2018–19 Bucknell Bison men's basketball team

The 2018–19 Bucknell Bison men's basketball team represented Bucknell University during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bison, led by fourth-year head coach Nathan Davis, played their home games at Sojka Pavilion in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania as members of the Patriot League. They finished the season 21–12, 13–5 to earn a share of the regular season Patriot League championship. As the No. 2 seed in the Patriot League tournament, they defeated Holy Cross and Lehigh before losing to Colgate in the championship game.^[1] They were not selected for postseason play.

2018–19 Bucknell Bison men's basketball
Patriot League regular season co-champion
Conference	Patriot League
Record	21–12 (13–5 Patriot)
Head coach	Nathan Davis (4th season)
Assistant coaches	Paul Harrison John Griffin Joe Meehan
Home arena	Sojka Pavilion
Seasons ← 2017–18 2019–20 →

2018–19 Patriot League men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Colgate †	13	–	5		.722			24	–	11		.686
Bucknell	13	–	5		.722			21	–	12		.636
Lehigh	12	–	6		.667			20	–	11		.645
American	9	–	9		.500			15	–	15		.500
Navy	8	–	10		.444			12	–	19		.387
Army	8	–	10		.444			13	–	19		.406
Lafayette	7	–	11		.389			10	–	20		.333
Boston University	7	–	11		.389			15	–	18		.455
Loyola (MD)	7	–	11		.389			11	–	21		.344
Holy Cross	6	–	12		.333			16	–	17		.485
† 2019 Patriot League tournament winner

Previous season

The Bison finished the 2017–18 season 25–10, 16–2 in Patriot League to win the Patriot League regular season championship. They defeated Loyola (MD), Boston University, and Colgate to win the Patriot League tournament championship. As a result, they received the Patriot League's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament where they lost in the first round to Michigan State.

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Stephen Brown	2	G	5'11"	160	Senior	Manassas, VA	Graduated
Nana Foulland	20	C	6'10"	235	Senior	Reading, PA	Graduated
Zach Thomas	23	F	6'7"	195	Senior	Ijamsville, MD	Graduated

2018 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Walter Ellis #72 SG	South Bend, IN	Brewster Academy	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Apr 8, 2018
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports:     ESPN grade: 72
Andrew Funk SG	Warminster, PA	Archbishop Wood High School	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	Sep 4, 2017
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports:     ESPN grade: NR
Kahliel Spear SF	The Colony, TX	The Colony High School	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	N/A	Apr 9, 2018
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NR
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 22, 2018.

2019 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for 2019 recruits
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Alex Rice #53 PG	Jersey City, NJ	The Patrick School	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	N/A	Sep 12, 2018
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NR
Malachi Rhodes PF	McDonough, GA	Wheeler High School	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Sep 19, 2018
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NR
Jake van der Heijden PF	Raleigh, NC	Ravenscroft School	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	May 2, 2018
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NR
Alex Timmerman C	Crystal Lake, IL	Crystal Lake Central High School	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	250 lb (110 kg)	Apr 24, 2018
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NR
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2019 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 22, 2017.

Roster

2018–19 Bucknell Bison men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown C 0 Paul Newman 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 234 lb (106 kg) Sr St. Andrews School Philadelphia, PA G 1 Kimbal Mackenzie 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 160 lb (73 kg) Sr John Carroll Oakville, ON F 2 Walter Ellis 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 187 lb (85 kg) Fr Brewster Academy Granger, IN G 3 Jimmy Sotos 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 192 lb (87 kg) So Conant Elk Grove Village, IL F/C 4 Nate Sestina 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 245 lb (111 kg) Sr Cameron County Emporium, PA G 5 Jordan Sechan (W) 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg) So Northfield Mount Hermon New Canaan, CT G 10 Andrew Funk 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr Archbishop Wood Warrington, PA G 11 Avi Toomer 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 192 lb (87 kg) Jr Grady Atlanta, GA F 12 John Meeks 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 225 lb (102 kg) So The Burlington School Burlington, NC F 13 Bruce Moore 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 223 lb (101 kg) Jr McDonogh Randallstown, MD G 14 Ben Robinson 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Jr High Point Christian High Point, NC G 15 Nate Jones 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 209 lb (95 kg) Sr Radford Radford, VA G 22 Matt O'Reilly 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Sr Prolific Prep Academy Moraga, CA F 23 Kahliel Spear 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr The Colony The Colony, TX	Head coach Nathan Davis (Randolph–Macon) Assistant coach(es) Paul Harrison (Washington and Lee) John Griffin (Bucknell) Joe Meehan (Lebanon Valley) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on   Injured   Current redshirt Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
Nov 7, 2018* 7:00 pm		at St. Bonaventure	W 88–85 ^OT	1–0	Reilly Center (4,668) Olean, NY
Nov 10, 2018* 7:00 pm		Fairfield	L 58–60	1–1	Sojka Pavilion (3,183) Lewisburg, PA
Nov 13, 2018* 7:00 pm, WQMY		Canisius	L 73–82	1–2	Sojka Pavilion (2,237) Lewisburg, PA
Nov 25, 2018* 2:00 pm		at Vermont	W 69–61	2–2	Patrick Gym (2,446) Burlington, VT
Nov 28, 2018* 7:00 pm		Northeastern	L 78–96	2–3	Sojka Pavilion (2,121) Lewisburg, PA
Dec 1, 2018* 7:00 pm, Stadium		Monmouth	W 65–43	3–3	Sojka Pavilion (2,579) Lewisburg, PA
Dec 4, 2018* 7:00 pm		at La Salle	W 92–79	4–3	Tom Gola Arena (1,321) Philadelphia, PA
Dec 15, 2018* 12:00 pm, BTN		at No. 15 Ohio State	L 71–73	4–4	Value City Arena (14,241) Columbus, OH
Dec 19, 2018* 10:00 pm		at Saint Mary's	L 56–85	4–5	McKeon Pavilion (2,622) Moraga, CA
Dec 22, 2018* 10:00 pm, ESPN3		vs. Rhode Island Diamond Head Classic quarterfinals	W 84–82	5–5	Stan Sheriff Center  Honolulu, HI
Dec 23, 2018* 10:00 pm, ESPN2		vs. TCU Diamond Head Classic semifinals	L 65–82	5–6	Stan Sheriff Center  Honolulu, HI
Dec 25, 2018* 6:30 pm, ESPNU		vs. UNLV Diamond Head Classic 3rd place game	W 97–72	6–6	Stan Sheriff Center  Honolulu, HI
Patriot League regular season
Jan 2, 2019 7:00 pm, Stadium		at Army	W 64–63	7–6 (1–0)	Christl Arena (958) West Point, NY
Jan 5, 2019 1:00 pm, Stadium		at Boston University	L 80–87	7–7 (1–1)	Case Gym (841) Boston, MA
Jan 9, 2019 7:00 pm		Colgate	W 84–81	8–7 (2–1)	Sojka Pavilion (2,788) Lewisburg, PA
Jan 12, 2019 12:00 pm		American	W 55–54	9–7 (3–1)	Sojka Pavilion (3,092) Lewisburg, PA
Jan 14, 2019 7:00 pm, CBSSN		Holy Cross	W 93–78	10–7 (4–1)	Sojka Pavilion (2,514) Lewisburg, PA
Jan 19, 2019 12:00 pm		at Lehigh	W 85–83	11–7 (5–1)	Stabler Arena (1,558) Bethlehem, PA
Jan 23, 2019 7:00 pm		Loyola (MD)	W 71–68	12–7 (6–1)	Sojka Pavilion (2,243) Lewisburg, PA
Jan 26, 2019 4:00 pm		at American	L 68–76	12–8 (6–2)	Bender Arena (1,172) Washington, D.C.
Jan 30, 2019 7:00 pm		Navy	W 69–57	13–8 (7–2)	Sojka Pavilion (2,154) Lewisburg, PA
Feb 2, 2019 2:00 pm		at Lafayette	W 94–66	14–8 (8–2)	Kirby Sports Center (1,487) Easton, PA
Feb 6, 2019 7:00 pm		at Loyola (MD)	W 84–72	15–8 (9–2)	Reitz Arena (730) Baltimore, MD
Feb 9, 2019 12:00 pm, WQMY		Boston University	W 82–76	16–8 (10–2)	Sojka Pavilion (3,052) Lewisburg, PA
Feb 11, 2019 7:00 pm, CBSSN		Lehigh	W 87–75	17–8 (11–2)	Sojka Pavilion (2,793) Lewisburg, PA
Feb 16, 2019 7:00 pm		at Holy Cross	L 71–72	17–9 (11–3)	Hart Center (1,564) Worcester, MA
Feb 19, 2019 7:00 pm, Stadium		at Colgate	L 64–75	17–10 (11–4)	Cotterell Court (643) Hamilton, NY
Feb 24, 2019 2:00 pm, WQMY		Lafayette	W 118–76	18–10 (12–4)	Sojka Pavilion (2,968) Lewisburg, PA
Feb 27, 2019 7:00 pm		at Navy	L 53–64	18–11 (12–5)	Alumni Hall (1,822) Annapolis, MD
Mar 2, 2019 12:00 pm		Army	W 62–61	19–11 (13–5)	Sojka Pavilion (2,982) Lewisburg, PA
Patriot League tournament
Mar 7, 2019 7:00 pm	(2)	(10) Holy Cross Quarterfinals	W 77–65	20–11	Sojka Pavilion (2,107) Lewisburg, PA
Mar 10, 2019 2:00 pm, CBSSN	(2)	(3) Lehigh Semifinals	W 97–75	21–11	Sojka Pavilion (2,718) Lewisburg, PA
Mar 13, 2019 7:30 pm, CBSSN	(2)	(1) Colgate Championship	L 80–94	21–12	Cotterell Court  Hamilton, NY
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time.

Source^[2]

References

1. "Patriot League men's basketball tournament: Colgate beats Bucknell 94-80 for title". Los Angeles Times. 2019-03-14. Retrieved 2019-10-10.
2. "Men's Basketball – Schedule – BucknellBison.com – The Official Site of Bucknell Bison Athletics". www.bucknellbison.com.