The men’s baseball team put up a strong effort as it faced off against Duke last weekend for a three-game series, improving each game even though they did not come out with a victory.
“As a whole, we are obviously disappointed with the losses, yet there are many positives to take away. We were a few plays away from winning games two and three, and against a quality team like Duke, that is somewhat respectable,” pitcher Dan Weigel ’14 said.
The Bison had a rough start to the weekend on Feb. 22 when they faced off against the Blue Devils, ending the game with a 9-0 loss. The only two hits on the day for the Orange and Blue came from Matt Busch ’13 and Luke Lombardi ’14. Bryson Hough ’15 started on the mound and allowed only three hits in over five innings, but his five walks dug a hole the Bison could not overcome.
The Orange and Blue came back strong, pushing Duke before losing 2-0 on a walk-off home run on Feb. 23. Weigel led the Bison on the day, tallying five strikeouts and allowing just two hits and no runs in over eight innings. The team continued to struggle on offense, with second baseman Greg Wasikowski ’15 recording the only hit for the Bison on the day.
The Orange and Blue bounced back on offense on Feb. 24, recording six hits and getting on the board in the 4-1 loss. Center fielder Corey Furman ’14 led the way with two singles on the day, while pitcher Dan Goldstein ’13 had an impressive performance on the mound, recording eight strikeouts in 4.2 innings.
“As we move towards next weekend against Harvard and Virginia we are not looking for mere respectability but rather to win the series,” Weigel said. “We proved this weekend that we can play with ACC schools, now we just need to keep getting better to be able to make that next step of beating them.”
This weekend, the Bison will travel to Charlottesville, Va. to play two games against Virginia and two versus Harvard.
The men’s tennis team had a split outcome of matches this past weekend with a 6-1 victory over Hofstra and a 7-0 defeat at the hands of nationally-ranked Princeton University.
“It was a good weekend for us. We got out ahead of Hofstra and never looked back. We are starting to put things together piece by piece and it is exciting to see. Princeton is a tough costumer but helped us realize some important things to work on. Overall it was a successful weekend,” Aidan Lynch ’14 said.
In the match against Hofstra, the Bison cleanly collected victories in the three doubles matches. Kelly Morque ’13 and Evan Zimmer ’13 lost one game to Hofstra, but roped in an 8-1 victory. The team of Nick Bybel ’16 and Josh Katten ’13 also succeeded with an 8-2 win, followed closely by Octavio Canibe ’15 and Lynch with an 8-6 victory. The Orange and Blue settled their triumph over Hofstra with five victories in singles, wrapping up the Bison’s victory with Katten’s 6-4, 6-1 win.
The Bison couldn’t secure the same success at Princeton on Feb. 24, even though the three doubles matches came close to being in the Bison’s favor. The Orange and Blue struggled the most in singles matches. The closest match was played by Kyle Rosen ’14 in the No. 6 position and was ended in a 10-5 tie breaker that went Princeton’s way.
“Although on paper the Princeton match wasn’t a successful outing for us, there were definitely positives we can build on and use to our advantage once Patriot League matches start,” Morque said.
The Bison will play again on March 11 and 12 with their next two matches in Puerto Rico against Puerto Rico-Mayaguez and Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras.
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.
Estie Pyper | The Bucknellian Stephen McPeek ’14 grapples with an opponent. The Wrestling team only won two matches against Lehigh.
Billy Tyler
Assistant Sports Editor
The men’s wrestling team wrapped up its regular season on Feb. 22 with its Senior Day against in-state powerhouse Lehigh. Unfortunately, the Bison were unable to come away with a victory in their final dual match, falling 31-9.
Two wrestlers, Corey Lear ’13 and Joe Stolfi ’15, won bouts for the Bison. Lear, ranked 17th in the nation in the 165 lb. weight class, pinned his opponent in 6:22. This victory put Lear’s regular season record at 23-5, including 18 wins in his last 20 matches.
Stolfi finished the day’s events with a hard-fought 7-6 victory in the heavyweight match. This close match featured several lead changes early, but Stolfi was able to grab the lead before the end of the second period and hang on in a scoreless third period to clinch the win.
Following this match was a brief exhibition against Penn College of Technology. Containing only three bouts, this match was a valuable experience for several members of the team that have not seen much time in the starting rotation this year. Competing for the Bison were Mark Edmonds ’16 with a 4-2 OT victory in the 133 lb. class, Bob Hauser ’14, winning a 11-0 major decision, and Ray Schlitt ’15, who fell to a pin in 1:08.
With the loss to a Lehigh team and four nationally-ranked wrestlers in its lineup, the Bison end their regular season with a 6-14 overall record and a 2-5 EIWA conference record. The Bison will take the floor next on March 8-9 at Rutgers University for the EIWA Championships.
Edward Louie | The Bucknellian Chrissy Haney ’16 embraces a teammate. Her contributions helped the women’s track & field team win the Patriot League Tournament.
Billy Tyler
Assistant Sports Editor
Both the men’s and women’s track teams capped off successful regular seasons with great performances at the Patriot League Championships this past weekend.
The women’s track team won their 15th Patriot League Championship in program history. The Bison entered the final day of the three-day competition with only a 1.67 point advantage over second place Lehigh. As other teams faded after multiple days of grueling events, the Bison continued to perform at a high level.
Behind gold medal performances from Sophia Nnadi ’16, Caroline Tolli ’13, Jennifer Zymet ’14 and Alexandra Romanelli ’13, the Bison surged ahead to win with a final score of 162 points, 52 ahead of second place Navy.
The men’s track team also found great success at the Patriot League Championships, finishing in second place, only 23 points behind winner Navy. The 182 points scored by the Bison would have been good enough to win two of the past three championship meets, but unfortunately Navy had too many strong performances in the end.
Fourteen members of the team earned All-Leagues Honors, including Alex Prieto ’14, Kevin Keller ’15, Justin Hicks ’13 and Kevin Tapper ’15 who all earned recognition in multiple events.
The final indoor event of the season for the Bison will be on March 1-3 at the IC4A/ECAC Championships in Boston.
After starting the season with a win on the road against Delaware, the Bison traveled to Emmitsburg, Md. on Feb. 17 for a matchup against the Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers. Two late fourth-quarter goals helped the Mountaineers rally past the Orange and Blue for a 12-11 upset.
Todd Heritage ’14 opened the day’s scoring with a shot that found the back of the net just six seconds after the opening whistle. Over the next seven minutes, the Mountaineers responded with two goals of their own to take their first lead. Not to be outdone, the Bison quickly leveled the game at two with a Chase Bailey ’13 tally and restored their one-goal lead on a man-up advantage with just under three minutes left in the first quarter. The Mountaineers were able to work the ball down the field and add a goal of their own to tie the game at three as the first quarter came to a close.
As play resumed for the second quarter, the Bison were able to rekindle some of the offensive firepower seen in week one, going on a 4-1 run with goals from Sean Doyle ’16, Peter Burke ’14, Thomas Flibotte ’16 and Heritage. By the end of the second quarter, the Bison squad had limited the Mountaineers to just three shots while forcing three turnovers.
“We got good opportunities and limited our turnovers,” midfielder David Dickson ’15 said. “The offense looked solid.”
As play resumed for the second half, Mount St. Mary’s had a four-goal rally of their own, bringing the score to 8-7 in favor of the Mountaineers. Less than a minute later, Heritage tied the game with his third goal of the day. With time coming to a close in the third quarter, Mount St. Mary’s was able to take advantage of its fourth extra-man opportunity, to regain the lead for the third time.
The Mountaineers added a tally early in the fourth quarter to extend their lead to two goals. Over the next 10 minutes, the Orange and Blue utilized goals from Burke and Heritage to tie the game before Bailey found the back of the net on an unassisted tally to reinstate the Bison lead.
The Mountaineers tied the game with 1:35 left in the game. They then won the ensuing face-off, established the ball on offense and scored to bring the game to 12-11.
The Mountaineers again won the face-off and held the ball until Jackson Place ’14 forced a turnover, allowing the Bison to gain possession on the offensive half of the field with less than 30 seconds remaining. The Orange and Blue were unable to capitalize on their shots before time expired.
“We’ve already put the Mount St. Mary’s game behind us and we now know what it is going to take to win moving forward,” Dickson said.
The Bison look to rebound against the Bryant Bulldogs, who will visit campus Saturday at 1 p.m.
The men’s tennis team returned to its winning ways last weekend, defeating Niagara and St. Bonaventure 5-2 in two road matches. Kyle Rosen ’14 secured the team’s victories for both matches, bringing the Bison’s record for the season to 3-2.
Against Niagara, the Orange and Blue struggled in doubles matches, only securing an 8-4 win from the team of Octavio Canibe ’15 and Aidan Lynch ’14. For the singles matches, Nick Bybel ’16 succeeded with a dual victory and Kelly Morque ’13 and Josh Katten ’13 both split their opening sets, but were still successful with twin 6-1 final sets. Rosen’s 6-0, 6-4 win in his singles match brought the overall score to a 4-3 victory over Niagara.
“I am happy that we were able to pull out a tough victory,” Rosen said. “A close win like this always gives us confidence moving forward.”
The Bison wasted no time against St. Bonaventure, sweeping away doubles points early in the match. The team of Morque and Evan Zimmer ’13 took control with an 8-6 victory, and Canibe and Lynch cleaned up the doubles matches with an 8-3 win. In singles play, both Bybel and Zimmer finished their matches with two wins each. Rosen won two tough sets, each bringing 7-5 wins, to settle the score at 5-2 over St. Bonaventure.
“I was very impressed with everyone’s ability to stay positive during tough moments,” Zimmer said. “We lost to both Niagara and St. Bonaventure last year, so it felt great to pull both out this year. I hope we can bring the same intensity and focus for this weekend’s matches against Hofstra and Princeton.”
The Bison will return to the court when they challenge Hofstra and Princeton on the road this weekend.
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.
Estie Pyper | The Bucknellian Adam Healey ’13 stares down his opponent in a recent match. The men’s wrestling team dropped both its matches this weekend against American and Clarion.
Billy Tyler
Assistant Sports Editor
The men’s wrestling team dropped itslast two road dual matches of the season this past weekend. The Bison fell to Clarion 25-16 on Feb. 15 and were defeated by American 21-17 the next day.
The Orange and Blue put in a solid effort against Clarion, but were unable to overcome a forfeit in the 125 lb. match, despite winning four of the nine contested bouts. Paul Petrov ’16, Corey Lear ’13 and Joe Stolfi ’15 all entered the match against Clarion on hot streaks, continuing them in the match. Petrov, winner in seven of his last nine matches, won a major decision 16-6 in the 133 lb. match. Building on his 15-2 record in his last 17 matches, Lear gained a victory against Clarion on a 16-0 technical fall. Stolfi won his match in a 10-2 major decision to build his winning streak to 10 in the last 11 matches. Also finding victory for the Bison was Robert Marchese ’16 who doubled his season wins in his last six matches with three wins. Marchese won by an 8-4 decision in the 184 lb. match.
A similar story unfolded for the Bison the next day. Although the team won five of its nine contested bouts, it was unable to overcome a forfeit in the 125 lb. class and a pin in the 149 lb. class. Despite entering the final bout of the match with a chance to win following Tyler Lyster’s ’15 technical fall victory in the 197 lb. match, the Bison were unable to pull out the victory. Other Bison winners in this match include Petrov (7-3 decision), Derrik Russell ’13 (5-2 decision), Vincent Favia ’16 (3-2 decision) and Lear (4-3 decision).
The Bison close out their regular season Friday at 7 p.m. in Davis Gym against Lehigh.
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.
