The man who has guided the men’s basketball program to three straight Patriot League regular season championships and two league tournament championships in the last three years is returning to Lewisburg for at least five more years. On March 28, men’s basketball head coach Dave Paulsen signed a five-year contract extension that runs through the 2017-18 season. Paulsen was named head coach on May 20, 2008. Before becoming head coach of the Bison, Paulsen compiled a 170-53 record at his alma mater Williams College, leading them to the Division III national championship in 2003.
In his first five years at the helm for the Orange and Blue, Paulsen has compiled a 99-65 (.604) record. The 99 wins are currently fourth most in program history and his .604 win percentage is second-best all time in program history. In his first five seasons, Paulsen has led the Bison to three regular season league championships, two tournament championships and two NCAA tournament berths, including an 11-seed in this year’s East regional. In 2012, the Bison knocked off the Arizona Wildcats in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament (NIT). The team’s 28 wins this year set a new Patriot League record.
On top of signing a contract extension, Paulsen was named the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) District 13 Co-Coach of the Year. The Orange and Blue finished with a 28-6 overall record, including a 12-2 record in league play en route to their third straight regular season Patriot League Championship, and won the league tournament for the second time in three years. He shared the District 13 award with Harvard’s Tommy Amaker.
With Paulsen part of the Bison’s future, the Sojka Psychos and Bison faithful should be in for more exciting basketball in the years to come.
Raffi Berberian | The Bucknellian Joe Willman ’13 (center left) scored a career high of 20 points against Butler in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, but unfortunately it was not enough to clinch another Bison victory.
Eric Brod
Senior Writer
A magical season for the 2013 Bison men’s basketball team came to an end on March 21 when the Bison, seeded 11th in the East region of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, fell to sixth-seeded Butler 68-56 at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky. The Orange and Blue finished the season with an outstanding 28-6 record, the most wins by a team in Patriot League history.
Making the sixth tournament appearance in program history, the Orange and Blue got off to a sluggish start offensively, scoring just 14 points in the opening frame. The hero for the Bison in the first half was Joe Willman ’13, who scored eight of the 14 points en route to a career-high 20 points on 10-16 shooting. Willman explains how he was able to get open looks throughout the game.
“Butler hedges ball screens really aggressively and keeps two guys on the ball so I was able to get to open space for open shots,” Willman said. “The guards did a really good job at making passes out of the ball screens. Also, Mike generates a lot of attention so his man was reluctant to leave him, leaving me open.”
Mike Muscala ’13 was stifled throughout the half by Andrew Smith and the Butler defense, limited to nine points for the game on 4-17 shooting. Muscala was still able to grab 10 rebounds. Despite struggling shooting-wise in the first half, the defense, which has been stout all season, held Butler to just 21 points, keeping the deficit at seven heading into the half. Cameron Ayers ’14 discusses what head coach Dave Paulsen’s message was to the team at the half.
“He told us that shots would fall in the second half and that we just need to step up and hit shots,” Ayers said. “We were playing well defensively and only held them to 21 points, so just to keep the defensive intensity up as well.”
Butler extended its lead to 29-18 with 16:35 left in the second half, but the resilient Bison would not go away and staged a comeback. Ignited by a three-point play by Muscala, the Orange and Blue went on a 19-2 run to take a 37-31 lead. The run featured a key jumper by Willman and a transition three by Ayers, who finished with nine points on 3-10 shooting for the game. Butler responded with a run of their own, but Ryan Frazier ’16 came back with a huge three-point play to take back the lead at 40-39.
Butler would take control for the rest of the game as they outscored the Orange and Blue by 12 en route to the third round of the tournament, where they would lose 64-62 to three-seeded Marquette. Ayers discusses what made Butler such a tough matchup for the team.
“They are a very physical team and they don’t make too many mistakes and won’t beat themselves,” Ayers said. “They are very disciplined on defense and make you run your offense to perfection.”
After being inserted into the starting lineup just last month, point guard Steven Kaspar ’15 continued his strong play with six points, six assists and six rebounds in a career-high 32 minutes of action. He also helped lead the defense in holding Butler to just 36 percent shooting, which came into the game shooting 45 percent for the season. The Bulldogs’ defense was also strong, limiting the Bison to just 37 percent from the field.
Despite the loss, the Orange and Blue completed arguably the most successful season in program history. The senior class of Bryson Johnson, Muscala, Willman and Colin Klebon won 92 games in their career, the most in the history of the program. Muscala finished his career as the Bison’s all-time leading scorer (2,036) and second in rebounds (1,093). Johnson, who finished with nine points in the Butler game, leaves as the Patriot League’s record holder for three point baskets in a career (323).
“We are proud of a lot of things over the past four years. We are proud to have won as many games as we did along with setting the records we did with a great group of guys, playing for unbelievable coaches,” Willman said.
While the Bison are losing much of their veteran core from this year, the future looks bright for the program in the years moving forward. Players such as Ayers, Kaspar, Frazier, Dom Hoffman ’16, Ryan Hill ’14 and Chris Hass ’16 will have the Orange and Blue competitive for next year.
“I’m looking forward to another good season next year with a great group of guys. It is going to be extremely difficult to replace the seniors, obviously because they were a huge part of our success on and off the court, but we are going to have to do it collectively,” Ayers said. “This summer and next fall we all are going to have to improve individually but once we all get back together I think we will surprise a lot of people and have a successful year.”
University receiving large amount of media attention thanks to NCAA berth
The men’s basketball’s fantastic season has garnered much attention for the University, and many pundits are quick to take notice. While some experts are already labeling the Bison as a possible Cinderella story and a trendy upset pick in the NCAA brackets, others are expressing confusion over how a small, little heard of mid-Pennsylvanian school even managed to make its way into the Big Dance. Here are just a couple of stories about the Bison in the national media.
In the annual March Tuition Madness bracket, created by The Awl, the 64 schools are pitted against each other to see who has the highest tuition. After Georgetown won in 2012 with an average tuition of $40,920, Bucknell claimed the crown this year with a whopping average tuition of $45,132. The Bison claimed this “victory” over second place Notre Dame, who averaged $42,464 in tuition this year.
In perhaps more welcome news, the Bison also placed high in graduation rates for their basketball teams, with a perfect 100%. According to Tidesport, Bucknell is one of only 11 teams in the tournament to have a 100% graduation rate for all of their players. As the popular chant/taunt goes, “2, 4, 6, 8–all our players graduate!”
The Bison’s 28-5 record and impressive leading ensemble of Mike Muscala ’13, Joe Willman ’13, and Bryson Johnson ’13 have many people thinking that the Bison could go far in the tournament. Many sources are predicting that the 11th seeded Bison have what it takes to knock of 6th seeded Butler, largely in part to Muscala. Patrick Stevens of USA Today Sports comments that “[Muscala] is a ruthlessly efficient post presence, establishing position effectively and then delivering high-percentage shots. Yet he can also step outside and connect on mid-range jumpers and (on rarer occasions) 3-pointers. Bucknell wisely is built around his talents, and his skills amplify the abilities of some capable complementary pieces.” Other analysts also laud Muscala, stressing his importance in the Bison’s attempt to pull off an upset against Butler.
Of course, if Muscala isn’t enough, maybe having a cool-sounding name will do. Bucknell’s fame has risen as far as the Jimmy Kimmel Show, where Kimmel’s cousin Micki picked “Buck-null” to win it all. Micki’s motivation for choosing the University? In her own words, “I think it’s important in life to support the underdogs, and the most important thing is [to] go with your gut, and not your head.” Well said Micki, well said.
The road back to the top of the Patriot League is complete for the Bison men’s basketball team. This gritty squad, led by arguably the most decorated senior class in program history, is poised to make some serious noise as they head back to the NCAA Men’s Division One Basketball Championship tournament as the 11 seed in the East Region. The Orange and Blue defeated a tough Lafayette team 64-56 in the Patriot League Championship on March 13 after defeating a game Army squad in the league semifinals 78-70, on March 9. The Bison head to the tournament with a 28-5 overall record, and set the single-season record for most wins by a Patriot League team. This is the second tournament appearance for the Bison in three years and the sixth in program history.
The Bison used tough defense, especially from guards Steven Kaspar ’15 and Ryan Frazier ’16, and a tremendous second-half stretch run by Mike Muscala ’13 to get past the two-seeded Leopards. In front of a raucous crowd at Sojka Pavilion, Muscala showed why he was the Patriot League Player of the Year, posting 20 points and 11 rebounds for a nation-leading 22nd double-double of the season. Frontcourt teammate Joe Willman ’13 provided a great effort as well, posting 14 points and eight rebounds in the victory.
In the first half, the defense stifled a Lafayette offense that came in to the contest red hot, limiting them to just 18 points on 29.2 percent shooting en route to a 26-18 halftime advantage. Ben Brackney ’14 came off the bench and nailed two crucial first-half threes to get the Orange and Blue offense going in the opening frame. The tandem of Kaspar and Frazier limited Lafayette point guard Tony Johnson, who came in leading the Patriot League in field goal percentage, and held him to 11 points for the game on just 4-13 shooting.
The Bison came out strong to start the second half, pushing their lead to 12 points early on. However, the Leopards went on a 9-0 run led by Joey Ptasinski to cut the home team’s lead to 30-27. Frazier then came up with a game-changing series of plays. On the team’s following possession, Frazier made a driving layup as the shot-clock was winding down, and then broke up Lafayette’s inbound pass and found Cameron Ayers ’14, who finished with a hard-earned nine points, for the layup to push the lead back to seven.
Lafayette refused to go away though, going on a 6-1 run to cut the Bison lead down to 41-38 with 7:17 left. Then Muscala, the program’s all-time leading scorer and only player to surpass the 2,000 point mark, took over. First, he hit a hook shot on right baseline, and then came back on the team’s next possession and nailed another hook shot from the left baseline. Later, Muscala nailed a jumper that bounced off the rim several times before finally going in as part of a pivotal 12-0 run that expanded Bison lead to 55-40 with 2:54 left. A flurry of Lafayette three’s kept the game interesting, but a pair of Brackney free-throws sealed the victory, and Muscala’s 11th rebound of the game with eight seconds left started the celebration.
Muscala, who was just as excellent in the postseason as he was in the regular season, was named tournament MVP, and was joined by Willman and Ayers on the All-Tournament team. Ayers talked about how the team came together to bring home another Patriot League Championship.
“The most impressive aspect was how it was a total team effort. Every guy played a huge role in the win over Lafayette and it just shows how hard we have been working together throughout the whole year,” Ayers said.
The Orange and Blue survived an upset bid by the pesky Army Black Knights in the league semifinals. The Bison were paced by Muscala, who finished with 21 points and 14 rebounds, and Ayers scored 19 points, including 17 in a tense second half.
The Orange and Blue came out strong and took a 36-31 lead into halftime. The Bison lead grew to seven at 51-44 after an Ayers jumper. Army refused to give in and eventually took a 61-59 lead after Patriot League Rookie of the Year Kyle Wilson nailed a layup after being fouled.
The veteran, tough Bison team responded. Bryson Johnson ’13, who throughout his career has had a knack for providing threes when needed most, drained a three on the Bison’s next possession to retake the lead at 62-61, and ignited a 10-1 run. This proved to be the difference as the Bison advanced to their third-straight league championship game.
Ayers was brilliant down the stretch, and during one stretch scored 10 of the team’s 13 points. He explains what the keys to his success were against the Black Knights in the second half.
“I think I was able to succeed during the second half because I came in from halftime with an aggressive mindset and I tried to play to my strengths by getting to the midrange jumper,” Ayers said. “My teammates did a great job finding me and encouraging to keep attacking.”
In the final 3:30, Muscala hit five of six free throws to help seal the victory, and scored 11 points and 11 rebounds in the second half. Brackney again was huge off the bench, grabbing five boards and mostly filling in for Willman, who was plagued by foul trouble for large portions of the game but still posted eight points and five rebounds in 25 minutes of action.
Christian Limawan | The Bucknellian Ryan Frazier ’16 attempts to juke out a Navy defender in Wednesday’s quarterfinal game. The Bison won 58-42 and will face No. 4 seed Army in the semifinals on Saturday.
Eric Brod
Senior Writer
The road to the NCAA tournament has officially begun. In a historic week for the men’s basketball program, which included Mike Muscala ’13 breaking the all-time program scoring record, the Bison won a pair of games against Navy, the second a 58-42 victory in the quarterfinals of the Patriot League Tournament after defeating the Midshipmen 62-46 on March 2. The Orange and Blue have now advanced to the league semifinals for the third straight year.
In the opening round of the league tournament on March 6, the Orange and Blue dominated Navy on the defensive end en route to their third victory of the season over the Midshipmen. Muscala, who came into the game just two points shy of Al Leslie’s 32-year-old program record for career scoring (1,973), broke the record with a free throw 3:53 into the contest. The Bison also received strong play from starting point guard Steven Kaspar ’15 who finished with seven points and Ryan Hill ’14, who had a strong game with five points.
In the game, the Bison relied on a smother defense and outstanding free throw shooting to get past a tough Navy squad. Muscala, who shot 9-10 from the line, recorded his 20th double-double of the season with 15 points and 13 rebounds. In the first half, the Orange and Blue held Navy to a mere 22.2 percent shooting en route to a 26-16 first half advantage. The Midshipmen were also held scoreless for the final 5:30 of the first half.
Navy made a mini-run in the second half to cut the lead to 32-23, but the Bison responded with an emphatic 12-1 run. A key point in that span came when Navy committed a flagrant foul on Joe Willman ’13. Willman, who had 10 points and seven rebounds, knocked down both free throws and Hill scored on the ensuing possession. The Bison led by 20 after Bryson Johnson ’13, who had seven points in the game, hit a pair of free throws. The Orange and Blue extended their lead to as much as 23 points before the game was over.
For the night, the Bison shot only 38.6 percent and 2-14 from beyond the arc, but used a balanced offensive attack and were able to get to the line, shooting 22-24 from the foul line on the night.
The Bison completed one of the most impressive and memorable seasons in program history with a convincing victory over the Midshipmen on March 2. Rebounding proved to be pivotal in the regular season finale, as the Orange and Blue outrebounded Navy 35-26, led by Willman who pulled down 10 rebounds to go along with nine points. Muscala finished with nine points and seven rebounds in 23 minutes of game action.
Making his third straight start, Kaspar showed his versatility with an impressive eight points, four assists and two steals. For the game, the Bison had 18 assists on 23 made baskets.
The Bison raced out to a quick 13-2 lead on 6-10 shooting to start the game and held a 33-24 advantage at halftime. After Navy had cut the lead to six near the end of the half, Kaspar forced a steal and found Johnson, who nailed a three-pointer at the first half buzzer.
Cameron Ayers ’14, who finished with a game-high 14 points, opened the second half with two straight three’s to extend the Bison lead to 39-24, and the team led by double digits the rest of the way en route to the victory.
“They tried to play a lot of different defenses against us and we moved the ball around well for the most part,” Ayers said. “We have seen a variety of defenses this year and I think if we keep being aggressive on offense and make the right plays we should have success on Wednesday.”
The Bison will look to advance to the Patriot League Championship tomorrow when they take on Army in the league semifinals. Game time is set for 4:30 p.m. at Sojka Pavilion.
Conor Pierson | The Bucknellian The men’s basketball team prepares for their game against Holy Cross. The Bison defeated both Holy Cross and American this week.
Eric Brod
Senior Writer
For the third straight year, the road to the NCAA tournament in the Patriot League will go through Sojka Pavilion. Thanks to convincing home victories over Patriot League Rivals American and Holy Cross, the men’s basketball team ceremoniously clinched its third straight regular season league championship. With the two wins, the Bison improved to 24-5 overall and 11-2 in league play.
Against American on Feb. 27, the Orange and Blue were able to ride a stout defensive effort and efficient offensive play en route to a 66-47 victory over the American Eagles. With the win, the senior class of Mike Muscala, Bryson Johnson, Joe Willman, Brian Fitzpatrick, and Colin Klebon set the program for most wins by a class with 88. With his impressive week, Muscala now has an astounding 1,962 career points, 11 behind the program record set by Al Leslie.
On this night, the Bison were led by Muscala, who scored 21 points and pulled down six rebounds. Cameron Ayers ’14 scored 18 points to go along with six boards and three assists, and surpassed the 1,000 point mark for his collegiate career. Johnson added 16 points with a mixture of three-point baskets and crafty drives to the hoop.
In the first half, the team rode the hot shooting of Ayers and stalwart defense to take a 29-20 lead going into the half. In the second half, the Eagles made a couple runs to get within five points, the last time at 38-33 with 13:07 left. Willman responded by drawing a foul and sinking both foul shots, and Muscala made good on a three-point play to extend the Bison lead to 43-33. Thanks to a three from Ayers and a three-point play from Johnson, the Orange and Blue extended their lead to 59-41 to virtually seal the Bison victory.
On Feb. 24, the Bison completed their regular season sweep of Holy Cross with a 74-57 victory. The senior players were honored before the game.
Against the Crusaders, the offense was paced by Muscala, who finished with 25 points on 11-16 shooting and also added seven rebounds, and Willman who added 14 points, nine rebounds and four assists. Ayers also added 15 points.
“I was able to hit a few jump shots, an area I’ve been struggling in a bit lately. Also, getting on the offensive glass is a huge aspect leading to my scoring,” Willman said. “I think I was a bit more aggressive getting to the basket in part because they have bigger and more lumbering forwards than most other teams in the Patriot League.”
In the first half, the Bison took command early with a 27-12 advantage. The Crusaders did not go away, finishing the half on a 10-2 run to close within 31-24 at intermission.
The Orange and Blue came out firing in the second half, opening up a 42-26 lead, and a three-point play by Muscala extended the lead to 47-28. After the Crusaders made a little push, the Bison put the game away thanks to three’s from Johnson, Ayers and Ben Brackney ’14 that gave the Bison a 70-49 lead.
For the game, the Bison shot 47.7 percent overall and distributed the ball nicely, registering 18 assists on 31 field goals, led by Steven Kaspar ’15, who made his first start of the season as point guard and recorded three of those assists.
“I don’t think my mentality was too different because I was starting,” Kaspar said. “Coach [Dave] Paulsen always stresses that the bench be very involved and energetic, so we are always ready to go.”
Klebon also spoke about his favorite memories so far during his career.
“I would have to say I have two favorite moments. There is a tie between beating Lafayette in the Patriot League Championship and being selected to play Connecticut on selection Sunday. Making the NCAA tournament is every child’s dream and it was a surreal feeling that I will never forget,” Klebon said.
The Bison return to action tomorrow when they travel to Annapolis, Md. to wrap up the regular season against Navy.
The true character of a team is best seen in times of adversity. That was the case as the Bison took sole possession of first place in the Patriot League with a pivotal 61-55 victory over Lehigh on Feb. 18 after falling to Lafayette 63-62 on Feb. 16. The Bison’s record now stands at 22-5 overall and 9-2 in league play. The Orange and Blue have three games remaining to secure home-court advantage throughout the Patriot League Tournament.
The Bison traveled to Stabler Arena with first place in the league on the line and were able to snap their three-game losing streak to Lehigh. On a night when Mike Muscala ’13 and Joe Willman ’13 were in foul trouble in each half, the bench came up huge to give the team a much needed lift. Bryson Johnson ’13 heated up in the second half and led the team with a game-high 19 points to push the Bison past the Mountain Hawks (18-7, 8-3).
The Orange and Blue got off to a quick 7-0 lead, capped off by a three from Cameron Ayers ’14, but Muscala, who finished with 12 points and nine rebounds, picked up two quick fouls. Brian Fitzpatrick ’13 provided a tremendous spark off the bench with six first-half points and 10 rebounds in place of Muscala.
“Obviously Mike [Muscala] is our best player, so with him out it is definitely a big loss. I just went out there and played my game. I played good defense, rebounded and scored when I got the opportunities,” Fitzpatrick said.
Fitzpatrick’s effort helped the Bison maintain the lead for much of the first half, but a 13-4 run by Lehigh to end the half gave the Mountain Hawks a slim 24-23 lead going into halftime.
The first 7:20 of the second half were frantic with seven lead changes and three ties. Johnson, who struggled for much of the first half, found his stroke as he made two straight three’s to break the 37-37 time to push the Orange and Blue lead to 43-37. A three-point play by Muscala and two more threes from Johnson and Ben Brackney ’14 gave the Bison a 52-41 lead. Lehigh cut the Bison lead to 52-48 with 5:59 remaining in the game.
Driving baskets by Johnson and Ryan Frazier ’16 extended the lead back to 58-51 with 1:57 left. Frazier also provided a tremendous defensive effort off the bench, holding Lehigh guard Mackey McKnight to just two points in the final 15 minutes of the game.
The Orange and Blue could not put the game away at the foul line, and a Lehigh basket cut the lead to 58-55 with just 51 seconds remaining. Trying to use up as much clock as possible, the Bison ran the clock down near the end of the shot clock, at which time Ayers drove to the basket and somehow got a miraculous circus-like layup in the basket to give the Bison a 60-55 lead that virtually sealed the victory.
After shooting just 29.6 percent in the first half, the Bison shot 51.9 percent in the second half, while holding Lehigh to 40.0 percent shooting for the game. After Lehigh shot 10-18 three-pointers in the first match-up between the two teams, the defense held them to just 1-15, while the Bison shot 6-17 from three-point range.
The Bison saw their five-game winning streak come to an end on Feb. 16 when they lost to Lafayette on guard Tony Johnson’s game winning jumper with just 4.5 seconds remaining. Muscala recorded 29 points and 15 rebounds while Ayers had 20 points and was 8-12 shooting overall and 4-6 from beyond the arc.
Ayers, who scored 17 of his 20 points in a second half effort, nailed a three to give the Bison a 60-59 lead. Ayers then hit another jumper to give extend the Bison lead to 62-59.
The team was unable to put the game away as Johnson and Brackney both missed threes in the final minute of the game. After Brackney’s miss, Lafayette hit the game winning jumper. Ayers contested three at the buzzer came up short to give Lafayette the victory.
“Obviously it’s a huge boost in our confidence. The loss to Lafayette really stung, and I am just glad we were able to rebound and get a big win,” Fitzpatrick said. “We still got three big games left in league play to clinch home court. We need to keep getting better as a team because we will most likely see Lehigh again in the tournament.”
The Bison return home this weekend to face Holy Cross at noon on Feb. 24.
Edward Louie | The Bucknellian Ben Brackney ’14 goes up for a layup in last week’s game against Navy. This week, the Bison defeated two of their Patriot League rivals, Army and Colgate, to retain second place in the Patriot League standings.
Eric Brod
Senior Writer
The Orange and Blue held off Colgate for a 69-61 victory on Feb. 13 after a 60-58 road victory against Army on Feb. 9. With the two wins, the Bison improved to 21-4 overall, and 8-1 in league play.
Mike Muscala ’13 lead the Bison against Colgate, recording his 18th double-double of the season, posting 27 points and 12 rebounds. Muscala’s 10th rebound of the night was the 1,000th of his collegiate career, making him the second player in program history to accomplish this feat.
The Bison jumped to an early 9-0 lead thanks to five quick points from guard Ryan Hill ’14. The Raiders then cut the lead to 20-18 in the first half. The Bison responded with a three-pointer by Bryson Johnson ’13, giving him three of his 12 points on the night. Muscala and Cameron Ayers ’14 made a pair of baskets to extend the lead to 34-22, and the Orange and Blue took a 34-23 lead at half.
Colgate started the second half cutting the Bison lead to 40-34. Joe Willman ’13 responded with a clutch jumper, but the Raiders eventually cut the lead down to 49-47. Muscala then scored 20 of his 27 points to help keep control of the game. Ayers helped put the game away, extending the lead to 62-54 with 3:58 to play.
Against Army, the Bison defense held the usually fast-paced Black Knight attack to 38.2 percent shooting and 12 points below their season average. The Orange and Blue were led by Ayers, who registered 19 points.
“The key for me was to be aggressive early and attack them from the start. My teammates did a good job of finding me and getting me open shots,” Ayers said. “I thought it was a total team effort to pull out a tough win like that on the road.”
Johnson also heavily contributed, scoring 17 points to break the Patriot League record for three-point baskets in a career. Johnson continued his sensational all-around play, tallying eight rebounds and six assists. Muscala came away with 12 points and 10 rebounds for his 17th double-double on the season.
“Army is always a tough team to play against, especially on their home floor. We knew it would be a battle heading into the game but Bryson and Cam[eron] hit some big shots in the second half that really helped us out,” Muscala said. “I thought we forced them to make tough shots for the most part, but also made some defensive errors that allowed them to get back in the game.”
The Orange and Blue took a 25-21 halftime lead into the locker room. The Bison opened up a 47-36 advantage with 8:46 left in the contest, until Army closed the gap to 49-45. Ayers responded with a three to extend lead back to seven at 52-45. With 2:16 remaining, the Orange and Blue had a 60-54 lead. Army pulled the score to 60-58 with 1:27 left. Both teams missed opportunities on the offensive end in the final minute, which ended with Ryan Frazier ’16 forcing a touch game-tying attempt by Army that hit back iron to secure the Bison victory.
“I thought we did a really good job of contesting their shooters and our guards did a great job of getting through ball screens,” Muscala said. “They got hot late in the second half but for the most part we played well defensively.”
“I think these tight games have definitely proved to us that we have to play all 40 minutes and play until the end,” Ayers said. “We are able to learn from these situations win or lose and grow from them for the future.”
The team returns to action Saturday when they travel to Easton, Pa. to take on league rival Lafayette. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m.
Conor Pierson | The Bucknellian Bryson Johnson ’13 shoots the ball over a Navy defender in the Bison’s 69-54 victory over the Midshipmen. Johnson lead the team with 20 points.
Eric Brod
Senior Writer
Bryson Johnson ’13 broke the Bison record for three-point baskets in a career and tallied a season-high 20 points to lead the men’s basketball team to a 69-54 victory over Navy. The Orange and Blue improved to 19-4 overall and 6-1 in league play, while the Midshipmen fell to 7-16 (1-6).
Johnson came into the game needing just one basket to break the record, and he wasted little time, hitting his first three-pointer of the night 57 seconds into the contest for his 295th career three-pointer.
“I never really thought about any records when I first began here, but as I got closer, people kept mentioning it. It was something that happened because I have great teammates who are unselfish and get me open looks,” Johnson said.
Johnson hit another three shortly after his first to give the Bison a 6-2 lead, and after his fourth three of the night, he extended the lead to 19-8.
“I think early on we did a good job throwing it inside and our bigs did an even better job passing back out to the perimeter when the zone collapsed on them, and that gave the wings open looks from the outside,” Johnson said.
Three-point shooting was just part of the story in the Bison’s performance. The Orange and Blue used their size advantage to out-rebound Navy 47-20, led by Mike Muscala ’13, who tied his career high with 19 rebounds to go along with 11 points in 25 minutes of game time. Eleven of the Bison’s 47 rebounds came on the offensive glass, giving them 17 second-chance points.
“Bryson [Johnson] got us started early on with a ton of threes. It was nice to see him break the record in front of the home crowd,” Muscala said. “After that I think we all played our roles well, hitting mid-range jumpers, driving in the lane and then rebounding our misses and converting them into second-chance points.”
The Orange and Blue extended their lead to 16 in the first half before Navy went on a mini-run to end the half to cut the lead to 34-22 at halftime. After Navy scored the first basket of the second half, the Bison went on a 12-0 run to extend their lead to 22. The run began on a driving layup by Cameron Ayers ’14, who was fouled on the shot and was able to complete the three-point play.
The bench also provided a major spark in the second half as the Bison continued to build up their lead. Ben Brackney ’14 hit Ayers for a wide-open three that made the score 53-31 with 7:56 left, and finished the game with four points. Chris Hass ’16 contributed six points, and Cory Starkey ’15 contributed four points and four rebounds. Brian Fitzpatrick ’13 provided tremendous hustle and rebounding, and put in an emphatic dunk off a great pass from Johnson to give the team a commanding 57-35 lead with 6:51 to play.
After struggling from the line in previous matches, the Bison shot an impressive 16-19 from the line. The Orange and Blue also shot 46.9 percent from the field, and 7-19 from three-point range, led by Johnson’s 6-10 shooting from beyond the arc. On defense, the Bison held Navy to 31.7 percent shooting from the field.
“We did a good job getting out and pressuring their perimeter players because they have a lot of shooters, so we tried to force them to take shots inside the arc and try to make them uncomfortable while running their offense,” Johnson said.
The Bison return to action Saturday, travelling to West Point to kick off the second half of league play against Army. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m.
“Army is a tough place to play on the road and they play really fast, so in front of their home crowd, they can really get the momentum in their favor with a couple easy hoops in transition,” Johnson said. “It will be a good test for us and we will have plenty of time to prepare for them with no midweek game this week, so we are looking forward to it.”
Christian Limawan | The Bucknellian Mike Muscala ’13 performs an emphatic dunk. His last-second shot against American was the game-winner.
Eric Brod
Senior Writer
After losing against Lehigh last week, the Bison pulled out a 56-55 victory over the American Eagles in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 30. The Orange and the Blue also defeated Holy Cross 65-58 on Jan. 26. The two wins improved the Bison’s record to 18-4 overall and 5-1 in league play.
Against American (7-14, 2-4), the Bison found themselves down with 2:15 left in the contest, but the Orange and Blue scored the game’s final eight points, capped off by a put back by Mike Muscala ’13 with 0.8 seconds left. Muscala, who suffered multiple blows to his chin during the game, finished with 16 points and 14 rebounds for his nation-leading 15th double-double. Cameron Ayers ’14 also added 14 points for the Bison.
After taking a slim 28-27 halftime lead, the Bison fell behind 39-32, but a three-point play by Ayers cut the lead to 39-35. The Eagles came back to extend their lead to 41-35, but then Ayers and Joe Willman ’13 led a 6-0 run to tie the score back up at 41. Still, the Bison were unable to find an offensive rhythm and found themselves back down by seven, 55-48. Steven Kaspar ’15 hit a huge jumper to cut the lead back to 55-51. The basket started the Orange and Blue’s late game sprint as they were able to pull out their most dramatic victory of the season.
The Bison had to overcome uncharacteristically bad foul shooting (11-24), while only shooting 1-10 from beyond the arc. The Bison used their outstanding defense to stay in the game and benefited from two missed free throws by American near the end of the game.
Against Holy Cross (10-10, 2-3), the Bison were able to erase memories of the Lehigh loss with a victory in Worcester, Mass. The offensive attack was led by Bryson Johnson ’13 and Willman, who each scored 16 points. Ayers was second on the team with 15 points, and Muscala put in 13 points to go along with 11 rebounds.
“I knew I had to be aggressive offensively from the start and just tried to get my team going,” Ayers said. “A lot of guys were in foul trouble so I felt I needed the ball in my hands to attack or to get guys open shots.”
After getting off to a slow start against the Crusaders, the Orange and Blue came out strong, racing off to a 14-8 lead. The team received help off the bench from Kaspar, who contributed six assists. The Bison continued their strong play throughout the first half, and took a 32-28 into the half.
After the Crusader’s hit a three to open the half, the Bison went on a 9-1 to extend their lead to nine at 41-32. Throughout the half, the Orange and Blue were unable to put Holy Cross away for good until the final minutes of the contest. With the Bison clinging to a 53-49 lead with just under five minutes remaining in the contest, the defense was able to come up with three huge stops before Ayers, Muscala and Johnson each hit crucial shots to extend the lead to 60-51. From there, Johnson and Willman were able to ice the game at the line, including Johnson sinking all four of his foul shots in the final forty seconds of the contest.
The Bison held the Crusaders to 34 percent shooting and just 5-16 from beyond the arc.
“We were able to defend their threes due to our focus and preparation on practice. We spend a lot of time going through their plays and their tendencies,” Ayers said. “I think we did a good job defensively but we can also get better.”
The Bison return to action Saturday when they host Patriot League rival Navy. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
