Feb. 1, 2008

WHAT: Bucknell (9-11, 4-2 PL) vs. Army (9-11, 2-4 PL)
WHERE: Sojka Pavilion, Lewisburg, Pa.
WHEN: Sunday, Feb. 3, 2008, 12 p.m.
TICKETS: Available (570-577-1000 or order ONLINE)
TV: ESPNU
RADIO: Eagle 107 and SportsJuice.com
SATELLITE RADIO: Sirius 122
COMPLETE PRESS NOTES

Probable Starters
Bucknell:
G, 11 John Griffin, Sr., 12.1 ppg
G, 10 Justin Castleberry, Jr., 12.7 ppg
C, 1 Darren Mastropaolo, Sr., 6.6 ppg
F, 15 Stephen Tyree, So., 6.0 ppg
F, 2 Rob Thomas, Sr., 5.3 ppg

Army:
G, 10 Marcus Nelson, So., 4.0 ppg
G, 23 Josh Miller, So., 7.6 ppg
G, 32 Jarell Brown, Sr., 19.2 ppg
F, 30 Grant Carter, Sr., 0.8 ppg
F, 50 Doug Williams, Jr., 7.6 ppg

NOTE: Tickets still remain for the 12 p.m. contest. To purchase tickets in advance, call 570-577-1000, go online to www.bucknell.edu/boxoffice or stop by either of the two Campus Box Office locations at the Weis Center or Bucknell Bookstore. Walk-up sales will begin two hours before game time at the Sojka Pavilion ticket office. Tickets for men's basketball games are $8 for adults and $4 for children and senior citizens.

With a Victory over Army, Bucknell Would ...
-- ... improve to 10-11 overall and 5-2 in Patriot League play.
-- ... maintain at least a share of second place in the Patriot League.
-- ... improve to 7-4 at home this season and 56-13 all-time at Sojka Pavilion.
-- ... win its 16th in a row over the Black Knights.

About the Game
Bucknell concludes both a three-game homestand and the first round of Patriot League play on Sunday afternoon against Army. The Bison are looking to bounce back from Wednesday's 56-54 loss to Lehigh, their first home loss to a league foe in almost five years. Now 4-2 in Patriot League play, Bucknell enters the weekend tied for second with the Mountain Hawks, one game behind Lafayette. American and Navy are tied for fourth at 3-3, just one game behind Bucknell. Army is 2-4 in the conference and tied for sixth place with Colgate. A week ago the Black Knights rode senior Jarell Brown's 35-point day to a hard-fought 69-67 win at arch-rival Navy, but on Wednesday they fell victim to Lafayette's hot shooting in an 83-58 loss in Easton. Brown is the Patriot League's No. 2 scorer at 19.1 ppg, and he is Army's only player averaging more than 7.6 ppg. Brown accounts for 32.2% of the team's scoring, but the Black Knights do have plenty other capable playmakers, including 6-7 post Doug Williams, wing Cleveland Richard and quick gaurds Josh Miller and Marcus Nelson.

Pat Flannery Recovering
Bucknell head coach Pat Flannery's status for the Army game is uncertain, with a decision not likely to be announced until Sunday morning. Flannery left the bench in the second half of Wednesday's home game against Lehigh after feeling under the weather. Since this is a personal medical situation, Flannery and his family are requesting any further details regarding the nature of his illness be kept private at this time.

Suits & Sneakers
Members of the Bison coaching staff will be wearing sneakers on the sideline on Sunday as part of the annual Coaches vs. Cancer Suits & Sneakers Weekend. The gesture is in support of the partnership between the National Assocation of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and the American Cancer Society.

How to Get the Game
The Bucknell-Army game will be televised, live on ESPNU, with Bob Socci and John Feinstein providing play-by-play and commentary. The game can also be heard locally on Eagle 107 (WEGH 107.3 FM), with Doug Birdsong and Doug Byerly on the call. The pregame show begins 30 minutes before tip-off. The audio feed is available free of charge via BucknellBison.com and SportsJuice.com. Sirius Satellite Radio will also have the game on Channel 122. Due to contractual obligations with ESPN, the game will not be carried on the Patriot League All-Access online video package.

Bucknell vs. Army
The Bison hold a 37-14 lead in a series that dates back to 1929. They currently have a 15-game series winning streak, with Army's last win coming at West Point on Feb. 14, 2001. Bucknell has won 12 straight at home against the Black Knights dating back to Army's 83-71 win in Davis Gym in 1996-97. Bucknell is 7-0 against Army in Sojka Pavilion. Army won the first 10 series showdowns, nine of them coming prior to 1966. As Patriot League rivals, Bucknell has won 36 of 40 meetings.

Bucknell vs. Army Last Season
Bucknell defeated Army three times in 2006-07, twice during the regular season and once in the Patriot League Tournament:
-- On Jan. 27 at Sojka Pavilion, Bucknell rode a red-hot first half (65.2% FG, 7-10 3FG) to a 74-49 victory. The Bison led 43-15 at halftime and cruised from there. Donald Brown and Jason Vegotsky scored 12 points each to lead a balanced scoring attack. Jarell Brown led Army with 14 points.
-- On Feb. 24 at Christl Arena, Abe Badmus scored 15 points, the last three coming on the game-winning 3-pointer with 0:52 left in Bucknell's 54-49 win. Bucknell's 12th straight win was not easy, as it was emboiled in a tight contest from the outset. Chris McNaughton had 12 points and 10 rebounds, while Brown and Cleveland Richard had 16 and 14 points for Army.
-- On March 4 at Sojka Pavilion, McNaughton scored 23 points and Brown had 15 and nine rebounds to lead the Bison to a 68-47 win in the Patriot League Tournament semifinals. Army, the No. 6 seed that was coming off an upset of Lehigh in the first round, got 17 points from Brown and 13 from Matt Bell. It was a close game until the Bison pulled away with a 25-2 run over a 13-minute stretch in the second half.

Last Time Out
Zahir Carrington scored 19 points and helped Lehigh become the first Patriot League team in almost five years to defeat Bucknell in Sojka Pavilion, 55-52 on Wednesday night. Bryan White had 13 points and 11 rebounds and Marquis Hall also scored 13 points for the Mountain Hawks, who won their fourth game in a row and moved into a tie for second place with Bucknell in the Patriot League standings. Rob Thomas scored a season-high 11 points on 5-for-5 shooting and John Griffin added 10 points for the Bison, who endured a cold shooting night. The game was tied at 42 midway through the second half, but Bucknell went scoreless for 5:26 while Lehigh scored five straight points to take the lead for good. The Mountain Hawks made 7 of 10 free throws in the final 50 seconds to prevent the Bison from getting a possession to tie or take the lead, other than a desperation 70-foot attempt at the buzzer.

Inside the Lehigh Boxscore
-- Bucknell missed its first eight attempts of the night and shot 36.1 percent overall.
-- Bucknell fell despite committing only eight turnovers, outrebounding Lehigh 32-31, and holding the Mountain Hawks to 0-for-9 shooting from 3-point range.
-- It was the second time Bucknell did not allow a 3-pointer in Sojka Pavilion. Colgate went 0-for-14 from the arc on Jan. 20, 2007.
-- Lehigh overcame its lack of outside shooting by going 18-for-31 inside the arc and outscoring the Bison 20-5 from the free-throw line.
-- Justin Castleberry saw his string of nine straight games scoring in double figures come to an end. Bucknell's top scorer was held to a season-low two points on 1-for-9 shooting.
-- Darren Mastropaolo played a season-high 30 minutes, finishing with eight points and six rebounds. All eight of his points came in the first 6:11 of the second period.
-- Darryl Shazier made his third straight 3-pointer after opening the season 3-for-27.

Numbers to Watch
Some relevent stats involving Bucknell and Army:
-- Bucknell has had difficulty stopping the top scorers in the Patriot League thus far, and the Bison face another one in Jarell Brown on Sunday. Brown ranks second in the league in scoring at 19.1 ppg. The rest of the top-five PL scorers have averaged 25.0 ppg against Bucknell. Conference scoring leader Greg Sprink of Navy (21.7 ppg) had 26 points against the Bison, No. 3 scorer Andrew Brown of Lafayette (17.0) scored 28, No. 4 scorer Garrison Carr of American (16.8) had 30 and No. 5 scorer Tim Clifford of Holy Cross (16.7) scored 16.
-- Army has not had much luck scoring points in Sojka Pavilion since the facility opened in 2003. In seven games here, the Black Knights have never scored 50 points, tallying 38, 25, 46, 47, 47, 49 and 49 points, for an average of 43.0 ppg. Army has shot 33.5% from the field, 33.1% from the 3-point arc and 63.6% from the free-throw line in Sojka Pavilion.
-- The Bison will be going up against a much-improved Army defense. The Black Knights allow only 63.3 points per game, third-best in the Patriot League, and they rank second in the league in both forced turnovers (17.7) and steals (8.4). Bucknell has been up and down in the turnover column. The Bison committed a season-low six miscues against Navy in the league opener (Navy leads the PL in forced turnovers at 19.0 per game) and only eight last time out against Lehigh, but in the three games in between they averaged 17.3 turnovers per game.
-- These two teams faced only one common opponent during non-league play. Bucknell defeated Cornell 88-75 at home on Dec. 19, while Army lost at Cornell 93-78 on Nov. 20. In Patriot League play, Bucknell and Army have both played the other six teams in the league. Bucknell is 4-2 in those games, while Army is 2-4.