Category: Men

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Basketball Men Sports

Men’s basketball stuns American

Christian Limawan | The BucknellianMike Muscala '13 performs an emphatic dunk. His last-second shot against American was the game-winner.
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.

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Men Sports Wrestling

Wrestling splits two matchups

 

Estie Pyper | The BucknellianAdam Healey '13 slams an opponent into the mat. Despite a hard fought effort, the Bison lost 23-10.
Estie Pyper | The Bucknellian
Adam Healey ’13 slams an opponent into the mat. Despite a hard fought effort, the Bison lost 23-10.

Billy Tyler

Assistant Sports Editor

The men’s wrestling team defeated Franklin & Marshall 30-10 at home, but lost a closely-contested match to the University of Pennsylvania 23-10 just two days later.

The team’s victory over F&M is the largest of the year. Recording big wins for the Bison were Paul Petrov ’16 with a 12-3 major decision, Corey Lear ’13 with a pin in 2:36, Robert Marchese ’16 with a 13-4 major decision, Tyler Lyster ’15 with a 14-2 major decision and Joe Stolfi ’15 with a pin in 31 seconds.

The Bison started the match strong, jumping out to an early lead behind a victory by Austin Miller ’15 and Petrov’s major decision. F&M won the next two matches, tying the score at 7-7. The Bison then took control of the meet, behind a 7-1 victory by Vincent Favia ’16 and Lear’s pin in his first match back from an injury. Following a defeat in the 174 lb. match, the team clinched the victory, winning the 184 lb., 197 lb. and heavyweight bouts.

Despite carrying momentum from the victory, the Bison were unable to translate it into a win against the University of Pennsylvania. Highlights for the Bison included a 6-3 decision by Petrov, a 3-1 overtime victory for Favia and a winning 9-0 major decision for Stolfi, who now has a seven-match winning streak.

The next match for the Bison will be at Saturday at noon at home against George Mason.

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Men Sports Track & Field

Men’s race to first place finish

Edward Louie | The BucknellianEric Balaban '14 and Andrew Kuchta '16 dash off in the 5,000 meter. Both runners contributed to the Bison victory.
Edward Louie | The Bucknellian
Eric Balaban ’14 and Andrew Kuchta ’16 dash off in the 5,000 meter. Both runners contributed to the Bison victory.

Thomas Walter

Staff Writer

Over the past weekend, the men’s track and field team finished first in the team standings at the Gulden Invitational for the second year in a row. The team captured first place in the 400 meters, shot put, 60-meter hurdles, 3,000 meters, 800 meters, weight throw and high jump.

Perhaps most impressive is the record-setting way the Bison won these events. Kevin Tapper ’15 and Luke Webster ’13 both entered the Bison record books in their events.

Tapper ran the 400 meters in 49.31 seconds and Webster won the shot put with a throw of 53′ 4.25″, a career best. He now holds third place in program history.

“After a weekend off and some hard training, it was nice to get back to competing,” Webster said. “I don’t mean to be cliché, but it feels good.”

Webster also believes the competition the Orange and the Blue will be facing in the next couple weeks will be difficult, but will ultimately help them succeed.

“In the next few weeks the team will see a lot of good competition and some fast tracks,” Webster said. “The combination should help us move forward from the victory this past weekend and get some great marks to set us up for the championship portion of the season which is only a month away.”

Other individual winners included D.J. Krystek ’13, John Westwood ’16, Leonard Joseph ’13, Jason Brown ’13 and Christian Lupica ’15. They led the Orange and the Blue to a total of 224 points, finishing 64 points ahead of second place Shippensburg.

The Orange and the Blue will compete again on Jan. 25-26 in the Bison Open & Multi and the Penn State National Invitational.

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Basketball Men Sports

Men’s basketball loses heartbreaker to Lehigh

Conor Pierson | The BucknellianMike Muscala '13 shoots over two Lehigh defenders. His 16 points, eight rebounds, and six blocked shots were not enough to vanquish the Mountain Hawks.
Conor Pierson | The Bucknellian
Mike Muscala ’13 shoots over two Lehigh defenders. His 16 points, eight rebounds, and six blocked shots were not enough to vanquish the Mountain Hawks.

Eric Brod

Senior Writer

On Wednesday, the Bison fell short against Lehigh after staging a furious first-half rally that ended in a 65-62 defeat, and took down Lafayette on Saturday in a highly impressive 66-51 victory. The Bison’s record now stands at 16-4 overall, with a 3-1 record in Patriot League play.

Lehigh, last year’s Patriot League tournament champion, came into the game tied with the Bison at the top of the Patriot League standings with spotless 3-0 league records. In one of the wildest games between the two teams in this budding rivalry, the Mountain Hawks were able to hold off the Bison, despite an intense first-half rally by the home team.

The Mountain Hawks built up a 27-12 lead, before the Orange and Blue mounted a great stretch of play to close the gap to 29-28 at the half. The 16-2 run was initiated by Bryson Johnson ’13, who completed a four-point play with 5:41 remaining in the half when the offense had struggled to find any rhythm throughout the first half. Center Mike Muscala ’13 explains the challenges Lehigh poses to other teams defenses.

“Lehigh is still a very good team and we [had] our hands full,” Muscala said. “They shoot the ball well and are great defenders, so that’s a combination that is difficult to play against no matter who the competition is.”

The Bison continued their strong play in the beginning of the second half, and they eventually built up a seven-point 44-37 lead thanks to a three-pointer from guard Cameron Ayers ’14 and an impressive driving layup by point guard Ryan Hill ’14. Lehigh answered with their own 10-0 run to retake the lead at 47-44.

Muscala, who turned in another impressive performance with 16 points, eight rebounds and an astounding six blocked shots, had to leave the game with 11:16 due to an injury which forced forward Dom Hoffman ’16 into the game at a crucial junction. Hoffman turned in his best performance of his rookie season by scoring 10 points. Muscala returned to give the Bison a push, but they were unable to overcome the three-point shooting of the Mountain Hawks, who shot 10-18 from beyond the arc and came into the game second in the nation in three-point shooting with a 42.8 percent. In contrast, the Orange and Blue shot only 2-14 from beyond the arc.

Against Lafayette, the Orange and Blue were once again led by Muscala who posted his nation-leading 13th double-double with a 27-point, 15-rebound effort. Willman, who was honored before the game after recording his 1,000th career point in the team’s 73-59 win over Colgate earlier in the week, recorded 10 points and six rebounds in the game.

“I thought our guards did a really good job of penetrating in the lane and finding the open big guy or scoring the ball,” Muscala said. “So I just tried to focus on being ready to catch their passes and finish at the rim.”

While the Bison struggled to find an offensive rhythm early, their defense was able to hold the usually effective Lafayette offense in check. The Leopards were held to 1-13 shooting from beyond the arc by the swarming rotation defense of the Orange and Blue.

“Lafayette started the game with tough defense, anticipating what we were trying to run. We were still getting good shots on offense but they were not falling,” Willman said. “We knew if we stayed the course offensively and sustained our defensive effort we would be fine.”

Head coach Dave Paulsen explains how perimeter defense was the focus in slowing down the Lafayette attack.

“Our guys did a great job contesting Lafayette’s three point shooters. They had come into the game averaging eight three’s per game so to hold them to 1-13 from three was a great effort,” Paulsen said. “We also did a good job of getting on the offensive glass and limiting turnovers on a night when we were not especially sharp offensively.”

The Bison held Lafayette to one field goal in a 12-plus minute stretch where the Orange and Blue opened up a 26-16 lead. The turning point in the game when Ryan Frazier ’16 hustled down a loose ball on a missed alley-oop attempt and was able to feed a pass to Muscala for the slam dunk.

While Lafayette was able to close the gap to 27-20 before the half, the Bison opened up the second half on a 13-5 to open up a 40-25 advantage, and the Leopards never pulled within 11 points the rest of the contest.

While the Bison shot only 36.7 percent from the field in the first half, they were able to make up for some missed opportunities with an astounding 15 offensive rebounds, led by Muscala, Brian Fitzpatrick ’13 and Willman. The team also took great care of the ball, commiting only six turnovers throughout the contest.

The Bison will continue Patriot League play with a visit to Holy Cross at 4 p.m. on Saturday.

Categories
Men Sports Wrestling

Wrestling splits two home meets

Estie Pyper | The BucknellianPaul Petrov '16 slams his opponent into the mat last Saturday. The Bison split the weekend, beating Columbia but falling to Army.
Estie Pyper | The Bucknellian
Paul Petrov ’16 slams his opponent into the mat last Saturday. The Bison split the weekend, beating Columbia but falling to Army.

Billy Tyler

Assistant Sports Editor

The men’s wrestling team hosted home matches over the weekend against Columbia and Army, producing a split result for the team, which defeated Columbia 24-14 before falling 28-9 to Army.

The long weekend began perfectly for the Bison, who won the first four bouts in their match against Columbia: Austin Miller ’15 with a 9-2 decision in the 125 lb. class, Paul Petrov ’16 with a pin in the 133 lb. class, Derrik Russell ’13 with a 2-1 decision in the 141 lb. class and Adam Healey ’13 with a 6-1 decision in the 149 lb. class. The four wins gave the Bison a quick and commanding 15-0 lead. Columbia countered with a four-match win streak of its own to shrink the margin to 15-14 with two matches remaining.

In the first of these matches, Tyler Lyster ’15 trailed Nicholas Mills 2-1 heading into the third period of the 197 lb. bout. Lyster was able to quickly even the score, then take down Mills in the final seconds of the match to win 5-2.

The victory was still not secured for the Bison as Joe Stolfi ’15 began his bout, the last of the meet, in the 285 lb. match. Stolfi built up a 10-0 lead before pinning Chris Manna in a time of 6:35, winning the match and clinching the victory in the match for the Orange and the Blue.

Unfortunately, the team did not find the same success against Army that they had against Columbia. The day began and ended with victories for the Bison, but these proved to be the only victories the team would have in the meet.

As he had done the day before, Miller opened the meet with a victory, a pin in 6:23 against Nathan Santhanam, giving the Bison an early lead. This margin was quickly lost as the Black Knights won the next eight bouts to build an insurmountable lead.

Stolfi ended the losing streak with a victory. His 3-0 decision extended his personal winning streak to five matches.

The next match for the Bison will be at home against Franklin & Marshall tonight at 7.

Categories
Men Sports Wrestling

Wrestling finishes sixth in season opener

Billy Tyler

Contributing Writer

The men’s wrestling team opened its season on Nov. 17 at the Navy Classic in Annapolis, Md. The team faced stiff competition including Ohio, The Citadel, Cleveland State, West Virginia and Navy. The Bison finished the meet in sixth place out of the nine teams present with 45.5 points behind a strong performance from Paul Petrov ’16. Kent State won the event with a total of 115.5 points.

Petrov stepped up in his first collegiate meet and was one of the top performers for the Bison. He advanced to the championship bout in the 133-pound weight class after receiving a first-round bye and winning two bouts by decision. In the finals, Petrov was defeated in an 8-5 decision to top-seeded Colton Rasche of Navy.

“Petrov had a great tournament. He wrestled aggressively and is adjusting well to the college style,” head coach Dan Wirnsberger said.

Corey Lear ’13, ranked 17th nationally in the 165-pound weight class, was also a high performer for the Bison. He won two matches on a pair of decisions to advance to the meet’s semifinals. In the semifinals, Lear was pinned by Jacob Schalles of Navy, which pushed him into the consolation bracket. However, he then dominated his next two matches with a total score of 24-2 on his way to a third-place finish, giving Lear a second top three-finish in his career at the Navy Classic. Although this was not quite the result Lear was looking for, he still impressed Wirnsberger with his ability to retain his focus and return strong following the tough loss.

“In college wrestling, it is important to be able to put both wins and losses behind you and focus on the task at hand,” Wirnsberger said.

Tyler Lyster ’15 also earned a third-place finish. Lyster was unseeded going into the meet, yet pinned his first two opponents on his way to the semifinals. In the semifinals of the 197-pound weight class, Lyster faced the eventual champion Dustin Kilgore of Kent State. After putting up a tough fight, Lyster was pinned and moved into the consolation bracket. Lyster went on to defeat his next two opponents by a combined score of 16-2.

“Tyler [Lyster] put in a full training cycle in the offseason and it has paid off. He went into the tournament unseeded and really deserved his third-place finish,” Wirnsberger said.

The next match for the Bison will be on Dec. 1 at the Hoosier Duals.

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Football Men Sports

Football wins final game

Eric Brod

Senior Writer

The Orange and Blue football squad brought its up and down 2012 season to a close with an exciting 24-21 victory on Nov. 17 against Bryant. Although the Bison failed to match their win total from last season with a 3-8 record, the team was able to win two of its final three contests and provide much promise moving forward into next season. 

The offense, led by Brandon Wesley ’14 who passed for 200 yards and two touchdowns on 18-26 passing, had a time of possession advantage, 35:57-24:03, allowing them to control the pace of the game. The offense had three scoring drives of seven plays or more.

“I believe that in the last game of the season, the offense was just playing inspired and really wanted to send the seniors out with a win,” fullback Terna Ityokumbul ’13 said. “The coaches gave us a great plan, and we went out and executed it. I think the seniors got more vocal in the last week, which really showed the younger guys how important this last game was to them.”

Despite dominating the time of possession, the Bison never led by more than a touchdown until halfway through the fourth quarter when they extended their lead to 24-14 on a 10-yard touchdown pass from Wesley to running back Tyler Smith ’13, who finished the game with 101 all-purpose yards. The touchdown was set up by an interception by Joseph Francis ’13 that gave the offense great starting field position at the Bryant 13-yard line. Bryant responded quickly with a touchdown of their own on a 40-yard pass from quarterback Mike Westerhaus to receiver Jordan Harris.

After the Bison went three-and-out on their next possession with just over six minutes remaining in the game, Bryant drove deep into Bison territory, reaching the Orange and Blue 25-yard line. The defense was able to hold Bryant on fourth down and nine. Still, Bryant had a chance to receive the ball again with two minutes remaining, but they were flagged for a roughing the kicker penalty on punter Ryan Gutowski ’13, which sealed the win for the Bison.

On defense, the Bison were able to hold Westerhaus to just 13-28 passing and sacked him four times. Safety Jordan Dudas ’15 led the team with 10 tackles, and Evan Byers ’15 record nine (three for loss) and 1.5 sacks. Byers finished the season with 100 tackles.

On offense, Wesley’s most chosen target was Victor Walker ’14, who finished with seven catches for a season-high 97 yards. Smith, who finished with 76 yards rushing and 25 receiving, ended an impressive collegiate career with 3,991 total yards and 20 touchdowns.

While the Bison struggled at times this season, the team showed in the final weeks that there is much promise moving forward to the 2013 campaign.

“The ups and downs that the team went through this year will only make the team more mentally tough for next year,” Ityokumbul said. “As long as this team is able to learn from the things that this past year’s team did well, and change the things that we weren’t able to do as well, they should be successful and serious competitors in the Patriot League next year.”

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Men Sports Water Polo

M. water polo second at Easterns

Alex Wagner

Sports Editor

Following their first place finish at the Southern Championships, the No. 15 men’s water polo team put out another elite performance at the Eastern Championship in Princeton, N.J. After defeating Harvard and No. 20 Princeton, the Orange and Blue fell in overtime to No. 12 St. Francis (N.Y.). The Bison had not reached the Eastern Championship finals since 1993.

The Orange and Blue began their play with a 15-13 win against Harvard. The Bison beat Harvard twice earlier in the season by a combined 10 goals. Alex Nowlin ’14 led the Bison, registering four goals and three assists in the contest. Brian Barron ’13 also had a good showing, adding two goals and five assists of his own. Stefan Aleksic ’16, with three goals and two assists, and Nick Hale ’16, with two goals and three assists, showed the strength of the underclassmen as well. Matt Napleton ’13 performed strongly in goal, making seven saves.

Although the Orange and Blue jumped out to an early three goal lead, they had to overcome a two goal deficit in the second half to pick up the win against Harvard, the fourth seed in the Northern Division.

The Bison survived a much tougher test the next day, when they beat Princeton 7-6 in the semifinal. Aleksic scored the eventual game-winning goal with just 1:48 left to play. He was the only Bison to score twice in the match. The game featured five lead changes and no team ever led by more than two goals. Going into the fourth quarter, the game was tied 5-5. The Orange and Blue then had goals from Barron and Aleksic, while only surrendering one goal, allowing them to hang on for the win.

While there were no particular offensive standouts, the Bison had a balanced attack as six different players ended up on the score sheet. Napleton had another superb night in goal, racking up 11 saves and a steal against the Princeton attack.

The second win of the weekend for the Bison sealed their meeting in the final with No. 12 St. Francis (N.Y.). The Orange and Blue had faced them twice already this season, losing both contests by just one goal. Unfortunately, their third meeting would be more of the same, as the Bison fell 10-9 in overtime.

The Bison kept the game close for the first half, but they could not hold off St. Francis in the third quarter, when they were outscored 4-1, and they then entered into the fourth quarter down 8-5. Barron and Aleksic each scored early in the fourth to bring the Bison close, and Nowlin scored with under three minutes to play, tying the game and sending it into overtime.

Jack Else ’14 scored a clutch goal for the Bison just 30 seconds in overtime to give his team the advantage. St. Francis answered once again with a goal on their next possession, and then took the lead for good with under two minutes left to play on a power play goal.

Despite the loss, the Bison had many achievements to be proud of. Barron was named First Team All-Eastern Championship, while Napleton, Else and Aleksic were named to the second team. In addition, Aleksic was given the honor of being Rookie of the Tournament.

Although they fell just short of their first NCAA tournament berth in 27 years, the Bison certainly achieved a great amount in the 2012 campaign.

Categories
Men Sports Swimming & Diving

M. Swimming finishes third at home meet

Cooper Mead

Writer

The men’s swimming team finished third in the Bucknell Invitational in Kinney Natatorium on Nov. 16-18. The team was led by Mike Nicholson ’14, who won the 200 breast with a time of 2:01.71, which tallied second in Bison Swimming history.

Nicholson finished in one of the top three positions four times during the meet, as he also won the 400 IM, and placed third in the 200 fly and the 200 IM. Trevor Reitz ’14 also had a good showing, coming in first in the 100 freestyle with a time of 46.30, and was joined by five other Bison who finished in the top 16. Reitz was the only Bison in the “A” final and also won the prelims.

“The invite represented a great opportunity for us to step up. A three-day meet like that is long, but as a team we swam hard and put ourselves in a good position for the rest of the year,” Reitz said.

In addition, Bison first-years had an impressive weekend as Will Rappaport ’16 placed seventh in the 200 back with a time that was only .05 seconds shy of tying the 10th best time in Bison Swimming history. Brian Phillips ’16 also placed ninth in the 1,650 free.

In the end, the Bison finished with a score of 1191, behind Yale with a score of 1550 and Delaware with a score of 1265.5. The Bison placed ahead of La Salle (793), Binghamton (747), Georgetown (619) and Fordham (608.5).

“The Bucknell Invitational was a very exciting meet for both the men’s and women’s sides,” Daniel Wallace ’14 said. “Many season-best times were posted and this sets us up well as we move into the second half of our season, especially with our Florida training trip only a few weeks away.”

The Bison will prepare to compete against Binghamton at home tomorrow at 1 p.m.

Categories
Basketball Men Sports

Men’s basketball off to 6-1 start

Andrew Arnao
Senior Writer

After falling by a final of 60-57 in a close game at Penn State, the men’s basketball team returned to their winning ways on Nov. 27 with a 62-49 home victory against Dartmouth. The victory marked the 100th win in Sojka Pavilion for the Bison, and gives them a 6-1 record for the year.

The Bison held a 0-9 record at Penn State’s Bryce Jordan Center going into the game, and at first it looked like the Bison would break their winless streak. The Bison charged out to a 10-2 lead, led by six points from guard Bryson Johnson ’13. Though the Orange and the Blue continued to hold the lead for the remainder of the first half, going into halftime with a 22-16 advantage, the Bison offense only managed to make 35.7 percent of their field goal attempts.

“We didn’t play well,” forward Brian Fitzpatrick ’13 said. “We were out of sync offensively and had too many turnovers in the first half. We should have been up by a lot more than six at halftime. In the second half, we still struggled to score, but Penn State started hitting shots. ”

Almost non-existent in the first half, the Penn State offense exploded in the second half to the tune of a 65.4 percent shooting percentage on field goals. Though the Bison were able to keep up at first, Penn State tied the game for the first time at 34-34 and eventually went ahead for good after breaking a 39-39 tie with a jumper. The Bison kept it close, thanks in part to a strong 14-point effort from guard Cameron Ayers ’14, who hit a three-pointer with eight seconds left to make the score 59-57. Penn State then only managed one of two free throws, but the three-point attempt from Ayers did not find the net as time expired.

Johnson led the team with 18 points in the loss, while forward Mike Muscala ’13 recorded a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds.

“The Penn State game was tough because we started the game with too many turnovers and didn’t really get in a good flow offensively,” Johnson said. “We allowed them to stay in the game early and that allowed them to eventually take the lead on us and end up winning the game. It was a tough loss, but we will move forward and are already focused on Dartmouth.”

The Bison jumped out to another early lead against Dartmouth, delighting the home crowd with a 12-2 run to start the game. A rash of turnovers allowed Dartmouth to come back, and the Big Green managed to tie the score with six minutes remaining in the half. The two teams then exchanged leads over the next few minutes, with three free throws from Johnson giving the Bison a 25-24 advantage one second before halftime.

Though Dartmouth kept the score close, the Bison would not fall behind for the entire second half, and slowly began to break away. After Dartmouth managed to tie the score for the last time at 35-35, Muscala countered with a dunk, a three-pointer and four free throws to give the Bison a 44-35 lead. Dartmouth managed to crawl back to a 45-40 deficit, but a great steal by Ayers and back-to-back blocks from Muscala and forward Joe Willman ’13 kept the Big Green from getting any closer. Outstanding work on the foul line (8-8 in the last 1:20 and 29-34 overall) allowed the Bison to pull away for a double-digit victory.

Muscala and Ayers both had double-doubles, and Muscala also lead the team with 17 points. Willman and Johnson also had 13 and 10 points, respectively.

The Bison look to continue their seven-game winning streak against Ivy League teams as they travel to face Columbia tomorrow.