Patriot League Basketball Tournament Begins

[ngineer]

Bucknell, American, Lehigh and Lafayette all won their opening round games tonight. Lehigh will now travel to Bucknell and Lafayette goes to American.

[TheValleyRaider]

Bucknell's tournament to lose. I still can't believe their 1 loss this year was Army. And by 20 points! xnutsx xoopsx xrotatehx xchinscratchx

[ngineer]

Agreed. As they say, AGS. But realistically, Lehigh is a year away from being a serious challenge with a very young squad. They'll need Bucknell to hit some good cold streaks; otherwise, I see the Bison winning by 12-15.

[BucBisonAtLarge]

I am just glad, as are many a Bucknell fan, that Holy Cross is out of the tournament. HC played the conference so tough after their winless start. This is the Patriot League and BU has booted more than its share of tournament games over the years. The Senior night game was a sellout, and this semifinal might be as well. I just glad I might get a look at the game tomorrow afternoon, after Lehigh plays bridemaid to Cornell at the EIWA tournament at Sojka.

The wrestling return at BU has been probably the most exciting and improbable program restart. I am betting they will finish 8th this year, but to think that this is only the 5th year back since the program returned from the mothballs, even tying for 3rd in the EIWA 2 years ago. Given the manic wrestling environment of Central Pennsylvania, I am sure that it has been making Bucknell more relevant in the local community, as has been the hiring of locally and regionally-known fball coaches. But on campus, hoops rules, and these next few years promise a lot of LU/BU rivalry, as long as McCullom and Co. ripen with time. BU's recruiting has been doing well under Paulsen, so the next two classes look great. But this BU team is the same one that lost to Army and went 2-7 to open the season.

[TheValleyRaider]

Truth is, this is a down year for the PL. The fact that only AU and BU had decent conference records says a lot, I think, about the overall quality

The Bison may have some flaws, but (bizarre loss to Army aside) are the best team by far this year

Home teams in the PL Final have an overwhelming advantage, I see Bucknell taking care of business if they win today, regardless of the opponent

[TheValleyRaider]

2011 Patriot League Championship Game
#6-Lafayette at #1-Bucknell
Friday, March 11
4:45 Eastern on ESPN2

[ngineer]

That was on one of the worst non-calls I have ever seen. Bucknell may still have won the game if McCollum had made both foul shots, but that is not the way to have such a game end. The announcers on CBS had it right as CJ got hammered by Muscala. I think BU has a better overall team and would probably represent the PL best in the NCAA, but I would prefer to see them beat us. Lehigh came back from 13 down to tie the game in the last minute in one of the toughest gyms to play in the PL. They have a lot be proud by their gutsey comeback and should use this as a springboard for next year. Knudsen played Muscala very tough. That's going to be a great battle for the next two years as both are Sophs.

[kardplayer]

Bigger question is, why didn't they keep pounding it down to Knudsen after Muscala picked up his fourth foul with a little over 4 minutes to go? If they had, he might have fouled out by then, and McCollum would have had a clearer shot.

Here's a quote by Muscala that should be included in every single "bad officiating" thread

"I fouled him but bad calls are made throughout the game and calls are missed," said Muscala. (http://www.sungazette.com/page/content.detail/id/561181/Bucknell-men-survive-scare--beat-Lehigh.html?nav=5017)

I like how he owned it, and I think his point is dead on. Bad calls go both ways - better to position yourself to overcome them by not "letting" Bucknell get out to a 13 point lead early or by not going scoreless for about 4 minutes in the second half during the comeback.

The amazing stat to me was during the Lafayette/American game, the announcers said that the favorite had won the previous 38 Patriot League semifinals. The only other semifinal upset is Holy Cross over Lehigh in the first PL season (1991) - and that was at Holy Cross, back when the tournament took place over one weekend at one location.

[sikolec]

Great two games yesterday! Fun to watch. Bucknell non calls were pretty remarkable but a win is a win. Looking forward to the championship on Friday.

[Franks Tanks]

Leopards fans are fired up for this one. Our once proud basketball program is showing signs of life with our second straight trip to the PL title game. A win for us will be unlikley, but the foundation is being set for Lafayette basketball.