BETHLEHEM -- It was just one game, and one game in January at that, but the Bucknell men's basketball team took a giant step forward Wednesday night in a game rival Lehigh had circled since last winter.
The Mountain Hawks were looking to erase the bitter taste of a semifinal defeat in last year's Patriot League semifinals, one that ended in a controversial no call in the waning moments. But in the end Wednesday the Bison made the plays down the stretch, holding the explosive Mountain Hawks without a point for the final 2:43 in a big 68-61 victory at Stabler Arena.
"That was a heck of game, I feel like we were in a prize fight," said Bucknell coach Dave Paulsen, whose team has now won four in a row over Lehigh. "I'm really proud of our guys; we really did a great job defensively against a really good team."
The Bison improved to 14-6 with their sixth victory in a row and 14th win in a row against Patriot League foes. More importantly, the Bison are 4-0 in the league, two games ahead of Lehigh, which dropped to 14-6 overall, 2-2 in the conference.
Mike Muscala scored a game-high 20 points and added a dozen rebounds for his ninth double-double of the season. He led four Bison in double figures with Cameron Ayers finishing with 13, Bryan Cohen a dozen and Joe Willman 11. C.J. McCollum, the Patriot League's leading scorer, was limited to 15 points on 5-of-15 shooting, but the electrifying junior did hand out a career-high nine assists.
It was far from easy, which was expected. The top two picks in the Patriot League preseason poll played like the top two teams, going back and forth on runs in a game that saw five lead changes. Bucknell led by 10 midway through the first half, but the Mountain Hawks got within four at the half and never went away.
"Going in we knew it was going to be a battle, this was a game we've had circled for a while," said Lehigh center Gabe Knutson. "We knew both sides were going to bring it at every position."
That they did. The teams spent the first 35 minutes trading runs back and forth until Bucknell put one final spurt together to pull away. A 9-3 Bucknell run, ignited by 3-pointers from Ayers and Muscala and capped with a slam and foul by Brian Fitzpatrick put the Bison up 55-47 with 11:29 to play.
The Mountain Hawks responded with a run of their own, getting within one on a three by Jordan Hamilton. From that point, everything Lehigh did, Bucknell had an answer for. Ayers answered Hamilton's three with of his own and moments after Hamilton's layup made it a two-point game, Muscala hit a long jumper at the other end.
After scoring just six points in the first half, Muscala extended his game outside in the second half. He hit a pair of 3-pointers and scored 14 points in the final 20 minutes.
"They did a good job on me, but I should have finished inside more early," said Muscala, who hit 7-of-18 shots. "Whatever is there. I felt confident putting (the 3-pointers) up. It was physical, but it was fun."
McCollum hit a tough jumper in the lane with 2:43 left to make it 63-61, but that was the last points Lehigh would score. McCollum was forced into a couple of tough 3s late and Bucknell made 5-of-6 free throws in the final 1:07 to seal the win.
"I thought our defense was terrific and we came up with enough toughness plays down the stretch," said Paulsen. "This was going to be a game like a prize fight and it was going to come down to who came up with the 50-50 plays and the loose balls. They took the fight to us for a while but our guys responded. That's a heck of a basketball team we just played here."
