Poor shooting from the Eagles top scorers would prove costly as the Eagles dropped their third straight game in a 66-47 loss Feb. 27 to Bucknell.
Three of AU’s (10-18, 5-8, PL) top five leading scorers Stephen Lumpkins, Danny Munoz and Blake Jolivette took 28 of AU’s 49 shots. The trio only made seven of those shots. The senior trio scored 16 of the Eagles’ 47 points on 25 percent shooting.
Bucknell’s (24-5, 11-2, PL) top three scorers, Mike Muscala, Bryson Johnson and Cameron Ayers, didn’t miss. The Bison three-shot 62 percent from the field and scored 55 of their team’s 66 points.
The three-pointer also hurt the Eagles. AU made 1-9 from behind the 3-point line, and Munoz and Jolivette went a combined 0-4. In contrast, Bucknell made 5-9 of their 3-pointers, all five courtesy of Johnson and Ayers.
The Bison could not put the Eagles away for most of the game. AU kept Bucknell within single digits throughout the game.
Then, after a series of offensive rebounds by the Eagles, Lumpkins scored to draw the Eagles within eight with 7:41 left in the game.
Bryson Johnson pulled the chair out from any AU rally on the next play when he made a corner 3-pointer.
After Johnson’s three-pointer, the Eagles went cold from the field. The Bison outscored AU 16-8 to close out the game.
With the win, the Bison lock up the regular season Patriot League title and will have home court advantage throughout the entire Patriot League tournament.
The Eagles travel to Lafayette (16-14, 9-4, PL) on March 2 to finish out the regular season.
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