Tuesday, March 1
Easton, Pa.
7 p.m.
Bucknell University
9-22,5-13Patriot
82
at
81
Lafayette (PL First Round)
10-20,7-11Patriot
1
2
OT 1
F
Bucknell
31
40
11
82
Lafayette
40
31
10
81
Photo by: Marc Hagemeier
Win and Advance! Bucknell Moving on in Patriot League Tournament After Beating Lafayette 82-81 in Another OT Thriller
3/1/2022 9:50:00 PM | Men's Basketball
EASTON, Pa. – Andrew Funk scored nine of his 21 points in overtime, including the go-ahead layup with 16 seconds remaining, lifting ninth-seeded Bucknell to an 82-81 overtime win at eighth-seeded Lafayette in a Patriot League Tournament first-round game on Tuesday night at Kirby Sports Center. The Bison have now won at least one postseason game in 25 of 32 seasons in the Patriot League, and now they advance to face top-seeded Colgate in the quarterfinals on Thursday night in Hamilton, N.Y.
Andre Screen, who finished with 16 points, grabbed two offensive rebounds on Bucknell's final possession of regulation, the latter a game-tying tip-in with four seconds remaining. Alex Timmerman and Malachi Rhodes scored 12 points apiece off the bench, with Rhodes also grabbing a team-high eight rebounds.
Funk put the Bison on top 80-79 with a 3-pointer with 1:10 left in the overtime period. Neil Quinn hit two free throws to give Lafayette the lead back with 39 seconds to go. Bucknell ran through a possession before coach Nathan Davis called a timeout with 11 seconds on the shot clock and 20 on the game clock. Inbounding from the right sideline, Funk passed to Screen and then back cut to the basket, and Screen delivered a perfect bounce pass for the go-ahead layup.
After a pass was tipped out-of-bounds in the frontcourt with five seconds left, Jon Brantley was off the mark on a 3-pointer at the buzzer, and Bucknell celebrated after yet another thriller between the two teams.
"That's a great win on the road to start the postseason," said head coach Nathan Davis. "Our guys showed tremendous poise down the stretch and really executed well under pressure with the season on the line. I thought we got off to a slow start, as Lafayette got a ton of deflections and was definitely the aggressor in the first half. One of our keys was not to let them shoot threes with their feet set, and then they took 20 threes and had a bunch of good looks in the first half. But in the second half, I thought we competed much harder for the loose balls and once we stopped turning it over we scored fairly efficiently."
The Bison and Leopards went to overtime in both regular-season meetings, so it figured the rubber match would be tight as well. That was certainly the case as there were seven ties and seven lead changes in the final stages of regulation and OT.
After trailing by as many as 13 in the first half and by nine at intermission, Bucknell (9-22) chipped away at the deficit over the first 10 minutes of the second. The Bison closed within five on four different occasions, only for Lafayette to answer each time.
Two straight buckets by Screen ignited an 8-2 run, and an electrifying tip dunk by Rhodes made it a one-point game. Kyle Jenkins dunked at the other end, but then a layup by Funk and four straight free throws from bigs Timmerman and Screen gave the Bison their first lead of the night at the 4:52 mark.
While Funk came up big for the Bison in crunch time, so did Lafayette senior guard Tyrone Perry. He connected on a deep 3-pointer to knot the game at 62 with 3:54 left, and then after Bison freshman Elvin Edmonds IV answered with a three of his own, Perry tied it again with a 3-point play with 2:57 to go.
Screen and Quinn – the two opposing 7-footers – hit both ends of 1-and-1, then funk scored off a backdoor feed from Rhodes, hanging in the air for a tough shot over Quinn with 1:46 to go.
Quinn scored and was fouled with 1:21 left, but he missed the free throw to leave the game tied at 69. After a Funk miss, Perry was fouled on a drive and made both at the line to put Lafayette ahead 71-69 with 24 seconds to go.
Rhodes was off the mark on a right-side jumper, but Screen grabbed the rebound on the weak side. He kicked a pass to Xander Rice for a three that went in and out, but Screen tipped it back in with four seconds left, sending the Bison and Leopards to overtime for the third time this season.
Funk opened the extra frame with back-to-back layups, but Lafayette later took a 79-77 lead on consecutive threes from Brantley and Perry, setting up the wild finish.
Lafayette did almost all of its first-half damage from long range. Ten of the Leopards' 14 made field goals and 20 of their 31 attempts came from beyond the arc.
Lafayette led by as many as 13 in the opening half after a Jenkins 3-pointer made it 31-18. Funk got going with back-to-back treys for the Bison, and a Rhodes free throw brought them back within six at 31-25.
Bucknell held Lafayette to three field goals in the final eight minutes of the half, but they were all threes, and the Leopards went to the locker room with a 40-31 lead. The Bison shot 59.1 percent in the first half, but they were held back by 12 turnovers.
Bucknell shot 58.2 percent on the night, topping the 50-percent barrier for the fifth time in the last seven games. The Bison were 9-for-18 from downtown and 9-for-11 from the foul line.
Rhodes scored a career-high 12 points in Bucknell's overtime loss in Easton on Feb. 5, and he equaled that total in this one. Timmerman extended his streak to 10 straight made field goals before finishing 5-for-8, and the Bison bench outscored Lafayette's reserves 24-14.
Funk recorded his 13th 20-point game of the season and third against Lafayette. Funk became the 23rd player in Bucknell history to record at least 1,200 career points, and he moved past Joe Steiner and Lorry Hathaway into 21st on the program's all-time scoring list.
Funk also moved into 10th place on Bucknell's single-season scoring list with 551 points, and his 84 3-pointers this season are tied for second-most in team history. Funk also had seven assists in the game, giving him 26 assists and only two turnovers in his last five games.
Bucknell improved to 45-25 all-time in Patriot League Tournament games, including a 7-2 mark against Lafayette. In the process, the Bison tied school records for most overtime games in a season (6) and most overtime wins in a season (4).
Perry led Lafayette (10-20) with 22 points, followed by Quinn with 18, Jenkins with 17, and Brantley with 12.
The Leopards shot 45.3 percent overall and finished 14-for-38 from 3-point range and 9-for-12 from the foul line.
It was the final contest for Lafayette head coach Fran O'Hanlon, who is retiring after 27 seasons at the helm of the Leopards.
"It has been an honor to coach against Coach O'Hanlon," said Davis. "His teams are always so well-drilled, and they are a real challenge to guard. He's so much more than a great coach, he's an even better person. He has done such a great job teaching the game of basketball, and the game is really going to miss him."
Bucknell and Colgate will meet in Hamilton on Thursday at 7 p.m. on ESPN+. The Raiders won the regular-season title with a 16-2 record, including 75-56 and 83-69 victories over Bucknell.
Gallery: (3-1-2022) Men's Basketball at Lafayette
Andre Screen, who finished with 16 points, grabbed two offensive rebounds on Bucknell's final possession of regulation, the latter a game-tying tip-in with four seconds remaining. Alex Timmerman and Malachi Rhodes scored 12 points apiece off the bench, with Rhodes also grabbing a team-high eight rebounds.
Funk put the Bison on top 80-79 with a 3-pointer with 1:10 left in the overtime period. Neil Quinn hit two free throws to give Lafayette the lead back with 39 seconds to go. Bucknell ran through a possession before coach Nathan Davis called a timeout with 11 seconds on the shot clock and 20 on the game clock. Inbounding from the right sideline, Funk passed to Screen and then back cut to the basket, and Screen delivered a perfect bounce pass for the go-ahead layup.
Here's a look at Andrew Funk's game-winning shot at Lafayette, sending the Bison on to Colgate for the PL quarterfinals. Great play call on the sideline out-of-bounds, and a great feed by Screen to Funk on the back cut. #rayBucknell #TheBisonWay pic.twitter.com/h54mw4jAVo
— Bucknell MBasketball (@Bucknell_MBB) March 2, 2022
After a pass was tipped out-of-bounds in the frontcourt with five seconds left, Jon Brantley was off the mark on a 3-pointer at the buzzer, and Bucknell celebrated after yet another thriller between the two teams.
"That's a great win on the road to start the postseason," said head coach Nathan Davis. "Our guys showed tremendous poise down the stretch and really executed well under pressure with the season on the line. I thought we got off to a slow start, as Lafayette got a ton of deflections and was definitely the aggressor in the first half. One of our keys was not to let them shoot threes with their feet set, and then they took 20 threes and had a bunch of good looks in the first half. But in the second half, I thought we competed much harder for the loose balls and once we stopped turning it over we scored fairly efficiently."
On to Colgate 🦬 pic.twitter.com/coSPNEb9UJ
— Bucknell MBasketball (@Bucknell_MBB) March 2, 2022
The Bison and Leopards went to overtime in both regular-season meetings, so it figured the rubber match would be tight as well. That was certainly the case as there were seven ties and seven lead changes in the final stages of regulation and OT.
After trailing by as many as 13 in the first half and by nine at intermission, Bucknell (9-22) chipped away at the deficit over the first 10 minutes of the second. The Bison closed within five on four different occasions, only for Lafayette to answer each time.
Two straight buckets by Screen ignited an 8-2 run, and an electrifying tip dunk by Rhodes made it a one-point game. Kyle Jenkins dunked at the other end, but then a layup by Funk and four straight free throws from bigs Timmerman and Screen gave the Bison their first lead of the night at the 4:52 mark.
While Funk came up big for the Bison in crunch time, so did Lafayette senior guard Tyrone Perry. He connected on a deep 3-pointer to knot the game at 62 with 3:54 left, and then after Bison freshman Elvin Edmonds IV answered with a three of his own, Perry tied it again with a 3-point play with 2:57 to go.
Screen and Quinn – the two opposing 7-footers – hit both ends of 1-and-1, then funk scored off a backdoor feed from Rhodes, hanging in the air for a tough shot over Quinn with 1:46 to go.
Quinn scored and was fouled with 1:21 left, but he missed the free throw to leave the game tied at 69. After a Funk miss, Perry was fouled on a drive and made both at the line to put Lafayette ahead 71-69 with 24 seconds to go.
Rhodes was off the mark on a right-side jumper, but Screen grabbed the rebound on the weak side. He kicked a pass to Xander Rice for a three that went in and out, but Screen tipped it back in with four seconds left, sending the Bison and Leopards to overtime for the third time this season.
Funk opened the extra frame with back-to-back layups, but Lafayette later took a 79-77 lead on consecutive threes from Brantley and Perry, setting up the wild finish.
Lafayette did almost all of its first-half damage from long range. Ten of the Leopards' 14 made field goals and 20 of their 31 attempts came from beyond the arc.
Lafayette led by as many as 13 in the opening half after a Jenkins 3-pointer made it 31-18. Funk got going with back-to-back treys for the Bison, and a Rhodes free throw brought them back within six at 31-25.
Bucknell held Lafayette to three field goals in the final eight minutes of the half, but they were all threes, and the Leopards went to the locker room with a 40-31 lead. The Bison shot 59.1 percent in the first half, but they were held back by 12 turnovers.
Bucknell shot 58.2 percent on the night, topping the 50-percent barrier for the fifth time in the last seven games. The Bison were 9-for-18 from downtown and 9-for-11 from the foul line.
Rhodes scored a career-high 12 points in Bucknell's overtime loss in Easton on Feb. 5, and he equaled that total in this one. Timmerman extended his streak to 10 straight made field goals before finishing 5-for-8, and the Bison bench outscored Lafayette's reserves 24-14.
Funk recorded his 13th 20-point game of the season and third against Lafayette. Funk became the 23rd player in Bucknell history to record at least 1,200 career points, and he moved past Joe Steiner and Lorry Hathaway into 21st on the program's all-time scoring list.
Funk also moved into 10th place on Bucknell's single-season scoring list with 551 points, and his 84 3-pointers this season are tied for second-most in team history. Funk also had seven assists in the game, giving him 26 assists and only two turnovers in his last five games.
Bucknell improved to 45-25 all-time in Patriot League Tournament games, including a 7-2 mark against Lafayette. In the process, the Bison tied school records for most overtime games in a season (6) and most overtime wins in a season (4).
Perry led Lafayette (10-20) with 22 points, followed by Quinn with 18, Jenkins with 17, and Brantley with 12.
The Leopards shot 45.3 percent overall and finished 14-for-38 from 3-point range and 9-for-12 from the foul line.
It was the final contest for Lafayette head coach Fran O'Hanlon, who is retiring after 27 seasons at the helm of the Leopards.
"It has been an honor to coach against Coach O'Hanlon," said Davis. "His teams are always so well-drilled, and they are a real challenge to guard. He's so much more than a great coach, he's an even better person. He has done such a great job teaching the game of basketball, and the game is really going to miss him."
Bucknell and Colgate will meet in Hamilton on Thursday at 7 p.m. on ESPN+. The Raiders won the regular-season title with a 16-2 record, including 75-56 and 83-69 victories over Bucknell.
Team Stats
Buck
Laf
FG%
.582
.453
3FG%
.529
.368
FT%
.818
.750
RB
31
31
TO
16
13
STL
6
12
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
21
FGM
9
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
16
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballC
/ Men's BasketballC
/ Men's BasketballIn The Herd: First Practice Review And Ruot Bijiek Feature
Monday, September 22
(Coaches Camera) Salem Men's Water Polo Vs. Gannon (9/21/25)
Monday, September 22
Salem Men's Water Polo Vs. Gannon (9/21/25)
Monday, September 22
(Coaches Camera) Bucknell Men's Water Polo Vs. Wagner (9/21/25)
Monday, September 22