The American Eagles entered the first round of the Patriot League tournament, having lost five of their last eight.
With first-year head coach Duane Simpkins, the Eagles looked to right the ship against a Bucknell team that had won three in a row.
AU had swept Bucknell, but tonight wasn’t the Eagles’ night.
The Eagles fell to the Bison 80-57.
Lorenzo Donadio led AU with 16 points.
The Bison’s Jack Forrest (16 points and 7 rebounds) and Noah Williamson (23 points and 10 rebounds) had big games.
In the first half, AU had no answer for Bucknell’s Forrest and Williamson.
Forest scored 11 points and four rebounds in the first half, and Williamson scored 15 points and four rebounds.
That, along with the Bison’s 10-2 and 9-4 runs, gave the visiting team a 40-29 lead at halftime.
Lorenzo Donadio led the Eagles in the first half with 11 points.
The second half started like the first half ended, with Williamson being an issue on offense. Williamson got fouled on his first touch of the half. On the next possession, Williamson kept the ball alive, leading to a Josh Adoh layup.
Bucknell scored seven of the first 10 points of the second half, extending its lead to 15 points.
Back-to-back three-pointers by Donadio and Geoff Sprouse pulled the Eagles to with ten at 49-39.
Bucknell responded and took its largest lead (at that time) when Elvin Edmonds IV’s layup put the Bison up by 16.
Other than Donadio, AU struggled from the three-point line. Donadio shot 3-6 from three, and the rest of the Eagles shot 3-19.
The Eagles finished the year with a 16-16 record.
