Men's Basketball Begins Postseason Play Tuesday at American

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- The 33rd Patriot League Men's Basketball Tournament tips off with a pair of first-round games on Tuesday night, and Bucknell will be in action on the road against seventh-seeded American. The Bison are playing as the No. 10 seed for the first time, with second-seeded Navy awaiting the winner in the quarterfinal round on Thursday.

Even though Bucknell is the lower-seeded team for Tuesday's contest, the Bison defeated American twice during the regular season thanks to some lights-out shooting (19-29 3FG). Bucknell won 78-71 in D.C., on Feb. 1, and 73-51 at Sojka Pavilion on Feb. 13. Bucknell is 3-0 all-time against American in Patriot League Tournament play, including a 64-59 win in the quarterfinals at Bender Arena just three seasons ago.

GAME DIGEST
What: #10 Bucknell (12-19, 5-13 PL) at #7 American (15-14, 7-11 PL)
Where: Bender Arena, Washington, D.C.
When: Tuesday, Feb. 28, 7 p.m.
Streaming: ESPN+
Local Radio: WVLY (100.9 FM)
Internet Audio: BucknellBison.com
Live Stats: A UEagles.com
COMPLETE GAME NOTES

Bucknell Tentative Starters
G: Xander Rice (14.0 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 3.7 apg)
G: Jack Forrest (10.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 1.5 apg)
F: Ian Motta (4.7 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 0.6 apg)
F: Jake van der Heijden (3.3 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 0.4 apg)
C: Alex Timmerman (12.0 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 1.7 apg)

With a Win over American, Bucknell Would ...

... advance to face No. 2 Navy on Thursday in the Patriot League Tournament quarterfinals.
... win at least one Patriot League Tournament game for the seventh straight year and 26th time in 33 years in the league.
... defeat the Eagles for the third time this season and fourth straight time overall.
... improve to 48-27 all-time against the Eagles.
... improve to 46-26 all-time in Patriot League Tournament play and 4-0 against American.
... snap a three-game road losing streak and improve to 4-12 on the road this season.

Headlines

After concluding the regular-season with a 10-point Senior Day win over Lafayette on Saturday, Bucknell begins Patriot League Tournament play on the road on Tuesday. The Bison are playing as the No. 10 seed for the first time, and they are paired up with No. 7 American in the first round. No. 2 Navy awaits the winner on Thursday night.
This is Bucknell's third time playing in the opening round of the tournament since the league expanded to 10 teams in 2014. The Bison won the other two in 2020 and 2022, and in 2020 they went on to win again to advance to the semifinals.

Bucknell in the PL Tournament First Round (since 2014 expansion)
2020: #7 Bucknell def. #10 Holy Cross, 65-62 (Sojka Pavilion)
2022: #9 Bucknell def. #8 Lafayette, 82-81 (OT) (Kirby Sports Center)

Bucknell is 4-4 in its last eight games, with two of the wins coming against American. The Bison won 78-71 at Bender Arena on Feb. 1 and 73-51 at Sojka Pavilion in Feb. 13.
In this year's two meetings against American, Bucknell shot 54.6% from the field and 65.5% from the 3-point arc (19-29). Jack Forrest and Xander Rice were a combined 13-for-18 from downtown.
Rice earned Third Team All-Patriot League honors on Monday. It is the first career all-league citation for Rice, who ranks seventh in the league in scoring and is in the top 10 in five other categories.
Forrest entered the starting lineup for the first time at Army and had a huge night. The Saint Joseph's transfer matched his career high with 25 points, including 18 in a sensational first half, in the 68-66 win at West Point. Forrest finished 9-for-15 from the field and 5-for-7 from 3-point distance. His previous 25-point game came against La Salle while playing for Saint Joseph's in 2021. Forrest enjoyed another 25-point night against American at Sojka Pavilion. He has averaged 13.7 ppg since joining the starting unit, including 17.0 ppg overthe last four games.
Alex Timmerman is red hot entering the postseason. He has recorded double-digit rebounds in four straight games, with the last three double-doubles. Timmerman has averaged 12.0 ppg and 10.8 rpg over the last four games. He had his second straight big game against Lehigh last Wednesday, finishing with 19 points and 12 rebounds. In the first meeting with the Mountain Hawks on Jan. 5, he scored a career-high 27 points with 10 rebounds, giving him 46 points and 22 boards in those two games. Timmerman enters Tuesday's game second in the league in rebounding at 7.2 per game.
American was in contention for a top-four seed throughout most of the year, but the Eagles slipped to the No. 7 seed after dropping their final six games of the regular season. Saturday's overtime loss at Loyola was particularly costly, as they fell out of position for a first-round bye. AU's last win was a 61-60 home verdict over regular-season champion Colgate on Feb. 4. That was the only league loss of the season for the 17-1 Raiders.
Bucknell and American rank 1-2 in the Patriot League in blocked shots. The Bison block 3.87 shots per game, just ahead of American's 3.79. AU's Johnny O'Neil leads the league with 1.6 blocks per game, while Bucknell's Andre Screen is second with 1.3.
American also had a pair of All-Patriot League honorees this week. Center Matt Rogers was a Second Team pick, and O'Neil was named to the All-Defensive Team.

How to Get the Game

The Bucknell-American game will be streamed live on ESPN+. Dan Laing and Gordon Austin will have the call from Bender Arena.
"Voice of the Bison" Doug Birdsong will handle 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 AUEagles.com.
Follow @Bucknell_MBB for in-game updates on Twitter.

Bucknell Patriot League Tournament History

Bucknell has an all-time record of 45-26 (.634) in 32 Patriot League Tournaments. The Bison have reached the championship game a league-record 13 times, including wins in 2005, 2006, 2011, 2013, 2017, and 2018, and reached at least the semifinals in 24 of the first 32 years.

Bison PL Tourney Log
Year Seed  Results
1991   4   def. Army 67-49; lost Fordham 82-76
1992   2   def. Army 74-55; def. Holy Cross 86-77; lost Fordham 70-65
1993   1   def. Lehigh 69-65; def. Colgate 75-73; lost Holy Cross 98-73
1994   5   lost Holy Cross 96-91
1995   2   lost Army 94-78
1996   4   def. Lafayette 56-55; lost Colgate 67-61
1997   2   def. Lehigh 84-54; def. Colgate 71-58; lost Navy 76-75
1998   3   def. Holy Cross 60-56; lost Navy 80-61
1999   3   def. Holy Cross 76-52; def. Lehigh 58-50; lost Lafayette 67-63
2000   3   lost Lehigh 73-62
2001   6   def. Colgate 75-68; lost Navy 88-64
2002   3   def. Army 70-59; lost Holy Cross 64-57
2003   5   def. Lehigh 52-47; lost Holy Cross 75-50
2004   4   def. Holy Cross 66-60; lost Lehigh 60-45
2005   2   def. Lafayette 70-34; def. American 53-35; def. Holy Cross 61-57
2006   1   def. Army 59-47; def. American 64-50; def. Holy Cross 74-59
2007   2   def. Navy 62-43; def. Army 68-47; lost Holy Cross 74-66
2008   7   def. Navy 87-86 (3OT); lost Colgate 54-40
2009   7   lost Holy Cross 75-56
2010   2   lost Holy Cross 67-64
2011   1   def. Army 78-51; def. Lehigh 66-64; def. Lafayette 72-57
2012   1   def. Navy 87-63; def. Lafayette 79-52; lost Lehigh 82-77
2013   1   def. Navy 58-42; def. Army 78-70; def. Lafayette 64-56
2014   4   lost 72-71 Army
2015   1   def. Holy Cross 90-83 (OT); lost Lafayette 80-74
2016   1   lost Holy Cross 77-72 (2OT)
2017   1   def. Army 78-62; def. Navy 70-65; def. Lehigh 81-65
2018   1   def. Loyola 83-78; def. Boston U. 90-59; def. Colgate 83-54
2019   2   def. Holy Cross 77-65; def. Lehigh 97-75; lost Colgate 94-80
2020   7   def. Holy Cross 65-62; def. American 64-59; lost Boston U. 64-61
2021   6   def. Lafayette 92-84; lost Colgate 105-75
2022   9   def. Lafayette 82-81 (OT); lost at Colgate 96-68
2023   10   at American

Championship games in bold.

Bucknell vs. American Series Notes

Bucknell has an overall 47-27 lead in an all-time series with American that includes some historic dates.
The very first meeting on Jan. 14, 1939 also happened to be the first game ever played in Davis Gym (AU won 38-33). Coincidentally, American was also the opponent for the very last game ever played in Davis Gym on Jan. 11, 2003 (a 63-52 Bison win).
As Patriot League rivals, Bucknell leads 32-15, including victories in the 2005 and 2006 PL Tournament semifinals and the 2020 quarterfinals.

Bucknell vs. American in Postseason Play
1983 ECC Quarterfinals: American 51, Bucknell 49 (OT) (at Lafayette)
2005 PL Semifinals: Bucknell 53, American 35 (at Bucknell)
2006 PL Semfinals: Bucknell 64, American 50 (at Bucknell)
2020 PL Quarterfinals: Bucknell 64, American 59 (at American)

Bucknell has won 27 of 35 series meetings in Lewisburg, including 19 out of 22 at Sojka Pavilion, but the Bison are just 12-12 at Bender Arena.
Bucknell and American split last year's season series, with the home team winning both times.
Xander Rice led all scorers with 23 points in Bucknell's 78-71 win at Bender Arena in this season's first meeting on Feb. 1. Ian Motta added 16 points, Jack Forrest had 14 points and Andre Screen 10 for the Bison, whose 55.6 FG% is their best of the season against a Division I opponent. American saw its two-game winning streak come to an end, despite shooting 50.0% from the field. The Eagles were just 4-for-15 from the 3-point arc but did plenty of damage on backdoor cuts out of their Princeton-style offense. AU scored 48 points in the paint to Bucknell's 32, but the Bison had a 20-10 edge in points off turnovers.
In the rematch at Sojka Pavilion on Feb. 13, Forrest matched his career high with 25 points, 18 coming in the second half, and Screen and Rice also had big nights to help Bucknell soar past American, 73-51. It was a complete performance for Bucknell, which shot 53.7% from the field, including a 10-for-16 showing from the 3-point arc. Defensively, the Bison held American to 42.0% from the field and 3-for-13 from long range, and they piled up a whopping 37-21 rebounding advantage.

Notable Numbers

Through 31 games in 2022-23, Bucknell has been much-improved defensively over last season, when the Bison struggled to get stops.

Scoring Defense   Opp. FG%    Opp 3FG%
2021-22   79.4    .466   .373
2022-23   68.6 .440 .354

Andre Screen's 81 career blocked shots are ninth-most in Bucknell history. He needs five more to catch Brian Anderson for eighth place.
Screen is shooting 62.9% from the field and is likely to become the eighth Bison to shoot better than 60% in a season. His current rate would be the fourth-best in school history, trailing only some big names in Patrick King, Chris McNaughton, and Nana Foulland.
Xander Rice has 134 career 3-pointers and is now 17th on Bucknell's all-time list.
Rice needs eight more assists to join Bucknell's career top-10 chart. He currently has 324.
Rice's .838 career free-throw percentage would be the fourth-best in school history.
Rice was named Tournament MVP of the Ocean Bracket at the Sunshine Slam during Thanksgiving Week. On Dec. 18 against Merrimack, he was held to 11 points, but he did hand out nine assists without a turnover. Rice, who ranks fourth in the Patriot League in assist/TO ratio (1.8), is one of only 52 Division I players — Lafayette's CJ Fulton and Navy's Sean Yoder are the only other Patriot League players to do it — to log nine or more assists with no turnovers in a game this season, and he is only the fourth different Bison to do it in the last 18 years.
Bucknell's "free throw defense" has been terrific this season. Opponents shot only 55.7% from the foul line at Sojka Pavilion, and their overall 64.1% mark on the season is the third-lowest in the nation, behind only Marshall (.636) and Winthrop (.636). Just to show how fluky that stat can be, last season Bison opponents shot 74.9% from the free-throw line, which was the 35th-highest mark in the country.

Last Time Out

Bucknell closed out the Patriot League regular season with a 75-65 win over Lafayette on Saturday afternoon at Sojka Pavilion. The Bucknell Class of 2023 had a strong Senior Day, as Jake van der Heijden, Xander Rice, and Alex Timmerman combined for 33 points, 16 rebounds, and 12 assists in leading the Bison to victory.
Timmerman was one of three Bison players to score a team-high 16 points and added 10 rebounds for his third straight double-double and fourth straight game with 10 or more rebounds. Andre Screen added eight rebounds to his 16 points, while Jack Forrest contributed 16 points, five rebounds, and four assists.
Returning to the starting lineup for Senior Day, van der Heijden made three shots from behind the arc, scoring nine points with five rebounds, while Rice added eight points and seven assists.
Bucknell went to the locker room with a 34-32 lead, and then the two teams combined to start the second half 2-for-11. Justin Vander Baan, who finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds, hit a tough 3-pointer to give the Leopards a 43-39 lead. Screen answered with six straight Bison points, and then Forrest's 3-pointer with 9:28 to go ignited a decisive 17-3 run and gave Bucknell the lead for good.

Men's Basketball Begins Postseason Play Tuesday at American

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jack Forrest

Ian Motta

Xander Rice

Andre Screen

Alex Timmerman

Jake van der Heijden

Men's Basketball Begins Postseason Play Tuesday at American

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jack Forrest

Ian Motta

Xander Rice

Andre Screen

Alex Timmerman

Jake van der Heijden

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