March 4, 2008

WHAT: #7 Bucknell (11-18, 6-8 PL) vs. #2 Navy (16-13, 9-5 PL)
WHERE: Alumni Hall, Annapolis, Md.
WHEN: Wednesday, March 5, 2008, 7 p.m.
TV: None
RADIO: Eagle 107 and SportsJuice.com
LIVE VIDEO: Patriot League All-Access
COMPLETE PRESS NOTES

Probable Starters
Bucknell:
G, 11 John Griffin, Sr., 13.2 ppg
G, 13 Darryl Shazier, Fr., 3.0 ppg
F, 15 Stephen Tyree, So., 7.1 ppg
F, 21 G.W. Boon, Fr., 4.4 ppg
C, 1 Darren Mastropaolo, Sr., 7.5 ppg

Navy:
G, 3 Greg Sprink, Sr., 21.2 ppg
G, 5 Chris Harris, So., 14.4 ppg
G, 24 Kaleo Kina, Jr., 14.0 ppg
F, 15 Romeo Garcia, Fr., 4.1 ppg
C, 44 Mark Veazey, Fr., 3.9 ppg

With a Victory over Navy, Bucknell Would ...
-- ... improve to 12-18 overall.
-- ... play either No. 3 Colgate or No. 6 Lafayette on the road on Sunday.
-- ... advance to the Patriot League Tournament semifinals for the 15th time in 18 years in the league.
-- ... defeat Navy in the first round for the second straight year and improve to 2-3 against the Mids in the postseason.
-- ... avenge a 78-72 loss to the Mids at Alumni Hall on Feb. 9.

About the Game
After finishing up the regular season with a disappointing week, Bucknell gets to wipe the slate clean and begin a three-game mission for the Patriot League championship. That quest begins Wednesday night at second-seeded Navy, which is coming off a terrific regular season. Navy's home win over Bucknell on Feb. 9 ignited a six-game winning streak, and the Midshipmen were poised to claim the regular-season title outright until falling at Colgate on Saturday in the regular-season finale. Instead, Navy draws a Bucknell squad that is struggling offensively entering the postseason. The Bison managed only 90 points in two games last week, road losses at Lehigh and Army. Bucknell shot just 35.7% from the field (19.4% from 3-point range) and committed 35 turnovers in those two contests. The brownout came at an inopportune time, as a victory in either one of those games would have meant a top-four seed and a home game for the first round of the tournament. Bucknell did average 78.5 points during a regular-season split with Navy, which is the highest-scoring team in the league at 76.0 points per game.

How to Get the Game
The Bucknell-Navy game will not be televised, however live video can be purchased through the Patriot League All-Access package. The game can be heard locally on Eagle 107 (WEGH 107.3 FM), with Doug Birdsong and Doug Byerly on the call. The pregame show begins 30 minutes before tip-off. The audio feed is available free of charge via BucknellBison.com and SportsJuice.com.

Bucknell vs. Navy
This will be the 55th all-time meeting between the Bison and Midshipmen, with Navy owning a 30-24 series lead. The Bison had won seven straight meetings with Navy before falling 78-72 at Alumni Hall last month. The Mids won 12 of 16 from the Bison prior to joining the Patriot League in 1991-92. As conference rivals Bucknell holds a slim 20-18 advantage but is only 5-15 against Navy in Alumni Hall in that span. Pat Flannery is 16-16 all-time against the Mids.

Bucknell vs. Navy in the Postseason
Navy has won 3 of 4 previous meetings in the Patriot League Tournament, including a 76-75 win in the 1997 Patriot League championship game in Annapolis. Navy also won in the 1998 and 2001 semifinals. With the seeds reversed last season, No. 2 Bucknell defeated No. 7 Navy 62-43 in the first round at Sojka Pavilion.

Bucknell vs. Navy Earlier This Season
-- Back on Jan. 11, Justin Castleberry scored 19 points to lead four Bucknell players in double figures, and the Bison came back from a seven-point halftime deficit to defeat Navy 85-77 at sold-out Sojka Pavilion in the first game of the 2008 Patriot League schedule. Greg Sprink scored 26 points and Kaleo Kina tied his career high with 24 for Navy.
-- On Feb. 9 at Alumni Hall, Kina set a new career high with 27 points, and Sprink and Chris Harris both hit back-breaking 3-pointers in a close game in the final minutes. John Griffin hit five 3-pointers and scored 19 points to lead the Bison, while Castleberry, Darren Mastropaolo and Stephen Tyree scored a dozen each.

Numbers to Watch
Some interesting statistics from this season's two Bucknell-Navy matchups:
-- Bucknell shot 47.6% from the field and 46.7% from 3-point range in the two 2008 meetings with Navy. Senior sharpshooter John Griffin was especially hot against the Mids, canning 7 of 10 3-point tries while averaging a team-best 16.0 ppg in the two games.
-- Stephen Tyree went 7-for-10 from the floor and averaged 11.0 ppg and 8.0 rpg against the Midshipmen.
-- Rob Thomas also shot the ball well against Navy, making 3 of 4 3-point tries.
-- Bucknell had trouble protecting the basketball against Navy, which led the league in steals this season. Bucknell committed 39 turnovers in the two regular-season meetings, with the Mids collecting 23 steals. On the other hand, the Bison had only 10 steals and forced just 25 turnovers.
-- Bucknell outrebounded Navy 80-67.
-- Navy shot 42.6% from the field and 37.9% from 3-point distance. The Midshipmen led the league in 3-point attempts and 3-point defense, but in the two meetings this season Navy made 22 treys to Bucknell's 21.
-- Navy guard Kaleo Kina had two of the best games of his career against the Bison, scoring 24 and 27 points. Kina scored 36 of those 51 points before halftime. Greg Sprink had 48 points and Chris Harris 30, meaning that outstanding guard trio combined for 129 of the team's 155 points (83.2%) against Bucknell.

Bucknell Tournament History
Bucknell has an all-time record of 23-15 in 17 Patriot League Tournaments, but just a 1-3 mark against Navy. Bucknell has beaten every team in the league at least once in the postseason. The Bison have reached the championship game six times, including wins in 2005 and 2006, and reached at least the semifinals in 14 of 17 years. Bucknell is one of three teams (Holy Cross 24-12, American 9-6) to have a winning tournament record.

Bison PL Tourney Log
Year   Seed   Results
1991    4     def. Army 67-49; lost Fordham 82-76
1992    2     def. Army 74-55; def. Holy Cross 86-77; lost Fordham 70-65
1993    1     def. Lehigh 69-65; def. Colgate 75-73; lost Holy Cross 98-73
1994    5     lost Holy Cross 96-91
1995    2     lost Army 94-78
1996    4     def. Lafayette 56-55; lost Colgate 67-61
1997    2     def. Lehigh 84-54; def. Colgate 71-58; lost Navy 76-75
1998    3     def. Holy Cross 60-56; lost Navy 80-61
1999    3     def. Holy Cross 76-52; def. Lehigh 58-50; lost Lafayette 67-63
2000    3     lost Lehigh 73-62
2001    6     def. Colgate 75-68; lost Navy 88-64
2002    3     def. Army 70-59; lost Holy Cross 64-57
2003    5     def. Lehigh 52-47; lost Holy Cross 75-50
2004    4     def. Holy Cross 66-60; lost Lehigh 60-45
2005    2     def. Lafayette 70-34; def. American 53-35; def. Holy Cross 61-57
2006    1     def. Army 59-47; def. American 64-50; def. Holy Cross 74-59
2007    2     def. Navy 62-43; def. Army 68-47; lost Holy Cross 74-66
championship games in bold.

Lucky 7?
This will be Bucknell's first experience as a No. 7 seed in the Patriot League Tournament. Its previous low seed was a 6 in 2001, when it upset No. 3 Colgate in the first round. The Bison are 2-1 when wearing dark jerseys in the first round. A first-round win from a No. 7 seed is not unprecendented. In fact, Bucknell was on the other end of one of those upsets when it lost to No. 7 Army at West Point in coach Pat Flannery's Patriot League Tournament debut in 1995. Other 7 seeds to win in the first round were Lafayette in 1994 (83-65 over Fordham), Army in 1996 (64-58 over Navy) and Lehigh in 1999 (53-45 over Navy).

Griffin to Break Games Played Record
Bison senior John Griffin will break the school record for career games played on Wednesday. Griffin will play in his 126th straight game, one more than the previous record set by Chris McNaughton last year. Griffin has never missed a game in four years.

Last Time Out
Bucknell played from behind all day in Saturday's 54-51 loss at Army and fell a possession short after a late rally. Trailing by as many as 12 in the second half and by 10 with 2:27 to play, the Bison scambled within three on G.W. Boon's 3-pointer with 27 seconds left. They had two shots to tie in the final 15 seconds, but 3-point tries by John Griffin and Patrick Behan rimmed out.

Inside the Army Boxscore
-- The Bison held Army to seven field goals and 17 points in the second half, but they just could not get enough going themselves offensively to overcome a double-figure deficit. Bucknell shot 37.7% from the field and made only 4 of 20 from 3-point range. Team scoring leader John Griffin had a long afternoon, finishing 2-for-11 from the field, 1-for-9 from the arc.
-- Darren Mastropaolo led the team in scoring for the second straight game, finishing with 11 points on 5-fot-7 shooting.
-- Stephen Tyree did not attempt a shot in the first half, then scored 10 points in the second half. He went 3-for-5 from the field with two 3-point plays. Tyree also had a career-high four steals and helped keep high-scoing guard Jarell Brown in check. Brown had 13 points, more than five below his average, and had only two points in the final 32 minutes.
-- Freshman G.W. Boon made his fourth start of the season and his first in Patriot League play. Boon hit two 3-pointers and scored six points.
-- Patrick Behan had the hot hand early, scoring eight points in the first half. Behan had a look at a deep 3-pointer for the top of the arc just before the final buzzer, but it rimmed out. It was Behan's first 3-point try since the Drexel game on Dec. 22.
-- Army swept the season series from Bucknell for the first time ever.

Patriot League Kudos
Bucknell had three players earn postseason honors this week. Senior John Griffin was named to the All-Patriot League First Team, sophomore Stephen Tyree was picked as the Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year and freshman Todd O'Brien was named to the Patriot League All-Rookie Team.

All-League Notes
Bucknell has now had a first team all-conference player in 24 of the last 25 years, dating back to its days in the East Coast Conference ... Griffin was an all-rookie selection in 2005, but this was his first all-league selection ... Tyree is Bucknell's second defensive player of the year (Abe Badmus won the inaugural award in 2005) ... O'Brien gives Bucknell an all-rookie pick in six of the last seeven years.

Who's Got Next?
The winner of the Bucknell-Navy game will play the winner of Wednesday's quarterfinal matchup between No. 3 Colgate and No. 6 Lafayette. The higher-seeded team will host the game on Sunday at a time to be announced.