2016–17 Bucknell Bison men's basketball team

The 2016–17 Bucknell Bison men's basketball team represented Bucknell University during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bison, led by second-year head coach Nathan Davis, played their home games at Sojka Pavilion in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania as members of the Patriot League. They finished the regular season 23–8, 15–3 in Patriot League play to win the regular season championship, their third straight title and sixth in seven years. As the No. 1 seed in the Patriot League tournament, they defeated Army, Navy, and Lehigh to win the tournament championship. As a result, the Bison received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 13 seed in the West region. There they lost in the first round to West Virginia.

2016–17 Bucknell Bison men's basketball
Patriot League tournament champions Patriot League regular season champions
NCAA tournament, First Round
Conference	Patriot League
Record	26–9 (15–3 Patriot)
Head coach	Nathan Davis (2nd season)
Assistant coaches	Paul Harrison John Griffin Joe Meehan
Home arena	Sojka Pavilion

2016–17 Patriot League men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Bucknell †	15	–	3		.833			26	–	9		.743
Lehigh	12	–	6		.667			20	–	12		.625
Boston University	12	–	6		.667			18	–	14		.563
Navy	10	–	8		.556			16	–	16		.500
Holy Cross	9	–	9		.500			15	–	17		.469
Loyola (MD)	8	–	10		.444			16	–	17		.485
Colgate	8	–	10		.444			10	–	22		.313
Army	6	–	12		.333			13	–	19		.406
Lafayette	5	–	13		.278			9	–	21		.300
American	5	–	13		.278			8	–	22		.267
† 2017 Patriot League tournament winner

The Bison swept the Patriot League individual awards, with Nana Foulland winning Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year and Nathan Davis winning Coach of the Year.

Previous season

The Bison finished the 2015–16 season 17–14, 14–4 in Patriot League play to win the regular season championship for the second consecutive year. 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.

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Notes
Chris Hass	14	G	6'5"	184	Senior	Pellston, MI	Graduated
Matt Banas	25	F	6'9"	205	Senior	Hershey, PA	Graduated
Ryan Frazier	32	G	6'0"	190	Senior	Silver Springs, MD	Graduated
Dom Hoffman	50	F	6'7"	222	Senior	Hawthorne, NJ	Graduated

2016 recruiting class

College recruiting information

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
Avi Toomer SG	Atlanta, GA	Grady High School	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Oct 8, 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: "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved September 5, 2016.

Roster

2016–17 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) 235 lb (107 kg) Sr Ronald Reagan High School San Antonio, Texas G 1 Kimbal Mackenzie 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 190 lb (86 kg) So The John Carroll School Oakville, Ontario, Canada G 2 Stephen Brown 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Jr Christ Chapel Academy Manassas, Virginia F/C 4 Nate Sestina 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 234 lb (106 kg) So Cameron County High School Emporium, Pennsylvania G 5 John Azzinaro 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Sr William J. Brennan High School San Antonio, Texas G 11 Avi Toomer 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 187 lb (85 kg) Fr Henry W. Grady High School Atlanta, Georgia F 13 Bruce Moore 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Fr McDonogh School Owings Mills, Maryland G 14 Ben Robertson 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 193 lb (88 kg) Fr High Point Christian Academy High Point, North Carolina G 15 Nate Jones 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) So Radford High School Radford, Virginia C 20 Nana Foulland 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Jr Berks Catholic High School Reading, Pennsylvania G 22 Matt O'Reilley 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) So Prolific Prep Academy Moraga, California F 23 Zach Thomas 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 228 lb (103 kg) Jr Oakdale High School Ijamsville, Maryland C 44 Ben Oberfeld 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 247 lb (112 kg) Sr Eastview High School Eagan, Minnesota	Head coach Nathan Davis (Randolph–Macon) Assistant coach(es) Paul Harrison (Washington and Lee) John Griffin (Bucknell) Joe Meehan (Lebanon Valley) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
11/11/2016* 7:00 pm		Manhattan	W 76–64	1–0	Sojka Pavilion (2,763) Lewisburg, PA
11/13/2016* 2:00 pm, ACCN Extra		at Wake Forest	L 74–94	1–1	LJVM Coliseum (6,541) Winston-Salem, NC
11/16/2016* 7:00 pm		Robert Morris	W 75–62	2–1	Sojka Pavilion (2,205) Lewisburg, PA
11/19/2016* 1:00 pm, FSN		at Butler Las Vegas Classic	L 60–86	2–2	Hinkle Fieldhouse (7,236) Indianapolis, IN
11/21/2016* 9:00 pm, SECN		at Vanderbilt Las Vegas Classic	W 75–72	3–2	Memorial Gymnasium (8,243) Nashville, TN
11/24/2016* 2:30 pm		vs. Norfolk State Las Vegas Classic semifinals	W 84–58	4–2	Orleans Arena  Paradise, NV
11/25/2016* 5:00 pm		vs. Northern Colorado Las Vegas Classic	W 75–63	5–2	Orleans Arena (520) Paradise, NV
11/30/2016* 7:00 pm		Richmond	W 73–68	6–2	Sojka Pavilion (2,494) Lewisburg, PA
12/03/2016* 2:00 pm		at La Salle	L 73–83	6–3	Tom Gola Arena (1,732) Philadelphia, PA
12/06/2016* 7:00 pm, SNY/ESPN3		at Fairfield	W 75–64	7–3	Webster Bank Arena (1,403) Bridgeport, CT
12/17/2016* 12:00 pm, ESPN3		vs. Siena	L 68–71	7–4	Glens Falls Civic Center (3,490) Glens Falls, NY
12/19/2016* 7:00 pm		Mount St. Mary's	W 81–65	8–4	Sojka Pavilion (1,952) Lewisburg, PA
12/22/2016* 7:00 pm		Princeton	L 70–72	8–5	Sojka Pavilion (3,216) Lewisburg, PA
Patriot League regular season
12/30/2016 7:00 pm		at Navy	W 59–55	9–5 (1–0)	Alumni Hall (2,301) Annapolis, MD
01/02/2017 7:00 pm		Army	W 84–76	10–5 (2–0)	Sojka Pavilion (1,737) Lewisburg, PA
01/05/2017 7:30 pm		at American	W 69–60	11–5 (3–0)	Bender Arena (512) Washington, D.C.
01/08/2017 1:00 pm		at Holy Cross	W 68–49	12–5 (4–0)	Hart Center (1,503) Worcester, MA
01/11/2017 7:00 pm		Lehigh	L 71–82	12–6 (4–1)	Sojka Pavilion (2,254) Lewisburg, PA
01/14/2017 2:00 pm		at Colgate	W 83–69	13–6 (5–1)	Cotterell Court (840) Hamilton, NY
01/18/2017 7:00 pm		at Loyola (MD)	W 76–63	14–6 (6–1)	Reitz Arena (2,268) Baltimore, MD
01/21/2017 2:00 pm, ASN		Boston University	W 70–59	15–6 (7–1)	Sojka Pavilion (3,265) Lewisburg, PA
01/25/2017 7:00 pm		at Lafayette	W 78–55	16–6 (8–1)	Kirby Sports Center (1,549) Easton, PA
01/28/2017 3:00 pm		at Army	W 96–75	17–6 (9–1)	Christl Arena (1,808) West Point, NY
02/01/2017 7:00 pm		American	W 80–60	18–6 (10–1)	Sojka Pavilion (1,939) Lewisburg, PA
02/06/2017 7:00 pm, CBSSN		Holy Cross	W 82–68	19–6 (11–1)	Sojka Pavilion (2,615) Lewisburg, PA
02/08/2017 7:00 pm		at Lehigh	L 71–79	19–7 (11–2)	Stabler Arena (1,241) Bethlehem, PA
02/13/2017 7:00 pm, CBSSN		Colgate	W 75–58	20–7 (12–2)	Sojka Pavilion (2,008) Lewisburg, PA
02/15/2017 7:30 pm		Loyola (MD)	L 77–78	20–8 (12–3)	Sojka Pavilion (1,071) Lewisburg, PA
02/18/2017 12:00 pm, CBSSN		at Boston University	W 86–66	21–8 (13–3)	Case Gym (940) Boston, MA
02/22/2017 7:00 pm		Lafayette	W 94–64	22–8 (14–3)	Sojka Pavilion (1,593) Lewisburg, PA
02/25/2017 12:00 pm, CBSSN		Navy	W 82–60	23–8 (15–3)	Sojka Pavilion (3,551) Lewisburg, PA
Patriot League tournament
03/02/2017 7:00 pm	(1)	(8) Army Quarterfinals	W 78–62	24–8	Sojka Pavilion (2,151) Lewisburg, PA
03/05/2017 2:00 pm, CBSSN	(1)	(4) Navy Semifinals	W 70–65	25–8	Sojka Pavilion (2,731) Lewisburg, PA
03/08/2017 7:30 pm, CBSSN	(1)	(3) Lehigh Championship	W 81–65	26–8	Sojka Pavilion (4,254) Lewisburg, PA
NCAA tournament
03/16/2017* 2:45 pm, CBS	(13 W)	vs. (4 W) No. 13 West Virginia First Round	L 80–86	26–9	KeyBank Center (17,806) Buffalo, NY
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West Region. All times are in Eastern Time. Source

See also

• List of Bucknell Bison men's basketball seasons