For the second straight season, the Men’s Basketball team suffered a loss at the hands of Bucknell University on the Eagles senior day.
AU (15-15, 8-10 PL) fell 71-69, dropping its conference record below .500. The loss puts the Eagles at a No. 6 seed for the Patriot League conference tournament.
“I thought we played okay,” head coach Mike Brennan said, “but we didn’t play well enough to win.”
The game went back-and-forth game for the entire 40 minutes, resulting in 26 lead changes. With seven seconds left in regulation, the Eagles trailed 70-69, and junior forward Marko Vasic drew a foul with a chance to tie the game or bring AU the lead. Vasic missed both free throws, and the Bison regained possession of the ball.
Two seconds later, Bison freshman forward Zach Thomas stepped up to the free throw line after being fouled by AU senior guard John Schoof, and he swished his first shot to increase Bucknell’s lead to two points. Thomas missed his second free throw attempt, and AU senior guard Darius “Pee Wee” Gardner snatched the rebound. Gardner threw up a desperation heave from half court that just missed the basket, and Bucknell walked away with the win.
In addition to the two missed free throws by Vasic, undisciplined Eagles defense also plagued the team. With 33 seconds remaining and the Eagles trailing 66-64, Gardner fouled Bucknell senior guard Steven Kaspar from beyond the three point line. Kaspar converted on 2-of-3 free throws to push Bucknell’s lead up to four.
“Don’t make the play I did,” Gardner said on his costly foul. “You can’t afford to make that type of mistake.”
Aside from his two missed free throws in the final seconds, Vasic played his best game as an Eagle. He scored a career high of 21 points on 7-of-10 from the field, along with nine rebounds and six assists. He built off his strong performance last Wednesday against Navy where he hit 14 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.
“I’m trying to get a lot better,” Vasic said. “I’m just trying to help the team win.”
In their final home game, Gardner and Schoof scored 12 and 13 points, respectively. Gardner also added five rebounds, four assists and two steals.
“I just look at it as another game,” Gardner said. “It was a game we needed to win badly.”
As a No. 6 seed in the tournament, the Eagles will play their first round matchup at Lehigh on March 5. AU beat Lehigh 62-59 on Jan. 14 but lost to the Mountain Hawks on the road on Feb.12. Lehigh dropped to Colgate 61-55 on Feb. 28, but they defeated Bucknell 84-65 on Feb. 25. A win would advance the Eagles to the Patriot League semifinals while a loss would end a rollercoaster season.
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