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On to the next one

By Greg Stevenson

Senior Writer

The men’s basketball team’s opening round match-up with the Navy Midshipmen was a return to form as the Bison dominated the Mids from start to finish, winning 87-63. After struggling towards the end of their Patriot League schedule, the Orange and Blue advanced to the conference semifinals for the second consecutive season.

Before the contest began, two members of the Bison squad were honored for their outstanding season. Bryan Cohen ’12, in his final season in an Orange and Blue uniform, won his third consecutive Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year award. He became just the second player ever to win three major individual conference awards and the first to win the same award three times. After leading the Orange and Blue to a 12-2 league record and their second straight regular season conference title, head coach Dave Paulsen was recognized with the Patriot League Coach of the Year award, one he won last season as well.

The Bison delivered the first blow against Navy, jumping ahead 11-3 just five minutes in. The three-point shot kept Navy within striking distance early on, but it would not be enough on this night.

The Orange and Blue played one of their most efficient offensive games on the season, shooting 62.7 percent from the field and making over half of their baskets from beyond the three-point arc. Leading the way offensively was Joe Willman ’13, who tallied 18 points while shooting over 70 percent from the field in 24 minutes of play.

Bryson Johnson ’13 found his stroke from outside, knocking in five three-pointers off the bench. Three of those came during a three-minute stretch late in the first half in which the Bison swelled their two-point advantage to 11. The run kept going into halftime, when the Bison took a 20-point lead into the locker room.

The second half proved much of the same story as the first. The Orange and Blue would extend the lead to 31 at one point. Navy was cut the lead to 24 but it proved too little, too late.

The Bison will face the Lafayette Leopards at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday in the semifinal round of the tournament. 

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Lacrosse Men Sports

Men’s lax drops third straight

By Reed Dempsey

Contributing Writer

The men’s lacrosse team dropped its third straight against a nationally-ranked opponent last Saturday, falling 13-12 in overtime to No. 9 Villanova.

Following two tight losses, the Orange and Blue hoped they could start to turn around their season, but the Wildcats would prove to be their toughest opponent to date. After ‘Nova opened the scoring six minutes into the first quarter, Joe Kearney ’15 tied the game up at 1-1 with his first collegiate goal. Over the next five minutes the Wildcats scored three straight goals to take a 4-1 lead.

The Bison followed with goals by Billy Eisenreich ’12 and Tom Black ’14 to cut the lead to one, but quickly returned to a three-goal deficit as ‘Nova scored back-to-back goals with seven minutes remaining in the first half.

In the closing minutes of the first half, the Bison scored three goals in succession by Nick Gantsoudes ’12, Todd Heritage ’14 and Gantsoudes again to tie the game at six apiece. As the half was coming to an end, the Orange and Blue had possession and a chance to take the lead for the first time of the day, but turned over the ball, a mistake that proved costly as the Wildcats quickly moved the ball down the field and scored to take a 7-6 lead into the break.

‘Nova extended its lead to two early in the third quarter on Jack Rice’s fourth goal for the Wildcats, but the Bison offense again rattled of three goals in row to take their first lead of the day, 9-8.

With just 25 seconds remaining in the third quarter, ‘Nova tied the game up at nine. The two teams battled over the final 15 minutes of regulation in a quarter that featured three lead changes. The Bison held a one-goal lead with just over three minutes remaining, but two Wildcat goals in a span of 10 seconds gave Villanova the 12-11 advantage.

A strong second half by goalie Kyle Feeney ’13, who registered 16 saves on the day, kept the Bison in the game, and with two minutes left the Bison were able to stop ‘Nova and advance the ball into their offensive zone, where David Dickson ’15 found Heritage for his third goal of the day, to tie the game at twelve with 1:22 remaining in regulation.

A minute and a half into the overtime period, the Wildcats took advantage of an extra-man opportunity to score the game-winning goal.

Over the first three games, the Bison have not been at a loss for goals. Little mistakes and miscues that have plagued the Orange and Blue. Mental lapses have cost the team offensive possessions and have special-team situations where opponents have capitalized.

“We have to stress discipline and attention to the little things,” Gantsoudes said. “It’s tedious, but effective.”

Many members of this year’s team were here in 2010 when the Orange and Blue experienced six heartbreaking loses, five of them by just one goal.

“We need to look back on that season and remember how much it hurt,” Feeney said. “We invest so much time and emotion into these games that we need to start learning how to become a better team and avoid being that team that almost was great. We don’t want that to happen again.”

The Bison travel to Annapolis, Md. this Saturday to play Navy in their first Patriot League contest of the season.

“The team’s approach is the same as it’s been since day one, win every game. We are more than capable of beating any opponent on our schedule, and now it’s just a matter of proving it,” Feeney said.

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Men Sports Tennis

Men’s tennis posts winless weekend

By Cooper Mead

Contributing Writer

The men’s tennis team lost to both Niagara and St. Bonaventure 4-3 last weekend in Olean, N.Y. 

Against Niagara, the Bison managed to split their singles matches but could not claim the doubles matches necessary to secure a victory.  Gregg Cohenca ’12, Josh Katten ’13 and Gregory Maxson ’12 each came away with big victories in singles, but the Purple Eagles were able to match the Bison with three singles wins of their own.

Cohenca played an extremely close match against Joseph Zelic at the No. 1 spot, winning the first set 6-2 and claiming the third 6-3 after losing the second in a tiebreaker. With the victory, Cohenca increased his total singles wins to 45 for his career, moving him into a tie for 13th place in program history. In the No. 3 spot, Katten defeated Lorenz Schowjer with a 6-1, 6-4 sweep.

A Niagara sweep of all three doubles matches prevented the Bison from earning the victory.

Following the first loss, the Bison came out on Saturday to face St. Bonaventure, but fell in similar fashion.

Cohenca and Evan Zimmer ’13 won the No. 1 doubles match 8-6 against opponents Luis Guevara and Oscar Yanez.

Later, in singles, Cohenca fell in straight sets at the No. 1 spot and was followed by Katten and Zimmer shortly thereafter.  For the bottom three players, the story was quite the opposite. Kelly Morque ’13, Kyle Rosen ’14 and Maxson each defeated their opponents and brought the Bison to within one of their opponent. Morque’s match against St. Bonaventure first-year Miguel Suarez was especially close, but the junior was able to come away with the three-set victory, 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2.

In the end, the Bison rally proved too little, too late with the Bonnies having already secured the victory before the conclusion of these matches.

“It’s good we won a bunch of matches, but if we don’t get the team win, it’s disappointing,” Morque said. “We competed very well but obviously there are some things we still need to work on. These tough matches will only motivate us to work harder in practice.”

The Bison hope to rebound from these two losses when they travel to Orlando, Fla. for six important matches over spring break.

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Men Sports Swimming & Diving

Bison earn five golds at ECACs

By Scott Padula

Staff Writer

The men’s swimming team captured a program-record five ECAC crowns last weekend on its way to earning second place in the ECAC Championships in Annapolis, Md., breaking the previous program mark set in 1992. Mike Nicholson ’14, Eric Sokolosky ’12 and Matt Segar ’12 all came away with individual golds for the Bison, becoming the fourth, fifth and sixth swimmers in program history to win multiple ECAC titles. The quartet of Taylor Harris ’12, Segar, Thomas Brown ’12 and Sokolosky also claimed the 400-yard freestyle relay title.

On the first day of competition, six different Bison as well as two relay teams finished in the top 10 of their respective events. The best event of the day for the Orange and the Blue was the 200 individual medley where Nicholson and Christian Treat ’13 both finished in the top five. Nicholson earned second place, losing to Rider’s Johnny Charles-Funk by 0.06 seconds while Treat posted his fifth career top-five finish at ECACs with a fourth-place finish. 

Sokolosky also placed second in the 50 freestyle with a time of 20.75 seconds, 0.09 seconds behind winner Phillip Gaissert of Columbia.

By the end of Saturday, the second day of competition, the Orange and Blue had jumped from fifth in the standings to second, only behind the host Midshipmen. Then Nicholson and Segar gave standout performances, capturing the first two ECAC crowns of the weekend for the Orange and Blue. The wins also marked the first time since 1992 that two different Bison won an event at the ECACs.

Nicholson dropped more than six seconds from the preliminaries to the finals, winning the 400 individual medley by 0.74 seconds. Segar climbed seven spots from the preliminaries to the finals to win the 200 freestyle, cutting more than three seconds from his time.

Great swims by Treat, Billy Krause ’13 and Harris, all of whom finished in the top five in their respective events, also helped the Bison climb up the team standings.

“I think we went into the meet knowing we were capable of finishing higher up than we ever had before,” Harris said. “I think our success is founded in a team culture where we support each other as much as possible. I am so proud of the team; a lot of guys really stepped up this past weekend to make it such a success.”

On the third and final day of competition, the Bison held their second place position thanks to wins in three more events.

Sokolosky started off the series of wins with his second career ECAC crown in the 100 freestyle. Nicholson followed Sokolosky, capturing his second ECAC title. Nicholson posted an impressive performance in the 200 breaststroke, winning by a margin of 1.43 seconds. His time of 2:01.71 was 0.03 seconds shy of the program record. In the final event of the meet, the Orange and Blue won the 400 freestyle relay, outpacing the Midshipmen by 0.22 seconds. The win, with a time of 3:01.69, was the second-ever ECAC victory for a Bison relay.

“To conclude the final chapter of my collegiate swimming career by winning the 100 freestyle and the 400 freestyle relay with fellow seniors Taylor Harris, Matt Segar and Tom Brown could not have been a better feeling,” Sokolosky said. “Anchoring that relay to gold is something I’ll remember forever. To have been a part of the most talented class of Bison swimmers in school history has been a privilege and honor. Swimming for the Orange and Blue has been incredible thanks to the team that has surrounded me, and our coaches who are committed to excellence. These past four years have been a wild ride, one I wouldn’t trade for anything.”

 

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Baseball Men Sports

Baseball takes series at JMU

By Andrew Arnao

Staff Writer

The baseball team picked up three wins (8-6, 22-6, and 13-6) and a loss (12-1) in a four-game series at James Madison last weekend. Outfielder Bob Donato ’12 was named Patriot League Baseball Player of the Week after he helped lead the Orange and the Blue to a 4-2 record, their best start to a season since 2003.

The Bison entered the series having only defeated James Madison once in 22 previous meetings.

“This series against James Madison was one of the early matchups we had circled as a team because of our past history against them,” shortstop Carter Bumgardner ’13 said.

Last season’s matchup against JMU was particularly gruesome for the Bison, who lost four lopsided games, 37-7, 9-2, 26-15 and 19-12.

“Everybody had a lot of anger for what JMU did to us last year, beating us so badly,” pitcher Xavier Hammond ’15 said. “We all wanted to get back at them for that.”

Early on, it appeared the Bison were in for another rough road trip when the Orange and Blue were defeated 12-1 in the opener. Starting pitcher Ryan Ebner ’12 was unusually shaky, giving up nine runs in 3.2 innings. Donato led off the game with a home run, but that was all the offense the team could muster.

The team bounced back in a big way during the following doubleheader on Saturday. The first game of the doubleheader resulted in an 8-6 victory after the Bison came back from a four-run deficit in the sixth inning, with infielder Travis Clark ’13 providing the eventual go-ahead RBI single. Hammond earned the win while relief pitcher Alex Cillo ’12 earned the save after each pitched two effective innings.

“Our offense did a great job of scoring runs for us when we were behind in Game 2 and our defense did well to hold them to six runs,” Hammond said.

Everything started clicking in the second game of the day, when the Orange and the Blue busted out for a 22-6 victory, led by Donato’s two home runs and team record-tying eight RBIs. Pitcher Dan Weigel ’14 was also tremendous, carrying a no-hitter into the sixth before eventually giving up three earned runs in 7.1 innings.

Donato continued to rake in hits in the series finale on Sunday, reaching base five times and finishing the series with a .476 batting average and 11 RBIs. Pitcher Bryson Hough ’15 also made a strong starting debut, giving up only two earned runs through six innings and earning the win as the Bison triumphed 13-6.

“I thought our pitching staff did a great job throwing strikes and keeping JMU hitters off-balance,” infielder David Duffet ’12 said. “Our defense played well behind the pitchers, and our offense was able to score enough runs to win.”

The Bison make their home debut this weekend, playing a doubleheader on Saturday and a single game on Sunday against Niagara.

“This weekend Niagara will be another important step in that process as we are looking forward to playing at home and continuing our good play,” head coach Gene Depew said. “We can’t afford to sit back and be satisfied with one good weekend.  We need to develop the consistency that will allow us to be competitive every weekend.”

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Basketball Men Sports

Bison set sights on tournament berth

By Eric Brod

Senior Writer

After an eventful regular season, the Patriot League tournament kicked off this week with eight teams battling for the right to represent the Patriot League in the NCAA tournament. This year, the league features at least three teams with a legitimate shot of making the tournament in our very own Bison, the Lehigh Mountain Hawks, and American Eagles.

With a win over Navy on Saturday, the Orange and Blue defended last season’s regular season championship and entered into the tournament as the clear favorite. After holding the longest conference winning-streak in the country before dropping back-to-back contests, the Bison concluded regular-season play with an impressive 12-2 Patriot League record.

While their late-season losses to Lehigh (at home) and Holy Cross (on the road) have removed the aura of invincibility from the Bison, they still posses the deepest team in the league and feature Mike Muscala ’13 (16.7 points per game, 9.1 rebounds per game), and now-three-time Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year Bryan Cohen ’12. Two-time Patriot League Coach of the Year Dave Paulsen also has the benefit of one of the deepest benches in the league with Bryson Johnson ’13 providing immediate offense and Steven Kaspar ’15 providing stability off the bench at the point guard position.

Second-seed Lehigh poses a tough match for any opponent. The Mountain Hawks, led by league-leading scorer C.J. McCollum (21.7 ppg), have surged late in the season behind their star, including a thrilling 56-53 victory at Sojka Pavilion earlier this month. Besides McCollum, the Mountain Hawks also have solid players in Gabe Knutson (12.1 ppg) and Holden Greiner (10.3 ppg).

American also poses a legitimate threat to upset the Bison in this year’s league tournament despite slipping to third in the conference this year. The Eagles are paced by leading scorer Charles Hinkle (18.8 ppg) and have solid leadership at point guard in starter Daniel Munoz.

With a first-round trouncing of Navy on Wednesday night, the Bison inched a little bit closer to their ultimate goal of repeating as champions. On Saturday, the Orange and Blue will meet Lafayette in a rematch of last year’s title matchup. A victory will allow them to host another championship  game.

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Basketball Men Sports

Men’s basketball claims season title

By Chris McCree

Sports Editor

The men’s basketball team closed out its regular season with a pair of wins over American and Navy, claiming its second consecutive Patriot League regular season title. Mike Muscala ’13 led the Bison with a combined 45 points and 20 rebounds over the two games, recording his team-leading 14th double-double and 11th 20-point game of the year.

Coming off their first conference losses of the season, the Orange and Blue rebounded with a tight 55-50 win over American last Thursday. With the win, the Bison snapped American’s 11-game home winning streak and earned its third-straight season sweep over the Eagles.

After trailing the Eagles for almost the entire first half, the Bison claimed their first lead since early in the first half off a three-pointer from Bryson Johnson ’13 with 13:25 remaining in the second half. For the next seven minutes, the game underwent numerous lead changes until the Orange and Blue reeled off 11 consecutive points, extending their lead to 10 points with less than three minutes to play. Led by stout defensive play by Cohen down the stretch, the Orange and Blue were able to limit American to 12 points in the final nine minutes of play and come away with the five-point victory.

Two days later, the Bison squad secured home court advantage throughout the playoffs with a 64-55 win over the Midshipmen. Muscala led the Bison once again with 19 points and six rebounds on the day, going six for eight from the field and seven for seven from the foul line.

After leading by 11 at the half, the Bison managed to maintain a double-digit lead for most of the second half, allowing head coach Dave Paulsen to give reserve seniors Enoch Andoh ’12 and Probese Leo ’12 some much-deserved playing time.

The Orange and Blue earned their 200th all-time Patriot League regular season win, becoming the first team to do so in league history.

With the regular season under their belt, the Orange and Blue now set their sights on repeating as Patriot League champions and earning a second-consecutive NCAA berth.

Categories
Men Sports Track & Field

Athlete of the Week

By Chris McCree

Sports Editor

 

Player Profile:

Justin Hicks

Junior

Sprinter

Hometown: Wilmington, Del.

Major: Neuroscience

 

2011-2012 Personal Bests:

60m:  6.84 seconds

200m: 21.88 seconds

400m: 50.58 seconds

 

Behind the record-breaking performances of third-year sprinter Justin Hicks ’13, the men’s track and field squad ended its 19-year Patriot League Indoor Championship drought this past weekend at Gerard Fieldhouse, beating out a talented Navy squad by 8.75 points. Hicks led the Bison with a pair of gold medals in the 60-meter and 200-meter dash events and anchored the 4×400 relay to a fourth place finish, earning him the title of Outstanding Track Athlete of the Meet. In his first event of the meet, Hicks posted a program-best time of 6.84 seconds in the semifinals of the 60 meter dash and followed it up with a time of 6.88 seconds in the finals, making him the first Bison to earn gold in the event. Later, Hicks once again moved up the records book after posting a 21.88 in the 200 meter finals, the second-best time in program history.

Since joining the Orange and Blue in 2009, Hicks has continually proven to be one of the league’s most talented sprinters. In 2010, Hicks earned Patriot League Indoor Championships Rookie of the Meet honors. Last season he earned a critical gold medal during the outdoor championships last season to help the Bison earn the title.

With the indoor title under their belt, Hicks and some of his teammates will get the week off before heading off to Boston for the IC4A Championships.

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Lacrosse Men Sports

Men’s lax drops second straight

By Reed Dempsey

Contributing Writer

The men’s lacrosse team dropped its second straight contest last Saturday to No. 11 UMass by a final score of 11-9.

Led by the highly touted junior Will Manny, the Minutemen opened the scoring three and a half minutes in and quickly followed with a second goal to go up two on the Bison. Just a minute later, the Orange and Blue cut the score in half with a goal by David Dickson ’15, the first of his career.  With just under five minutes left in the first quarter, Nick Gantsoudes ’12 fed Chase Bailey ’13 to tie the game at two apiece.

The teams traded tallies early in the second quarter before the Minutemen stormed ahead to a 5-3 halftime lead. According to Billy Eisenreich ’12, the Bison had difficulties executing their specialty plays.

“Man up, man down and clearing were all uncharacteristically bad for us,’’ Eisenreich said.

Coming out of the half, Kyle Smith of the Minutemen deposited his third goal of the game to bring the UMass lead to 6-3. Four minutes later, Eisenreich’s unassisted tally brought the deficit back to two.

The Minutemen responded with two goals to open their biggest lead of the day. But as in the season opener, the Bison fought hard until the last whistle. It took just over a minute for the Orange and Blue to respond with two goals of their own. Peter Burke ’14 scored first followed by Dickson’s second of the day.

To start the fourth quarter, Manny scored back-to-back goals bringing the lead over the Bison to four. Heading into the game, the Bison knew they faced a tough task defending Manny. Defenseman Mike Huffner ’13 said  the team needed to be “mindful of where he was on the field at all times.’’ Unfortunately, the attackman was able to take advantage of holes in the Bison defense, amassing seven points during the game, bringing his season tally to 16.

With under 10 minutes left in regulation the teams traded goals to bring the score to 11-7. A few minutes later, Burke and Eisenreich added a goal each to cut the lead back to two.

Any attempt to bring this game to overtime was thwarted as the Minutemen shut down the Bison for the final four minutes of the game.

The Bison will look to rebound from their rough start with a win at No. 9 Villanova this Saturday.

Categories
Baseball Men Sports

Baseball earns split in N.C.

By Eric Brod

Senior Writer

The baseball team opened its season by splitting a pair of games against Niagara and La Salle last weekend in Davidson, N.C. The Orange and Blue squad earned its first win of the season against Niagara 8-4 after falling in the season opener to La Salle 3-1. 

Against Niagara, Bob Donato ’12 ignited the offense with three hits and three RBIs. The Bison jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first off an RBI single by David Duffett ’12 and a sac fly by Matt Lamore ’12. After Niagara cut the deficit to 2-1, the Orange and Blue took control with a five-run fourth inning. Six of the first seven batters reached base to start. The big hit came from Donato, who smashed a bases-clearing double to extend the lead to 7-1.

“The count was 2-0 and I knew that the pitcher was going to give me a fastball and that’s what happened,” Donato said. “I put a good swing on it and it went down the right-field line.”

Dan Weigel ’14 was impressive in his first collegiate start, pitching seven strong innings, allowing only one unearned while striking out eight and allowing four hits.

“Since it was my first ever start for Bucknell, I tried to keep things pretty simple and just throw my game,” Weigel said. “I was lucky to have some great defense behind me on Saturday.”

Niagara added three runs in the ninth off All-Patriot League reliever Alex Cillo ’12.

Donato and cleanup hitter Travis Clark ’13, who finished two-for-four, produced five of the Bison’s eight hits.

In their season opener, the Bison fell in a tightly contested pitcher’s duel to the La Salle Explorers. Ryan Ebner ’12, Patriot League Pitcher of the Year for 2011, was solid in his season debut, allowing three runs (two of them earned) in 3.1 innings while striking out five. The Explorers jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, but the Bison quickly cut the deficit to 2-1 in the second inning. After Duffett led off the inning with a double, Brett Ashley ’14 singled, placing runners at first and third. With two outs, the double steal was on as Ashley stole second and Duffett scored on the rare steal of home. Ashley finished the game two-for-four as the only player on either team to record multiple hits. Relievers Dan Goldstein ’13 and Marcus Garone ’13 combined to pitch 4.2 scoreless innings, allowing only two walks and a single.

The Bison will return to action today when they travel to James Madison to begin a four game series against the Dukes. After the team’s strong end to the weekend, the club seems confident heading into the weekend’s four game series.

“We played extremely well against Niagara and will be carrying that momentum into James Madison,” Donato said. “Our pitchers were doing their jobs and the hitters were putting the ball in play. If we can continue to do that, then we will be a dangerous team in the Patriot League.”