2015–16 Bucknell Bison men's basketball team

2015–16 Bucknell Bison men's basketball
Patriot League regular season champions
NIT, First round
ConferencePatriot League
Record17–14 (14–4 Patriot)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
  • Paul Harrison
  • John Griffin
  • Ryan Ayers
Home arenaSojka Pavilion
Seasons
2015–16 Patriot League men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Bucknell 14 – 4   .778 17 – 14   .548
Lehigh 13 – 5   .722 17 – 15   .531
Boston University 11 – 7   .611 19 – 15   .559
Army 9 – 9   .500 19 – 14   .576
Navy 9 – 9   .500 19 – 14   .576
Colgate 9 – 9   .500 13 – 17   .433
American 9 – 9   .500 12 – 19   .387
Loyola (MD) 8 – 10   .444 9 – 21   .300
Holy Cross † 5 – 13   .278 15 – 20   .429
Lafayette 3 – 15   .167 6 – 24   .200
† 2016 Patriot League tournament winner

The 2015–16 Bucknell Bison men's basketball team represented Bucknell University during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bison, led by first year head coach Nathan Davis, played their home games at Sojka Pavilion, and were members of the Patriot League. They finished the season 17–14, 14–4 in Patriot League play to win the regular season league championship. They lost in the quarterfinals of the Patriot League tournament to Holy Cross. As a regular season champion who failed to win their league tournament, they received an automatic bid to the National Invitation Tournament where they lost in the first round to Monmouth.

Previous season

The Bison finished the 2014–15 season 19–15, 13–5 in Patriot League play to win the Patriot League regular season championship. They advanced to the semifinals of the Patriot League tournament where they lost to Lafayette. As a regular season league champion who failed to win their league tournament, they received an automatic bid to the National Invitation Tournament where they lost in the first round to Temple.

On March 30, head coach Dave Paulson resigned to take the same position at George Mason.[1] He finished at Bucknell with a 10-year record of 134–94. On April 20, the school hired Nathan Davis as head coach.[2]

Departures

Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Notes
Joshea Singleton 1 G 6'3" 205 Senior Kinston, NC Graduated
Steven Kasper 3 G 6'3" 192 Senior Lakeland, TN Graduated
J. C. Show 12 G 6'2" 185 Freshman Clarks Summit, PA Transferred to Binghamton
Cory Starkey 22 F 6'8" 216 Senior Petoskey, MI Graduated

Incoming recruits

College recruiting information
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Nate Sestina
#83 PF 		Emporium, PA Cameron County High School 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Aug 6, 2014 
Star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 62
Kimbal Mackenzie
PG 		Oakville, ON The John Carroll School 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Aug 8, 2014 
Star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NR
Nate Jones
SG 		Radford, VA Radford High School 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg)  
Star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NR
Overall recruiting rankings:
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

  • "2015 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved September 27, 2015.

2016 class recruits

College recruiting information (2016)
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Bruce Moore
#77 PF 		Randallstown, MD McDonough High School 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) N/A Sep 15, 2015 
Star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 66
Ben Robertson
SF 		High Point, NC High Point Christian Academy 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Sep 14, 2015 
Star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NR
Overall recruiting rankings:
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

Roster

2015–16 Bucknell Bison men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
F 0 D.J. MacLeay 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 213 lb (97 kg) Jr Reagan San Antonio, TX
G 1 Kimbal Mackenzie 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr John Carroll Oakville, ON
G 2 Stephen Brown 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 165 lb (75 kg) So Christ Chapel Academy Manassas, VA
C 4 Nate Sestina 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Fr Cameron County Emporuim, PA
G 5 John Azzinaro 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Jr Brennan San Antonio, TX
G 14 Chris Hass 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 184 lb (83 kg) Sr Pellston Pellston, MI
G 15 Nate Jones 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr Radford Radford, VA
C 20 Nana Foulland 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 227 lb (103 kg) So Berks Catholic Reading, PA
G 22 Matt O'Reilley 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr Prolific Prep Academy Moraga, CA
F 23 Zach Thomas 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) So Oakdale Ijamesville, MD
F 25 Matt Banas 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Sr Hershey Hershey, PA
G 32 Ryan Frazier 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Sr Salisbury School Silver Springs, MD
C 44 Ben Oberfeld 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Jr Eastview Eagan, MN
F 50 Dom Hoffman 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 222 lb (101 kg) Sr Gill St. Bernard's Hawthorne, NJ
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster

Schedule

[3]

Date
time, TV 		Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Non-conference regular season
11/13/2015*
7:00 pm 		Shenandoah W 107–61  1–0
 Sojka Pavilion (2,577)
Lewisburg, PA
11/15/2015*
1:00 pm, CBSSN 		Wake Forest L 82–90  1–1
 Sojka Pavilion (3,247)
Lewisburg, PA
11/18/2015*
7:00 pm 		at Robert Morris W 81–76[4]  2–1
 Charles L. Sewall Center (1,602)
Moon Township, PA
11/21/2015*
7:00 pm 		at Manhattan W 80–67  3–1
 Draddy Gymnasium (1,810)
Riverdale, NY
11/21/2015*
7:00 pm 		Siena L 81–83 OT 3–2
 Sojka Pavilion (2,295)
Lewisburg, PA
11/28/2015*
1:00 pm 		at Penn State L 58–62  3–3
 Bryce Jordan Center (5,097)
University Park, PA
12/02/2015*
7:00 pm 		Columbia L 61–72  3–4
 Sojka Pavilion (2,465)
Lewisburg, PA
12/05/2015*
12:00 pm, RSN 		at NC State L 86–99  3–5
 PNC Arena (16,378)
Raleigh, NC
12/08/2015*
7:00 pm 		at Mount St. Mary's L 73–81  3–6
 Knott Arena (1,789)
Emmitsburg, MD
12/22/2015*
7:00 pm 		at Princeton L 77–89  3–7
 Jadwin Gymnasium (2,049)
Princeton, NJ
12/27/2015*
2:00 pm 		Fairfield L 91–101  3–8
 Sojka Pavilion (2,313)
Lewisburg, PA
Patriot League regular season
12/30/2015
7:00 pm 		Navy W 88–58  4–8
(1–0) 		Sojka Pavilion (2,914)
Lewisburg, PA
01/02/2016
3:00 pm 		at Army W 84–76  5–8
(2–0) 		Christl Arena (1,597)
West Point, NY
01/06/2016
7:00 pm 		American W 72–54  6–8
(3–0) 		Sojka Pavilion (2,584)
Lewisburg, PA
01/09/2016
2:00 pm 		Holy Cross W 98–71  7–8
(4–0) 		Sojka Pavilion (3,111)
Lewisburg, PA
01/11/2016
7:30 pm, CBSSN 		at Lehigh W 82–76  8–8
(5–0) 		Stabler Arena (1,042)
Bethlehem, PA
01/16/2016
7:00 pm 		Colgate L 73–84  8–9
(5–1) 		Sojka Pavilion (3,137)
Lewisburg, PA
01/20/2016
7:00 pm, ASN 		at Loyola (MD) W 67–58  9–9
(6–1) 		Reitz Arena (796)
Baltimore, MD
01/23/2016
1:00 pm 		at Boston University W 74–71  10–9
(7–1) 		Case Gym (791)
Boston, MA
01/25/2016
7:30 pm, CBSSN 		Lafayette W 79–67  11–9
(8–1) 		Sojka Pavilion (2,640)
Lewisburg, PA
01/30/2016
7:00 pm 		Army W 94–66  12–9
(9–1) 		Sojka Pavilion (3,513)
Lewisburg, PA
02/03/2016
7:00 pm 		at American L 55–69  12–10
(9–2) 		Bender Arena (759)
Washington, D.C.
02/06/2016
1:00 pm 		at Holy Cross W 77–52  13–10
(10–2) 		Hart Center (2,647)
Worcester, MA
02/10/2016
7:00 pm, ASN 		Lehigh L 65–80  13–11
(10–3) 		Sojka Pavilion (2,523)
Lewisburg, PA
02/13/2016
2:00 pm 		at Colgate L 81–91  13–12
(10–4) 		Cotterell Court (N/A)
Hamilton, NY
02/17/2016
7:00 pm 		Loyola (MD) W 87–52  14–12
(11–4) 		Sojka Pavilion (2,493)
Lewisburg, PA
02/21/2016
12:00 pm, CBSSN 		Boston University W 80–59  15–12
(12–4) 		Sojka Pavilion (3,044)
Lewisburg, PA
02/24/2016
7:00 pm 		at Lafayette W 86–83 2OT 16–12
(13–4) 		Kirby Sports Center (1,664)
Easton, PA
02/27/2016
4:00 pm 		at Navy W 77–73  17–12
(14–4) 		Alumni Hall (2,909)
Annapolis, MD
Patriot League tournament
03/03/2016
7:00 pm 		Holy Cross
Quarterfinals 		L 72–77 2OT 17–13
 Sojka Pavilion (2,700)
Lewisburg, PA
NIT
03/15/16*
7:30 pm, ESPN3 		(8) at (1) Monmouth
First round – Monmouth Bracket 		L 80–90  17–14
 Multipurpose Activity Center (2,661)
West Long Branch, NJ
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Eastern Time.

References

  1. ^ "George Mason hires Dave Paulsen from Bucknell to replace Paul Hewitt". Washington Post. Retrieved January 19, 2017.
  2. ^ "Bucknell hires D-III coaching standout Nathan Davis as its new coach". CBSSports.com. Retrieved January 19, 2017.
  3. ^ "Men's Basketball".
  4. ^ "Bucknell downs Robert Morris, 81-76". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 19, 2015.