National Basketball Association
Bucknell 64, Lafayette 56
When: 7:30 PM ET, Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Where: Sojka Pavilion, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania
Officials:
# Tony Crisp, # Paul Huovinen, # Victor Montgomery
Attendance:
3645
By SportsDirect Inc.
Bucknell 64, Lafayette 56: Senior center Mike Muscala scored 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as the host Bison defeated the Leopards to lock up their sixth NCAA Tournament bid in program history.
Bucknell (28-5), which won the Patriot League tournament for the fourth time, also received 14 points and eight boards from senior forward Joe Willman. Junior guard Cameron Ayers added nine points.
Sophomore guard Joey Ptasinski scored 15 points for Lafayette (19-15), which fell to 0-15 all-time at Sojka Pavilion. Freshman guard Bryce Scott chipped in 13 points, and senior guard Tony Johnson finished with 11.
A 15-4 run allowed the Bison to take a 15-point lead with 2:54 to play. The Leopards had been within three points before the spurt - the closest they had been since it was 13-10 - but never came closer than six with 21 seconds left when the outcome had already been decided.
Bucknell recorded 14 assists and five turnovers but shot just 2-for-9 from 3-point range.The Bison also hit 18 of their 23 free throws, helping them hold off Lafayette down the stretch.
GAME NOTEBOOK: The teams met in the conference championship game for the second time in three years. … Musacla set a Patriot League tournament record with 38 rebounds. He recorded his 22nd double-double of the season, which leads the nation. ... Bucknell set a school record and Patriot League mark with its 28th victory.
Top Game Performances
| Lafayette |
|
Bucknell |
|
Joey Ptasinski 15 |
Scoring |
Mike Muscala 20 |
|
Tony Johnson 4 |
Assists |
Steven Kaspar 5 |
|
Tony Johnson 6 |
Rebounds |
Mike Muscala 11 |
|
Bryce Scott 3 |
Free Throws Made |
Cameron Ayers 5 |
|
Levi Giese 1 |
Steals |
Cameron Ayers 2 |
|
Levi Giese 2 |
Blocks |
Brian Fitzpatrick 1 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Lafayette
|
56 |
40.0 |
5-15 |
7-11 |
10 |
28 |
2 |
4 |
8 |
| Bucknell
|
64 |
40.0 |
2-9 |
18-23 |
14 |
33 |
3 |
5 |
5 |