell has never played on the road in the first round since the league expanded to 10 teams in 2013-14.
Andrew Funk, the lone senior on the Bison squad, is having a terrific season. Funk is averaging 17.8 ppg, which is second in the league behind Loyola's Cam Spencer (18.7). Funk is now one of only 15 players in the nation with at least five games with 28 or more points this season; he is one of only 31 with at least three 30-point games, and he is one of 68 with 10 20-point games.
Lehigh jumped out to a strong start in Patriot League play and found itself near the top of the standings for several weeks, but a three-game losing skid has dropped the Mountain Hawks to 7-7 and into a four-way tie for fourth place.
Evan Taylor leads the team in scoring at 13.8 ppg, followed by Jeameril Wilson at 11.0. Taylor, Wilson and Nic Lynch (9.1) all shoot at least 42% from 3-point distance, and Lehigh's 39.3% team mark is by far the best in the Patriot League.

How to Get the Game

The Bucknell-Lehigh game will be televised on CBS Sports Network. John Sadak and Mo Cassara will call the action from Bethlehem.
Doug Birdsong, who is in his 22nd season as the "Voice of the Bison", will have the local radio broadcast on The Valley, WVLY 100.9 FM.
The audio feed is also available online free of charge via BucknellBison.com.
Live in-game statistics can be accessed at LehighSports.com.
Follow @Bucknell_MBB for in-game updates on Twitter.

Last Time Out

Xander Rice scored 21 points in 24 minutes of playing time, and Andrew Funk totaled 16 points and four assists, but five Holy Cross players scored in double figures as the Bucknell men's basketball team lost to the red-hot Crusaders 78-72 Saturday afternoon at Sojka Pavilion.
After trailing by as many as 11, the Bison drew to within two points multiple times in the final minutes, but Holy Cross made six consecutive free throws in the final 17 seconds to hold off the Bucknell rally. The Crusaders made 18 of 21 free throws overall on the way to their fifth win in the last six outings.
Jake van der Heijden scored 10 points for Bucknell, while Screen contributed eight points, nine rebounds, four blocked shots, and three assists. Malachi Rhodes tallied 10 rebounds in 15 minutes despite foul trouble. That matched his previous career high, which also came against Holy Cross.
Offensive rebounding was a huge factor in the outcome. Holy Cross grabbed 13 offensive boards to Bucknell's five, leading to a 21-4 disparity in second-chance points. The Crusaders also outscored the Bison 18-10 at the foul line.

Bucknell vs. Lehigh Series Notes

Bucknell has played more games (181) and won more games (111) against Lehigh than any other school. The Bison have a 111-70 lead in a series that originated in 1902.
Since the start of Patriot League play in 1990-91, Bucknell holds a 51-24 advantage, including a 29-9 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 15-8 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 Bison went 4-0 against Lehigh last season, as the two teams played four times in the same campaign for the first time. In last year's first weekend set, Bucknell won 75-70 at home and 77-61 in Bethlehem. Two weeks later, the Bison prevailed 84-70 at Stabler Arena and 92-69 at Sojka Pavilion.
John Meeks played a huge role in last year's sweep of Lehigh. He totaled 98 points and 25 rebounds in the four games, and twice he topped the 30-point mark. Andrew Funk also played well, scoring in double figures in all four games for a 13.8 ppg average.
In this year's first meeting on Jan. 13, Lehigh handed the Bison their most one-sided loss ever in Sojka Pavilion with a 97-64 verdict. The Mountain Hawks made 18 3-pointers — the most ever by a visiting team in Sojka — with Keith Higgins Jr. and Evan Taylor accounting for 11 of them. Higgins had a huge night for Lehigh with 26 points, nine assists and five rebounds. Andre Screen led the Bison with 17 points, while Funk had 15.

Notable Numbers

Senior guard Andrew Funk is enjoying his best season to date, with a scoring average (17.8) and field-goal percentage (.427) well above his previous career bests. Funk scored a career-high 38 points at Illinois State on Nov. 20, and his five games this season with 28 or more points are tied for eighth-most in the nation. Funk is one of only 19 Division I players to hit six or more 3-pointers in a game at least four times this season, and his 38 points are tied for 21st-most in the nation.
Funk's 38 points against Illinois State tied the Cancun Challenge tournament scoring record. Norris Cole, who later played in the NBA, scored 38 against Florida A&M in 2009.
Funk recently passed Zach Thomas to move into the top 10 on Bucknell's career 3-point field goal list, and he is closing in on the top 10 single-season chart.
Funk reached the 1,000-point plateau with a 3-pointer early in the first half at Holy Cross on Jan. 22. Funk became the 44th Bison to score 1,000 career points. He and older brother Tommy Funk also became just the second Patriot League brother combination to both score 1,000 career points. Tommy tallied 1,544 points for Army from 2016-20. The other brother combo to accomplish the feat also involved a Bucknell standout, as Hall-of-Famer Kevin Bettencourt (1,577 from 2002-06) and Holy Cross' Ted Bettencourt (1,035 from 1992-96) also surpassed 1,000 points.
Funk currently ranks second in the Patriot League and 18th nationally in minutes played at 36.4 per game. The last Bison to play more than 36 minutes per game over a full season was Darryl Shazier (36.1) in 2008-09. Funk ranks sixth nationally in total minutes played (945:56).
Xander Rice recorded eight assists in both games against Loyola this season. That total is the most by any active Bison. Rice has 49 assists and only 21 turnovers in his last 11 games.
Bucknell has struggled to create turnovers this season, as opponents are committing only 9.3 miscues per game on the season. That coupled with some rebounding troubles means that opponents have attempted 209 more field goals this season. The Bison have taken more shots than their opponent only three times this season — against Penn, Illinois State and Loyola — and in all three of those games the margin was just one additional attempt.
Bucknell has been excellent at the free-throw line thus far, hitting at a 76.2% clip on the season. That is the best mark in the Patriot League and 32nd-best in all of Division I basketball. The Bison ranked in the top-10 nationally at around 80% for much of the season, but they are just 37-for-65 (.569) over the last three games.

Patriot League Success

Bucknell is 309-149 (.675) all-time in Patriot League regular-season games, the best record of any league team. This will be only the sixth time in 32 years that the Bison will have a sub-.500 PL record.
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 in 2019-20.
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 31 years.
The Bison are the only team to go unbeaten in league play in a season (14-0 in 2006).

Men's Basketball Right Back at it Monday Night at Lehigh on CBS Sports Network

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Elvin Edmonds IV

Andrew Funk

Andrew Funk

John Meeks

Malachi Rhodes

Xander Rice

Xander Rice

Andre Screen

Jake van der Heijden

Men's Basketball Right Back at it Monday Night at Lehigh on CBS Sports Network

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Elvin Edmonds IV

Andrew Funk

Andrew Funk

John Meeks

Malachi Rhodes

Xander Rice

Xander Rice

Andre Screen

Jake van der Heijden

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