The Eagles were all smiles in the postgame interviews after their win versus Bucknell, 65-55. AU, already Patriot League regular season champions and the No. 1 seed in the Patriot League tournament, was able to play relaxed in their last regular season game at Bender Arena. The Eagles also celebrated the careers of three seniors, guards Jen Dumiak, Shaquilla Curtis and forward Arron Zimmerman, in a pregame ceremony.
As the top seed in the Patriot League the tournament will go through Bender Arena. The Eagles will host quarterfinals March 6 at 7 p.m. against the seventh or eighth seed. AU's opponent will be determined by a first round faceoff between Lafayette and Loyola. The Eagles swept both teams in the regular season, going 4-0.
In the first half the Eagles went 13-for-27 (48.1 percent), while the Bison shot 11-for-27 (40.7 percent) but went 5-for-12 (41.7 percent) from beyond the three-point arc which allowed the teams to go into halftime knotted up 28-28.
In the second half the Eagles (21-8, 16-2 PL) outscored the Bison (18-11, 10-8 PL) 37-27. Dumiak led the second half charge going 5-for-9, scoring 10 points, pulling down five rebounds and snatching three steals.
“The defense in the second half made us relax a little more, more comfortable, and once we could get stops it got us easier baskets on the offensive end,” head coach Megan Gebbia said. “It just seemed to roll for us.”
AU forced nine turnovers in the second half and 14 on the whole. The Bisons giveaways led to 14 points for the Eagles. Bucknell was also unable to defend inside, giving up 26 points in the paint.
“It really came down to these three seniors [Dumiak, Curtis and Zimmerman] buying in and doing what they are asked to do.” Gebbia said.
The seniors dominated the game scoring a combined 46 points. Dumiak finished the game with a double-double, 16 points and 11 rebounds. Curtis’ final line read 11 points on 4-for-5 shooting, four rebounds and five assist. Zimmerman collected eight points, three rebounds and dished out three assists.
Junior guard Ari Booth came off the bench for a total of 11 minutes but was able to contribute 10 points. Booth went 3-for-6, 1-for-2 from beyond the three-point line and a perfect 3-for-3 from the free throw line.
The Bison did most of their damage from long range 3-point shots, shooting 11-for-24 (45.8 percent) from behind the arc. Bucknell also outrebounded the Eagles, 34-24. The Bison pulled down rebounds on both sides of the court, 15 on offense and 19 on defense.
“It was nice knowing that we had first place seeding already so we could come out and play more relaxed," Dumiak said. "We have our banquet after which will be nice, and we said if we didn’t win no one was going to get any food. So I think there was a little pressure on other people, but we we’re pretty relaxed.
