Feb. 8, 2002
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Fresh off their most lopsided victory of the season, a 76-56 rout of Navy on Wednesday, the Bison look to make it a second-half sweep of the Patriot League service academies this afternoon at Army's Christl Arena. The convincing win over the Midshipmen nudged Bucknell back over the .500 mark in Patriot League play and moved the Orange and Blue into a tie for third alongside Lafayette in the crowded league standings. The Bison are one game behind second-place Holy Cross and two back of league-leading American. Meanwhile, Army is looking to rebound from a 74-59 loss to American, the Black Knights first home conference loss of the season. Army is a solid 7-4 at home and has already equalled its most Patriot League wins in a season with four. This will be the second meeting of the season between these two teams. Bucknell erased a 10-point halftime deficit to defeat the Black Knights 56-53 in Lewisburg on Jan. 16.
The State of the Bison
Bucknell brushed aside a two-game losing streak in emphatic fashion Wednesday, racing to a 28-point lead before settling for a 76-56 assault of Navy in Davis Gym. In that game, the Bison established season highs for field goal percentage (.587), 3-point percentage (.533), assists (20), first-half points (41) and margin of victory (20). A solid bench effort and the lopsided score should give the Bison fresh legs today. Only Bryan Bailey played more than 30 minutes against Navy. Starting guard Dan Blankenship rested a sore ankle and played only 14 minutes, while starting forward Boakai Lalugba was limited to 19 minutes due to foul trouble.
Scouting Army
The Black Knights are enjoying one of their finest seasons under fifth-year head coach Pat Harris. Army is 10-12 overall and 4-5 in league play, tied for fifth place with Colgate and Navy. Driving the Black Knights are one of the nation's top brother tandems in Chris and J.P. Spatola. Chris, the off-guard, is the Patriot League's top scorer at 17.5 ppg. He has made a league-high 59 3-pointers and shoots 90.0% from the free-throw line. The only underclassmen in the Army starting lineup, J.P. Spatola handles the point-guard chores and ranks third in the league with 106 assists. He also scores 9.1 ppg. Forward Charles Woodruff ranks second to teammate Chris Spatola in the Patriot League scoring race, averaging 15.8 ppg. Woodruff led the Cadets with 22 points in the first meeting with Bucknell. Senior Jonte Harrell (4.7 ppg., 6.6 rpg.) also starts in the frontcourt, alongside either senior Dax Pearson (5.9 ppg.) or junior Matt Collins (3.3 ppg.).
Series Notes
Including its 56-53 victory over Army last month, Bucknell holds a 22-14 lead in a series that originated in 1929. Army won the first 10 series meetings, and the Bison are 22-4 since 1988-89 and 21-4 since the two teams joined the Patriot League. Three of Army's wins in that span have come at Christl Arena, including a 60-55 decision last season.
The First Bucknell-Army Clash
On Jan. 16 in Lewisburg, Boakai Lalugba scored 19 of his game-high 25 points in the second half to help Bucknell erase a 10-point halftime deficit and defeat Army 56-53. Bucknell survived shaky free-throw shooting down the stretch and a pair of open 3-point looks from Josh Wilson and Chris Spatola in the final 10 seconds. Trailing 28-18 at intermission and 39-30 with 12:20 remaining, Bucknell used an 18-7 run to take a 48-46 lead with 4:27 remaining. The game was tied twice more at 48 and 50 before Lalugba's layup with 1:57 to go gave Bucknell the lead for good. Lalugba, who was 12-for-16 from the field in the game and 9-for-10 in the second half, banked in a five-footer to make it 54-50 with 45 seconds remaining. Spatola quickly answered with a long three to make it 54-53. Army fouled Blankenship with 26 seconds showing, and the Bison guard made the first and missed the second, but teammate Brian Werner corralled the offensive rebound. Blankenship was again fouled and made 1 of 2 free throws with 22 seconds left, giving the Black Knights a final shot to tie. Wilson's 3-point attempt from the right wing bounced long off the rim, and after a Jonté Harrell offensive rebound, Spatola missed a long three as time expired. Bucknell shot a torrid 75.0 percent (15-20) from the floor in the second half after a 33.3 percent (9-27) showing in the opening period.
Shootout Potential
Today's matchup features the Patriot League's top two 3-point shooting teams since the start of conference play. Through nine league contests, Bucknell is shooting a league-best 38.0 percent from long range, while the Black Knights are No. 2 at 36.8 percent. Bucknell's Chris Rodgers (.522) and Army's J.P. Spatola (.452) rank first and fourth, respectively, in 3-point accuracy. The Bison have made 18 of 35 (.514) 3-point tries in their last two games, and their only three .500-plus efforts this season have come in the last five games.
Bailey Newest Member of 1,000-Point Club
Senior guard Bryan Bailey scored his 1,000th career point at Lafayette last Saturday, becoming the 28th Bucknell player to reach the milestone. With 20 points in that game and 15 more against Navy on Wednesday, Bailey currently has 1,022 career markers, placing him 25th on Bucknell's all-time scoring chart (see complete list, page 6). Bailey also became the 37th Patriot League player to reach the 1,000-point barrier. Holy Cross' Ryan Serravalle scored his 1,000th point only about an hour before Bailey.
Bison in Search of 100th Patriot League Win
No Patriot League team has won more regular-season conference games than Bucknell since the start of league play in 1990-91. The Bison carry a 99-49 (.669) league record and have had only two losing seasons in 11 years. A win today would make Bucknell the first team to record 100 Patriot League victories.
Bison Bench a Key
In recent games Bucknell has relied on its bench in order to be successful. During a two-game winning streak against Colgate and Lehigh, the bench contributed 46 points. In the next two games, both losses, the bench accounted for a total of only 13 points. The Bison bench was never better than against Navy this past Wednesday, when the reserves totaled a season-high 41 points in a 76-56 win over the Midshipmen. Reserves have accounted for 20.5 ppg. in Bucknell's wins this season, but only 12.5 ppg. in its losses.
