Author: Cooper Sutton

By Cooper Sutton

Sports Editor

Joe Willman

Height: 6’7”

Position: Forward

Class: Sophomore

Major: Management

Hometown: Tinton Falls, N.J.

vs. Navy

Points: 18

Rebounds: 10

Assists: 2

Minutes played: 27

vs. American

Points: 5

Rebounds: 8

Assists: 1

Minutes played: 29

Over the past week, Joe Willman ’13 played in two games for the Bison basketball squad. Against American, he played a solid game, and in the first game against Navy, he scored a career-high 18 points. Willman coupled that offensive performance with an impressive 10-rebound night, giving him a double-double.

By Andrew Arnao

Contributing Writer

The club hockey team defeated C.W. Post University 6-2 in Saturday’s Greek game, exacting revenge for its elimination at the GNCHC conference playoffs last year.

The Bison started off aggressively and scored two early goals. Although they gave one up late in the first period, they added to their lead to make it 5-2 after two periods. The Bison scored their sixth goal in the third period to silence the Ocelots.

Jeff Sowell ’12 led the team with four goals and one assist. Kip Jennings ’13 finished with a goal and two assists, and Connor Curry ’11 added a goal. Goalie John Chestnut ’14 preformed well, allowing only two goals despite multiple power plays by C.W. Post.

“Overall we were pleased with our effort, and we look to keep the momentum for our two home games next weekend against West Chester and Scranton,” Sowell said.

In addition to Sowell’s performance, teammate Connor Curry ’11 lauded the performance of John Carpenter ’11. “[Carpenter] laid a flurry of big hits throughout the game, which helped spark our team,” he said.

The Greek game is an annual tradition for the University, with three sororities and two fraternities in attendance. Many youth teams attended the game as well, and all of the proceeds from tickets were donated to Susquehanna Valley Youth Hockey League.

The two remaining games of the season are both at home for the Bison, 4:15 p.m. this Saturday against Scranton and 4:15 p.m. Sunday against West Chester.

By Joyce Novacek

Writer

Stephanie Fulmer ’12 and Emily Liggett ’12 led the Bison strong races in the 3,000 meters and 1,000 meters, respectively, as 12 members of the women’s track and field team traveled to New Haven, Conn. for the Giegengack Invitational hosted by Yale on Feb. 5.

“While only a small group of athletes from our team traveled to the Giegengack Invitational, it was a great opportunity and motivator to help some individuals qualify for the IC4A/ECAC meet or run a faster time for a better seed at the league championships,” Fulmer said. “After running a PR for the season, it was encouraging to see many other teammates perform well in the same events, showing that we have strong depth leading into the championships.”

Caroline Tolli ’13 also finished 15th overall for the 800 meters at Yale behind teammate Amanda Steinke ’11, who finished 14th.

The meet provided a chance for the Bison to prepare for the upcoming league championship, which will be hosted at Navy.

“Getting experience on a banked track [like Navy’s] is an important part of the preparation for Leagues, especially for the underclassmen who haven’t run indoor before,” Tolli said. “We also came out of the meet with some fast times, including a few IC4A/ECAC qualifiers. Our team is extremely excited to chase after a pair of indoor titles at the Patriot League meet.”

“I think that it will be key for everyone to remain healthy and focused as we get ready to compete at Navy in two weeks,” Fulmer said.

The Orange and Blue will host the Bucknell Winter Classic in Gerhard Fieldhouse on Saturday before traveling to Navy for the Patriot League Championships on Feb. 18-20.

By Colin Fields

Contributing Writer

The men’s track and field team sent several competitors and strung together a solid performance at the Giegengack Invitational at Yale University this past weekend. Several Bison runners posted personal bests, and sprinter Kamal Riley ’14 returned from injury in great form.

Jordan Donaldson ’12 was the top performer at the invitational, finishing fourth in the 500-meter dash. Donaldson just missed his personal best with a time of 1:04.43. His teammate, Johnny Picardo ’11, finished behind him in eighth with a time of 1:05.12.

Donaldson and Picardo also competed in the Millrose Games at Madison Square Garden a week before the Giegengack. Despite the contrast in environments, the two competed well at both events.

“Madison Square Garden was filled with excitement. Although our team was new to the 145-meter indoor track, the Millrose Games proved to be an exhilarating experience to compete in,” Picardo said.

At the Giegengack Invitational, Robert Yamnicky ’13 and Dustin Horning ’13 set personal records in their respective events. Yamnicky ran a 8:41.72 in the 3,000 meter and Horning clocked a time of 2:30.50 in the 1,000 meter.

Riley, in his first meet back from injury, put up one of his better times in the 60-meter dash. Riley’s time of 7.20 just missed his personal record but was enough to advance him through preliminaries.

“I am pretty happy with my performance, especially after coming back from injury. I believe we have a very good chance at winning the championships provided everyone performs at their best,” Riley said.

The Orange and Blue will host the Winter Classic tomorrow and then travel to Annapolis, Md. for the Patriot League Championships.

By Eric Weiss

Senior Writer

The women’s basketball team had a rough time this past week, dropping a tough loss to Navy, 66-45, on Saturday at home and swallowing another loss to American on the road Wednesday, 66-38.

The Navy game started off well for the Bison as they put the first nine points on the board and seemed to be playing staunch defense against the Midshipmen. But beginning at the 17:21 mark, the Bison went on a gut-wrenching 12-minute scoring drought, allowing Navy to score 27 unanswered points.

The Bison did not manage a set of back-to-back field goals until the 10-minute mark in the second half and found  it difficult to recover from the deficit they had fallen into in the first half. The closest the Bison would get in the second half would be 13, but anemic shooting plagued the Orange and Blue as they attempted a comeback.

Shelby Romine ’14 led the team in both points and assists while Joyce Novacek ’11 and Cosi Higham ’11 were tied with six rebounds each.

“At this point, we really need to focus on stringing together 40 minutes of solid play,” Novacek said.

Against the American Eagles the Bison started slow as they only scored 12 points in the first half. American got hot early and continued shooting well throughout the game, shooting 52.0 percent from the field.

Turnovers plagued the Bison all night and they could not seem to find their groove after the long bus ride to Washington, DC. After halftime the Bison did improve their shooting as a majority of the team recorded field goals, but the deficit was too much for the team to recover as American held a comfortable 20-point lead for the game.

Once again Romine was the leading scorer for the Bison, but even she was unable to break into double digits, scoring just nine points. Also, Higham was again the leading rebounder for the Orange and Blue, pulling down eight boards.

“I would say that our team’s biggest strength is our ability to score in transition,” Novacek said.

The Bison hope to bring that strategy to the table as they face Patriot League rivals Holy Cross on Feb. 12 and Lafayette on Feb. 16, both at home.

By Greg Stevenson

Senior Writer

With first place in the Patriot League standings on the line at Sojka Pavilion on Wednesday night, the Bison men’s basketball team outlasted the American Eagles and came out on top, 66-60, in a clash between the conference’s two top squads.

“We have been preparing to face a good American team this week,” Darryl Shazier ’11 said. “They have a great individual player in Vlad Moldoveanu, which was a focus for us in practice.”

Despite being one of the nation’s leaders in scoring, with an average of 20 points per game, Moldoveanu was limited to just nine points, thanks to tight defense by Bryan Cohen ’12, who locked down on Moldoveanu for the entire game before fouling out in the final seconds. In 23 games this season, Moldoveanu has scored in single digits just three times, twice against Cohen and the Bison.

Offensively, Mike Muscala ’13 led the way as he has all season, registering 21 points and 10 rebounds, including the first eight for the Bison. Bryson Johnson ’13 and G.W. Boon ’11 off the bench each added double figures, as the Orange and Blue fought off an American squad that would not quit.

Midway through the opening half, the Bison jumped out to a 22-8 advantage and were looking to put their opponent away like they did earlier in the season against the Eagles. But American fought back, chipping away until five minutes remained in the second half, when consecutive free throws by Moldoveanu gave the Eagles a 58-57 lead.

Down for the first time since the first minute of the first half, the Bison ended the contest on a 9-2 run, sealing a huge victory for their shot at the number one seed in the Patriot League Tournament and an automatic spot in either one of the NCAA’s major postseason tournaments.

The win was the 300th of head coach Dave Paulsen’s career.

With just five games remaining in the regular season, the Orange and Blue lead the Eagles by two games in conference and hold the important head-to-head tie-breaker over American. Victories in three of their last five games would give the Bison the conference regular season title, which guarantees a berth in either the NCAA Tournament or the NIT.

The win over American came just four days after the Orange and Blue routed Navy at home, 75-49, rebounding after a 20-point loss at Army the week before. Joe Willman ’13 scored a career-high 18 points as the Bison got ahead 10-0 and never looked back.

“Against Navy, we came out attacking unlike the way we came out against Army,” Shazier said.  “We matched their physicality as well.  We knew that they were a team that liked to push the tempo, so one of our goals was to be in control of the tempo of the game throughout.”

Even with American behind them, the upcoming schedule does not get any easier for the Orange and Blue. The Bison will travel to Worcester, Mass. this Saturday afternoon to take on rival Holy Cross. Although they only have five wins this season, the Crusaders have always proved a difficult match-up for the Bison.

“We are dedicating ourselves, one game at a time, to bringing a Patriot League Championship back to Bucknell,” Muscala said.