Box Score

LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Navy men's basketball team (9-5, 0-1 PL) couldn't keep pace with the hot-shooting Bucknell Bison (4-8, 1-0 PL) and suffered an 88-58 loss at Sojka Pavilion in its Patriot League opener on Wednesday evening.

Bucknell outshot Navy, 54 percent (30-of-56) to 37 percent (19-of-52), and the Mids shot just 23 percent (3-of-13) on 3-pointers and 53 percent (17-of-32) from the free throw line.

Navy committed 19 turnovers, which Bucknell turned into 30 points, and Bucknell also held a 15-2 edge in fastbreak points.

"We picked a terrible night to play our worst game of the year," said head coach Ed DeChellis. "We didn't do anything well tonight. We didn't play transition defense well, we didn't play half court defense well, we didn't take care of the ball and we didn't shoot the ball. I thought we were running uphill all night."

Bucknell's all-league first teamer Chris Hass scored a game-high on 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting and also had five assists and five steals. Stephen Brown added 18 points and eight assists and Nana Foulland chipped in with 10 points.

Navy's Shawn Anderson scored a team-high 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting and played through a cut on his chin that required stitches following the game. Anderson also had four rebounds and three assists. Navy junior Tim Abruzzo scored 11 points and had a team-high six rebounds and two steals.

After a slow start offensively by both teams, Bucknell used a 10-3 run that included a three-point play from Brown and a 3-pointer by Matt O'Reilly to take an 18-8 lead midway through the first half.

Navy was able to cut the lead to seven after a Nourse Fox 3-pointer and two Bryce Dulin free throws, but Bucknell used a 9-3 run to go up 14 with four minutes left in the opening period.

The teams traded baskets late in the first half with Abruzzo and Anderson scoring for the Mids, but the Bison carried a 13-point lead into halftime at 42-29.

A 3-pointer from Abruzzo and then three straight free throws by Anderson helped cut the second half deficit to 11, but Bucknell responded with back-to-back fastbreak layups and then a 3-pointer by Kimbal Mackenzie to go up 18 at 61-43.

Anderson snapped the run with a layup, but Navy didn't score a field goal for the next five minutes until Anderson converted a three-point play. However at that point the Bison lead had grown to over 20 points. Bucknell outscored Navy 18-9 in the final 7:10 of the game to run away with the 30-point win at 88-58.

The 88 points allowed was 16 points more than Navy's previous season-high (72 scored by College of Charleston) and the most in a regulation game since losing to LIU Brooklyn, 96-86, on Dec. 30, 2010.

The two teams were whistled for a combined 47 fouls in Wednesday's contest. Bucknell was also assessed two technicals, but the Mids were 0-of-3 on the ensuring free throws.

Navy lost its first true road game of the season and the Mids dropped their eighth straight game at Sojka Pavilion.

The Mids will next play Holy Cross in its Patriot League home opener on Saturday at 1:00 PM.