LEWISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Kimbal Mackenzie scored 18 points to help send Bucknell into the NCAA Tournament with an 81-65 victory over Lehigh in the Patriot League final Wednesday night.
The Bison (26-8) are back in the tournament for the first time since 2013 and seem ready to shake up the brackets one more time. Bucknell beat Kansas in 2005 and Arkansas in 2006 to earn a reputation as March upset masters.
They were knocked out in the first game each of the last two trips. But scouting reports can wait until after Sunday’s field is announced. Nana Foulland and Zach Thomas had the electric home crowd ready to taste the tournament from the opening tip.
Bucknell opened the second half on a 12-0 run that turned Sojka Pavilion into zoo, complete with a dancing Bison (mascot) and a gyrating shark. The Mountain Hawks (20-12) didn’t fare as well and lost in the Patriot League Tournament championship game for the second straight season.
The crowd of 4,254, sixth largest in Sojka history, stormed the court and mobbed the players to set off a March celebration. Bucknell students danced and snapped selfies on the court as the public address announcer urged them to head back to the bleachers for the traditional cutting of the nets.
While so many conference tournament games this week were played in half-empty arenas in major cities, Bucknell’s 4,000-seat Sojka rocked from the moment the doors opened to hundreds of students lined up outside all the way to the postgame madness on the court.
The two schools are separated by 125 miles, and the student sections engaged in dueling insults and sarcastic signs that gave this championship game a true big-game flavor.
Lehigh won both games against Bucknell during the regular season and had counted on 3-point shooting (39 percent; 23rd nationally) to pull off the road upset. The Mountain Hawks hit just two 3s in the first half and a 30-25 lead was more mirage than a needed spark toward snipping the nets.
Foulland, the Patriot League player of the year and defensive player of the year, was in foul trouble in the first half and sat out the last 4 minutes. The Bison still scored on their next three possessions when he was out and Avi Toomer made a 3 a tick before the horn for a 35-35 halftime lead.
Bucknell was just getting started.
The top-seeded Bison gave the frenzied, orange-dressed crowd a reason to go wild on a steal from Foulland that led to an easy bucket and his own monster dunk. Mackenzie buried a corner 3 that capped a 12-0 run to open the second half.
The Bison, who won the Patriot League title outright for the third straight season and sixth time in the last seven years, got a three-point play from Mackenzie late in the game that shook off a late Lehigh push. The championship celebration was on deck. Tim Kempton had 22 points and 17 rebounds for Lehigh.
BIG PICTURE
Bucknell has won six straight games and has not lost consecutive games all season. The Bison entered 24th in the country in field-goal percentage (48.1) and could prove to be a tough out in the tournament.
The Mountain Hawks had won six straight games. Former Lehigh great and Portland Trail Blazers star CJ. McCollum rooted on the Mountain Hawks on Twitter (“Come on fellas”).
UP NEXT
Bucknell will likely earn a double-digit seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Lehigh has not made the NCAAs since 2012, when it knocked off Duke, could settle for an invitation to one of the minor March postseason tournaments.
