Bucknell 62, Navy 46
Cameron Ayers had 14 points and Bryson Johnson had 12 as Patriot League leader Bucknell never trailed in a 62-46 win Saturday night over Navy before 4,833 in Annapolis, Md., the largest non-Army crowd in Alumni Hall history.
The Bison (25-5, 12-2) scored 13 of the game's first 15 points and made 49 percent of their shots from the field (23 of 47), including 8 of 14 3-pointers.
The Midshipmen (8-22, 2-12) were led by Brandon Venturini's 13 points and Worth Smith's 11. And while Navy committed just eight turnovers, it never got untracked from the field, shooting 37 percent (20 of 55).
Still, the Midshipmen put forth a strong defensive effort in shutting down the Bison's Mike Muscala, who came into the game averaging 19.4 points but scored just nine.
Navy had a chance to go into halftime down three but turned the ball over and Johnson converted a 3-pointer at the buzzer for the Bison, giving them a 33-24 lead.
Johnson and Steven Kaspar were a combined 8 of 10 from the field, and the Bison were 13 of 25 in the first half.
The teams will meet again in the Patriot League tournament when the top-seeded Bison play host to the eighth-seeded Midshipmen on March 9.
