Wednesday, February 9
Lewisburg, Pa.
7 p.m.
Bucknell University
6-19,3-10Patriot
68
vs
66
American
6-17,2-9Patriot
1
2
F
American
28
38
66
Bucknell
39
29
68
Photo by: Lianne Garrahan
Bison Men Hold off American, 68-66
2/9/2022 8:56:00 PM | Men's Basketball
LEWISBURG, Pa. – Andre Screen equaled his career high with 20 points, and Bucknell survived a late flurry from American to win 68-66 on Wednesday night at Sojka Pavilion.
The Bison trailed only once at 2-0, and they led by double figures for nearly 29 minutes, but the Eagles scored the game's final 11 points and missed a potential game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Andrew Funk tallied 16 points and Xander Rice added 11 for Bucknell, which improved to 6-19 overall and 3-10 in the Patriot League. Stacy Beckton Jr. paced American with 18 points, but the Eagles (6-17, 2-9) dropped their fourth straight and were passed by Bucknell in the Patriot League standings.
The Bison got out to a dream start, hitting 15 of their first 17 shots from the field on the way to a 37-20 lead late in the first half. Bucknell cooled off a little bit late in the half and led 39-28 at intermission, but the hosts were still shooting 65 percent from the field when Screen's stick-back 3-point play made the lead 66-51 with 6:20 to play.
Jaxon Knotek was fouled after grabbing a long offensive rebound on a desperation three by Beckton at the end of the shot clock, and Knotek knocked down a pair at the line to make it a 68-63 game with 1:38 to go. After a Bison miss, Screen pulled down a defensive rebound at the other end but came down with a heel on the baseline. American took advantage, with Beckton swishing a deep 3-pointer to make it 68-65 with 45 seconds left.
Bucknell ran the shot clock down and tried to go inside to Screen on the left block, but Elijah Stephens came from the back side and intercepted the entry pass. After a timeout, Colin Smalls drove and kicked a pass to Stephens in the deep right corner, but his 3-point attempt drew front iron as time expired.
"I thought our guys came out and played hard, I thought we had good focus early in the game," said head coach Nathan Davis. "We executed well at both ends. Unfortunately at the end it got away from us, but we hung on to win and that's what matters. I thought we played pretty well. We were far from perfect and we have a lot of work to do, but we've gotten better over the last two or three weeks. It's headed in the right direction, but we have to make sure we're better on Saturday."
Despite missing their final five attempts of the night, the Bison shot a season-best 57.1 percent from the field. That included an 8-for-16 showing from the 3-point arc.
Funk hit four of those eight treys, and he moved into 10th place on Bucknell's career list with 171 made 3-pointers. Funk also eclipsed the 1,100-point mark for his career and moved past Bryan Cohen into 33rd place on the team's all-time scoring list (1,113).
The Bison received another strong performance off the bench from Malachi Rhodes, who tallied six points and seven rebounds in 17 minutes. Rice, Funk, and Jake van der Heijden all handed out four assists, and Elvin Edmonds IV had a career-high four steals to go with three assists. Screen was coming off a 9-for-10 performance at Lafayette, and he now has 38 points on 18-for-23 shooting in his last two games.
Matt Rogers scored for American on the game's first possession, but a layup by Screen and back-to-back threes by Rice and Funk got the Bison going. Ian Motta's 3-pointer capped a 12-3 run that made it 21-8, and by the time Rhodes drove for a layup at the 4:42 mark the Bison were 15-for-17 from the field with a 37-20 lead.
Bucknell, which gained a split of the season series after falling 63-55 in D.C. on Jan. 16, finished with a 36-26 edge in points in the paint. American shot 44.0 percent from the field and made 5 of 16 from long distance, but the Eagles went 17-for-21 at the foul line, compared to Bucknell's 6-for-9.
The Bison are back home on Saturday to face suddenly red-hot Holy Cross. Bucknell defeated the Crusaders 68-65 in Worcester on Jan. 22, but Holy Cross has won four of its last five, including a 68-64 win over Loyola on Wednesday.
Postgame Press Conference:
Highlights:
The Bison trailed only once at 2-0, and they led by double figures for nearly 29 minutes, but the Eagles scored the game's final 11 points and missed a potential game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Andrew Funk tallied 16 points and Xander Rice added 11 for Bucknell, which improved to 6-19 overall and 3-10 in the Patriot League. Stacy Beckton Jr. paced American with 18 points, but the Eagles (6-17, 2-9) dropped their fourth straight and were passed by Bucknell in the Patriot League standings.
The Bison got out to a dream start, hitting 15 of their first 17 shots from the field on the way to a 37-20 lead late in the first half. Bucknell cooled off a little bit late in the half and led 39-28 at intermission, but the hosts were still shooting 65 percent from the field when Screen's stick-back 3-point play made the lead 66-51 with 6:20 to play.
🏀 movement! #rayBucknell
— Bucknell MBasketball (@Bucknell_MBB) February 10, 2022
Watch on ESPN+: https://t.co/JLH5zjdfbO pic.twitter.com/B7JsOyc4ot
But that would be Bucknell's last field goal of the day, and American used some outstanding free-throw shooting to chip away at the deficit. The Eagles made their final 13 free throws of the night, including 10-for-10 down the stretch. Bucknell led 68-55 after two charity tosses from Rice with 3:55 to play before the Eagles tallied the last 11 points.
Jaxon Knotek was fouled after grabbing a long offensive rebound on a desperation three by Beckton at the end of the shot clock, and Knotek knocked down a pair at the line to make it a 68-63 game with 1:38 to go. After a Bison miss, Screen pulled down a defensive rebound at the other end but came down with a heel on the baseline. American took advantage, with Beckton swishing a deep 3-pointer to make it 68-65 with 45 seconds left.
Bucknell ran the shot clock down and tried to go inside to Screen on the left block, but Elijah Stephens came from the back side and intercepted the entry pass. After a timeout, Colin Smalls drove and kicked a pass to Stephens in the deep right corner, but his 3-point attempt drew front iron as time expired.
"I thought our guys came out and played hard, I thought we had good focus early in the game," said head coach Nathan Davis. "We executed well at both ends. Unfortunately at the end it got away from us, but we hung on to win and that's what matters. I thought we played pretty well. We were far from perfect and we have a lot of work to do, but we've gotten better over the last two or three weeks. It's headed in the right direction, but we have to make sure we're better on Saturday."
Despite missing their final five attempts of the night, the Bison shot a season-best 57.1 percent from the field. That included an 8-for-16 showing from the 3-point arc.
Funk hit four of those eight treys, and he moved into 10th place on Bucknell's career list with 171 made 3-pointers. Funk also eclipsed the 1,100-point mark for his career and moved past Bryan Cohen into 33rd place on the team's all-time scoring list (1,113).
The Bison received another strong performance off the bench from Malachi Rhodes, who tallied six points and seven rebounds in 17 minutes. Rice, Funk, and Jake van der Heijden all handed out four assists, and Elvin Edmonds IV had a career-high four steals to go with three assists. Screen was coming off a 9-for-10 performance at Lafayette, and he now has 38 points on 18-for-23 shooting in his last two games.
Matt Rogers scored for American on the game's first possession, but a layup by Screen and back-to-back threes by Rice and Funk got the Bison going. Ian Motta's 3-pointer capped a 12-3 run that made it 21-8, and by the time Rhodes drove for a layup at the 4:42 mark the Bison were 15-for-17 from the field with a 37-20 lead.
Bucknell, which gained a split of the season series after falling 63-55 in D.C. on Jan. 16, finished with a 36-26 edge in points in the paint. American shot 44.0 percent from the field and made 5 of 16 from long distance, but the Eagles went 17-for-21 at the foul line, compared to Bucknell's 6-for-9.
The Bison are back home on Saturday to face suddenly red-hot Holy Cross. Bucknell defeated the Crusaders 68-65 in Worcester on Jan. 22, but Holy Cross has won four of its last five, including a 68-64 win over Loyola on Wednesday.
Postgame Press Conference:
Highlights:
Team Stats
Americ
Buck
FG%
.440
.574
3FG%
.313
.500
FT%
.810
.667
RB
25
23
TO
11
14
STL
9
5
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
20
FGM
9
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
16
FGM
5
3FGM
4
FTM
2
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
6
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
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/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballC
/ Men's Basketball
F
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