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Hinkle and Hinrichs take Patriot League honors
Hinkle led the Eagles with 23 points in their 59-58 victory over Colgate. He made 9-of-19 shots from the field and 5-of-8 from three-point range, and also had three rebounds and a steal while not committing a turnover. (Photo courtesy of the Patriot League)
Courtesy of Patriot League.org.
Center Valley, Pa. — As Bucknell continues to roll through its Patriot League competition, the teams vying for second place behind the Bison will square off on national television Thursday as Lehigh heads to American in a game shown on CBS Sports Network.
Both the Mountain Hawks and Eagles enter the contest at 6-2 in the Patriot League, two games behind the undefeated Bison. Lehigh defeated American 71-60 at home in the first meeting on Jan. 11 as it seeks a one-game lead and season sweep of the Eagles.
By the time the Mountain Hawks and Eagles square off, they will know the result of the other Patriot League contests with three games tipping off at 7 p.m. on Wednesday. Bucknell tries to extend its winning streaks when it visits Colgate, while Lafayette heads to Army and Holy Cross is at Navy.
The Bison have won 18 games in a row against Patriot League opponents and 10 straight overall as they travel to Colgate. They have also claimed five in a row against the Raiders and will try to sweep the season series versus Colgate for the third year in a row.
Lafayette can move into a tie for third place if it can defeat Army at West Point. The Leopards won the first meeting 75-63, and have claimed five straight games against the Black Knights. A victory would also give Lafayette its best record through nine Patriot League games since 2004. The Black Knights can move to within a game of fourth place with a win over the Leopards.
Also trying to stay in the hunt for fourth place, and a home game in the Patriot League Tournament, is Holy Cross. The Crusaders visit Navy as they try to sweep the Mids for the second year in a row.
Patriot League action returned after a week off on Saturday, and the top teams in the standings all knocked off squads in the bottom half. American posted a 59-58 win at Colgate in the most competitive game of the day. The other three winners all were victorious on their home court as Bucknell beat Army 81-68, Lehigh topped Holy Cross 75-51 and Lafayette knocked off Navy 62-41.
Patriot League Anaconda Weekly Awards (Jan. 30-Feb. 5)
Anaconda Player of the Week
CHARLES HINKLE, AMERICAN Sr., F, 6-5, 210; Los Alamitos, Calif./Hebron Academy (Maine)
Hinkle delivered in the clutch for the Eagles, hitting the go-ahead three-pointer with 33 seconds to play as American went on to a 59-58 victory at Colgate on Saturday. The shot put American up 59-57 after Hinkle had given the Eagles a 56-54 edge with a three-pointer with 1:11 to go. He scored eight of the final 10 points as the Eagles rallied from a 52-49 deficit with under four mintues to play. Hinkle led the Eagles with 23 points in the game, the only player to finish in double figures. He made 9-of-19 shots from the field and 5-of-8 from three-point range, and also had three rebounds and a steal while not committing a turnover. It was Hinkle’s 13th 20-point game of the season, and he stands second in the Patriot League and in the top 20 nationally with 19.7 points per game for the year. Hinkle claims his fourth Patriot League Anaconda Player of the Week award of the season, tying Lehigh’s C.J. McCollum for the most this year. Hinkle, McCollum and Bucknell’s Mike Muscala have combined to win the last seven Player of the Week honors.
Anaconda Rookie of the Week
SETH HINRICHS, LAFAYETTE Fr., F, 6-7, 214; Clara City, Minn./Maccray
Hinrichs scored 10 points while shooting a perfect 4-of-4 from the field and 2-of-2 from three-point range in Lafayette’s 62-41 win over Navy on Saturday. He also pulled down three rebounds and had a steal in the contest. Hinrichs is averaging 8.3 points for the year, leading all Patriot League freshmen in scoring while placing 25th overall in the League. He earns his sixth Patriot League Anaconda Rookie of the Week award of the year, tying Stefan Ciosici (1995-96) for the most by a Lafayette student-athlete.
Honorable Mention
BRYAN COHEN, BUCKNELL Sr., G, 6-6, 213; Huntingdon Valley, Pa./Abington Friends
Cohen scored 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting and added four rebounds, three assists and a block in Bucknell’s 81-68 win over Army on Saturday.
C.J. McCOLLUM, LEHIGH Jr., G, 6-3, 185; Canton, Ohio/Glen Oak
McCollum had 20 points, seven rebounds, five assists and five steals to lead Lehigh to a 75-51 win over Holy Cross on Saturday.
Patriot League Notebook
Catch it All on All-Access in February
Patriot League All-Access will cover nearly all of the men’s basketball games in February, which will include the quarterfinals of the League Tournament on Feb. 29. The action is available for a monthly fee of $7.95, with all games shown that are not televised on CBS Sports Network. All-Access also allows subscribers to see archived content for past games. All three of Wednesday’s games will be available on Patriot League All-Access. To purchase the All-Access package, go to the multimedia tab at the top of the front page at www.patriotleague.org<http://
Patriot League Returns to CBS Sports Network Thursday
The Patriot League has nine games remaining on CBS Sports Network this season, beginning with Lehigh at American on Thursday. The top teams will continue to face off on the following Thursdays, with Lehigh at Bucknell on Feb. 16 and Bucknell at American on Feb. 23. Navy will head to Army for a CBS Sports Network matchup on Feb. 11, with Flex games following on the next two Saturdays. CBS Sports Network coverage will continue in the Patriot League Tournament with both semifinals shown on March 3 at 2 and 4:30 p.m. and the Patriot League Men’s Basketball Championship on the network for the first time on March 7 at 7 p.m. CBS Sports Network is available nationwide on Dish Network on Channel 152 and DIRECTV on channel 613. CBS Sports Network is also available to millions of viewers on leading cable systems throughout the country, including Comcast, Time Warner, Cox, Cablevision, Charter, Verizon FiOS, Insight, Bright House Networks, Mediacom, Insight, RCN, Advanced Cable, CableOne, Bresnan and many others.
Winning Streaks Continue for the Bison
Bucknell’s lengthy list of winning streaks added another number on Saturday as the Bison held off Army 81-68. It was Bucknell’s 18th consecutive win against a Patriot League team, three more than top-ranked Kentucky against SEC opponents for the longest winning streak against conference foes in the country. The Bison claimed a 15th straight regular-season League win, trailing only Long Beach State (18) of the Big West for the longest regular-season conference win streak. The Bison hold the records for both consecutive overall (23) and regular-season (17) wins against Patriot League opponents, set while winning two Patriot League titles from 2005-07. The Bison have won 24 of the last 25 games against Patriot League opponents, and are 22-1 in the last 23 regular-season League contests. The Bison are one of eight teams that remain unbeaten in conference play, and are one of only two defending champions along with Kentucky. Bucknell has won 10 in a row overall, tied for the sixth-longest active streak in Division I.
Bison Getting it Done at Home
A big reason for Bucknell’s success has been a dominant run at Sojka Pavilion. Bucknell has won 14 straight games against Patriot League opponents at home since falling to Holy Cross in the 2010 League Tournament quarterfinals, and is now at 17 straight regular-season wins at home against Patriot League opponents. Bucknell has not dropped a regular-season League game at home since the 2010 opener against Navy. The success extends outside of League play, as Bucknell has won 23 of the last 24 overall at the arena.
More Streaks on the Line Wednesday
All three games on Wednesday will feature a matchup where one team has gotten the better of the other in recent years. Bucknell has won five straight against Colgate, while Lafayette has done the same against Army. Holy Cross has three straight wins and five of the past six against Navy. All three teams will try to extend their streaks on the road on Wednesday.
League Trends Continue as Second Half Begins
The second half of the League slate opened Saturday, and largely continued the trend of lopsided wins that marked the first set of League action. Three more games were decided by double digits, making it 22 of 32 thus far. American’s 59-58 win at Colgate was the first League contest since Jan. 11 that was decided by five points or less, and just the third this season. Eighteen games have featured no lead changes or ties in the second half, while in seven others the winning team trailed by only two points or less after intermission. There have been 16 games where the winning team led for at least the final 29 minutes. Bucknell has been the most dominant winner, as the Bison have trailed for only 20:39 total and just once for 21 seconds in the second half in Patriot League games.
Star Junior, Part I
Lehigh’s C.J. McCollum had 20 points in Saturday’s win over Holy Cross, and is up to 1,820 for his career. He is just 16 points away from catching former Lafayette star Brian Ehlers (1996-00) for fourth in Patriot League history. McCollum earlier became the League’s all-time leading junior scorer, passing the mark of 1,776 established by former Colgate and NBA standout Adonal Foyle (1994-97). McCollum leads the Patriot League and ranks among eighth nationally in both scoring (21.3) and steals (2.6), and also comes in the top five of the League in rebounding (6.4) and assists (3.3) per game.
Star Junior, Part II
While McCollum is having another fine year, so is the man who beat him out for last season’s Patriot League Player of the Year award, Bucknell’s Mike Muscala. Muscala had by his standards an average night with 16 points in Saturday’s win over Army, but he still stands fourth in the Patriot League with 16.3 points per game for the year while leading the way with 9.1 rebounds per contest. He has 11 double-doubles this season, ranking among the top 20 nationally. Muscala is one of four players in Patriot League history with 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 150 blocks in his career. He stands seventh in Patriot League annals with 167 blocks, and his 614 career rebounds are already within 60 of the Patriot League top 10 list.
American’s Hinkle Continues Big Year
American senior Charles Hinkle had his 13th 20-point game of the year on Saturday, this after scoring just 103 points total in his first season with the Eagles last year. Hinkle also hit big shots down the stretch, including the go-ahead three-pointer with 33 seconds left, to lift American to the 59-58 win at Colgate. Hinkle is 17th in the country with 19.7 points per game for the year, which also stands second in the Patriot League.
Trio Dominating Patriot League Player of the Week Honors
With Hinkle’s selection on Monday, three players continue to haul in all of the recent Patriot League Anaconda Player of the Week awards. McCollum, Muscala and Hinkle have combined to claim the last seven and nine of the past 10 Player of the Week honors. The trio has 10 of the 13 awards for the season, with Hinkle matching McCollum on Monday with a fourth Player of the Week nod this season.
10 Players in the 1,000-Point Club
Ten Patriot League players are at 1,000 points for their career. After Lehigh’s C.J. McCollum (1,820), the list includes Lafayette’s Ryan Willen (1,341), Holy Cross’ Devin Brown (1,341), Navy’s Jordan Sugars (1,257), Lafayette’s Jim Mower (1,225), Bucknell’s Mike Muscala (1,194), Army’s Julian Simmons (1,189), Colgate’s Yaw Gyawu (1,187), Holy Cross’ R.J. Evans (1,124) and Bucknell’s Bryan Cohen (1,035). Two players appear ready to join the group soon, as Colgate’s Mike Venezia is 19 away and Lehigh’s Gabe Knutson stands 23 shy of 1,000 for their careers.
Sharp Shooters
Patriot League teams are making their mark as some of the top shooting groups in Division I. There are five squads in the top 40 nationally in three-point field goal percentage, and three in the top 30 in free throw percentage. Bucknell leads the way from beyond the arc and is seventh in the country at 40.9 percent, while Lehigh is fourth (78.0) and Lafayette seventh (76.8) in free throw percentage. The Leopards are also fifth in the country with 9.1 three-pointers per game, while Army is in the top 20 with 8.5 three-pointers per contest.
Bucknell’s Johnson, Lafayette’s Willen Named Academic All-District
Bucknell junior Bryson Johnson and Lafayette senior Ryan Willen made the CoSIDA Academic All-District II squad last week, and advanced to the national ballot for Academic All-America consideration. Johnson carries a 3.30 grade-point average as an Economics major at Bucknell, while Willen holds a 3.43 GPA while majoring in Neuroscience at Lafayette. Each player has also earned All-Patriot League honors in his career.
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