Lewisburg, Pa. - Bucknell never trailed and pulled away late in the second half to defeat Lafayette, 72-57, and win the 2011 Patriot League Men's Basketball Championship on Friday at Sojka Pavilion. The Bison return to the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament for the first time since 2006, third as a Patriot League member and fifth overall. Bucknell has won a first-round game in each of its previous appearances representing the League in 2005 and 2006. The NCAA Tournament brackets will be announced on Sunday at 6 p.m. on CBS. Patriot League Tournament Most Valuable Player Mike Muscala (6'10''-F/C) led all scorers with 18 points for Bucknell, making 7-of-9 shots in the game. The sophomore became the first player to earn both the Patriot League Player of the Year and Tournament MVP award in the same season since Holy Cross' Keith Simmons in 2007, and the eighth to do so in League history. He was joined on the All-Tournament Team by a pair of teammates, sophomore Bryson Johnson (6'1''-G-90) and freshman Cameron Ayers (6'5''-G). Filling out the squad were Lafayette senior Jared Mintz (6'9''-F), Lehigh sophomore C.J. McCollum (6'3''-G) and American senior Vlad Moldoveanu (6'9''-F-88). The Bison also won the regular-season title in the Patriot League with a 13-1 record, and improve to 25-8 overall with their 10th consecutive victory. Bucknell has won 19 of its past 20 games since Christmas. Bucknell became the sixth consecutive top seed to win the Patriot League Tournament and the 17th in 21 seasons. Lafayette's season comes to an end in the Patriot League title game for the second straight year, as the Leopards finish at 13-19 overall. They tied for fourth place in the Patriot League with a 6-8 mark, and the sixth-seeded Leopards were the first team lower than No. 3 to make the Patriot League Championship. Bucknell 72, Lafayette 57 Lewisburg, Pa. - Bucknell (25-8, 13-1 PL) led from start to finish and used a 21-10 stretch midway through the second half to separate from Lafayette (13-18, 6-8 PL) and beat the Leopards, 72-57, on Friday at Sojka Pavilion to win the 2011 Patriot League Men's Basketball Championship. In a game that was quite similiar to last year's Patriot League title loss for Lafayette, the Leopards never led but hung tough for the first 30 minutes. Bryan Cohen (6'5''-G-89) scored Bucknell's first six points for an early 6-2 lead, and Muscala later scored five in a row to build the advantage to 17-9 with 11:33 to play in the first half. The margin stayed between three and eight points for the next six minutes until the Bison went on an 8-2 run for a 28-19 lead with 4:25 left in the half. A three-pointer by Ayers gave Bucknell its first double-digit lead at 31-21, but Lafayette chipped away before the end of the half. The Leopards went on an 11-5 run to get as close as 36-32 with 1:33 left, and Bucknell carried a 39-34 lead into the half. Lafayette scored the first bucket of the second half, but Bucknell responded with eight straight points for its biggest lead of the game when Johnson made four straight free throws for a 47-36 advantage with 17:24 to play. Lafayette had a golden chance to get back in the game, as the Bison went scoreless for the next six minutes after building the 11-point lead. A three-point play by Tony Johnson (6'0''-G) made it 47-40 with 15:27 left, and he followed with a layup to trim Bucknell's lead to 47-42 with 13:40 to go. Lafayette had multiple chances to get within one possession, but Jim Mower (6'3''-G) missed a pair of free throws, Ryan Willen (6'8''-F), Levi Giese (6'9''-F) and Jared Mintz each misfired on a layup and Willen was off from three-point range in the next two-and-half minutes as the Bison maintained the five-point edge. Bucknell got back on track in the following minutes to effectively put the game away. Muscala ended the scoring drought with a layup for a 49-42 lead with 11:07 left in the game, then teamed with Ayers to take over the next few minutes. A Muscala free throw and Ayers bucket put Bucknell up 52-42 with 10:05 left, and Ayers followed with a pair of foul shots and a three-pointer as Bucknell grabbed a 57-46 lead with 8:31 to go in the game. Lafayette would never get back within single digits, as the Bison later went on a 5-1 run to build the lead to 68-52 with 4:36 to play. The Bison cruised down the stretch to go on to the 72-57 win and take the Patriot League title for the third time and first since 2006. Muscala led the Bison with 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting, while Bryson Johnson went 7-of-8 at the line and finished with 15 points. Ayers tallied 12 points off the bench while making all four of his free throw attempts. In a game that featured plenty of fouls on both sides, the Bison lived up to their spot in the top five in the nation in free-throw shooting by going 23-of-28 at the line. Bucknell made 21-of-50 shots overall, and 7-of-22 from three-point range. The Bison held a 37-34 edge on the boards, led by seven from Cohen. Lafayette fell by nearly the exact same score as last year's title matchup with Lehigh, a 74-59 final. Mintz had 16 points and six rebounds for the Leopards, making 4-of-9 shots and 8-of-11 at the free-throw line. Tony Johnson had 12 points, five rebounds and three assists, while Jim Mower scored 11. Rob Delaney (6'4''-G) and Ryan Willen each scored eight points, with Willen going over the 1,000-point mark for his career in the final contest of his junior season. The Leopards struggled in all areas shooting the ball, with a 34.6 percent mark from the field (18-of-52) and just a 4-of-18 clip from three-point range. One of the top 10 teams in the nation in free-throw shooting entering the game, the Leopards left key points at the line in a 17-for-30 night. Courtesy of Patriot League Patriot League Tournament Final: Bucknell - Lafayette 72-57 Patriot League Tournament Semifinals: American - Lafayette 71-73 (2OT) Bucknell - Lehigh 66-64 All-Patriot League Awards 2010-11
Player of the Year: Mike Muscala (6'10''-F/C) of Bucknell All-Tournament MVP: Mike Muscala (6'10''-F/C) of Bucknell Defensive Player of the Year: Bryan Cohen (6'5''-G-89) of Bucknell Rookie of the Year: J.J. Avila (6'7''-F) of Navy Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Nathan Hedgecock (6'3''-G/F) of Army Coach of the Year: Dave Paulsen of Bucknell 1st Team G: C.J. McCollum (6'3'') of Lehigh F: Jared Mintz (6'9'') of Lafayette F: Vlad Moldoveanu (6'9''-88) of American F/C: Mike Muscala (6'10'') of Bucknell G: Darryl Shazier (6'0''-89) of Bucknell 2nd Team G: Devin Brown (6'1'') of Holy Cross G: Bryson Johnson (6'1''-90) of Bucknell F: Andrew Keister (6'9'') of Holy Cross F: Stephen Lumpkins (6'8'') of American G: Jordan Sugars (6'3''-90) of Navy All-Tournament Team Mike Muscala (6'10''-F/C) of Bucknell Cameron Ayers (6'5''-G) of Bucknell Bryson Johnson (6'1''-G-90) of Bucknell C.J. McCollum (6'3''-G) of Lehigh Jared Mintz (6'9''-F) of Lafayette Vlad Moldoveanu (6'9''-F-88) of American All-Rookie Team Cameron Ayers (6'5''-G) of Bucknell J.J. Avila (6'7''-F) of Navy Dave Dudzinski (6'9''-F) of Holy Cross Josh Herbeck (6'4''-G) of Army Mackey McKnight (6'0''-G) of Lehigh Pat Moore (6'5''-G) of Colgate Isaiah Roberts (6'2''-G) of Navy All-Academic Team Nathan Hedgecock (6'3''-G/F) of Army Nick Hendra (6'3''-G) of American Andrew Keister (6'9''-F) of Holy Cross Gabe Knutson (6'9''-F) of Lehigh Mike Muscala (6'10''-F/C) of Bucknell Ryan Willen (6'8''-F) of Lafayette | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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