The AU Men’s basketball team offense could not get in rhythm and ultimately fell to the Bucknell Bison 56-51 March 1 at Bender Arena.
After starting Patriot League play 10-0, the Eagles lost five of their final eight games and were forced to settle with the No. 2 spot in the upcoming Patriot League Tournament. This is still an impressive mark considering they were projected to finish ninth in the 10-team conference.
“(Bucknell) played a good game today,” head coach Mike Brennan said. “They have two of the best players in the league in Cameron Ayers and Chris Haas.”
The Eagles (17-12,13-5 PL) trailed by just three points at the half at 27-24 and briefly took the lead in the second half going up 35-34 on sophomore forward Marko Vasic’s hook shot. The Bison (16-13,11-7 PL) responded by going on a 9-0 run with 8:52 left in the second half to but Bucknell up 43-35.
The Eagles fought back when sophomore guard Jesse Reed hit two free throws with one minute left. Bucknell was able to secure its victory by scoring five consecutive points in the last seconds of the game to bring the score to 56-49, making a comeback out of reach with five seconds remaining.
Coming into this game, the Eagles were second in the country in field goal percentage with a .502 mark. The Eagles did not live up to their stats and finished the afternoon with 33.9 percent field goal. The team’s other shortcomings were on display going 5-25 from beyond the arc.
Nothing seemed to go right for the Eagles as junior guard Darius Gardner missed a layup that could have potentially put the Eagles down just one, with 1:48 left in regulation. Gardner and Schoof were a combined 3-18, scoring eight total. Schoof struggled with fouls all game playing just 24 minutes.
Another key factor that lead to the Eagles’ demise was rebounding. Bucknell was able to grab 15 offensive rebounds for 16 second chance points including a layup by Cory Stark with 40 seconds left that helped Bucknell pull away from AU. Overall the Eagles were outrebounded 45-26.
“It came down to those 15 offensive rebounds, Brennan said. “That last big bucket was an offensive rebound. That’s the biggest thing.”
Prior to the game the Eagles honored senior center Tony Wroblicky as a part of Senior Day. Despite the pregame recognition, Wroblicky struggled offensively and scored just eight points on 4-6 shooting and grabbed only four rebounds.
Jesse Reed led the Eagles in scoring with 16 points while also grabbing seven rebounds and blocking two shots.
The Eagles will play the winner of the Colgate Navy game March 5 at Bender Arena in the Patriot League quarterfinals. During the regular season the Eagles split their two matchups against Colgate and swept the seasons series against Navy.
