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Patriot League Basketball: Bucknell, Colgate conference tournament favorites

By Daniel Benjamin

DETROIT, MI - MARCH 16: The Bucknell Bison leave the court after being defeated by the Michigan State Spartans 82-78 in the first round of the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Little Caesars Arena on March 16, 2018 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
DETROIT, MI - MARCH 16: The Bucknell Bison leave the court after being defeated by the Michigan State Spartans 82-78 in the first round of the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Little Caesars Arena on March 16, 2018 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /
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SYRACUSE, NY – NOVEMBER 21: Colgate Raiders bench players celebrate during the first half against the Syracuse Orange at the Carrier Dome on November 21, 2018 in Syracuse, New York. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)
SYRACUSE, NY – NOVEMBER 21: Colgate Raiders bench players celebrate during the first half against the Syracuse Orange at the Carrier Dome on November 21, 2018 in Syracuse, New York. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images) /

Favorites to claim Patriot League title crown

Team to beat: Bucknell

This was a tough choice. But the Bison are the two-time defending tournament champions and they are an experienced squad, led by Sestina and Mackenzie.Plus, they split their matchups with the Raiders.

Bucknell is a well-balanced team that uses a nine-man rotation. The Bison have good size at all positions and are a physical team. The Bison, who love the 3-point line, is a decent team in terms of efficiency as they are average shooting the ball overall — although they have struggled a bit shooting the 3 during conference play. They also do a good job at protecting the ball.

The Bison are one of the best defensive teams in the conference. They don’t have a lot of great individual defenders, but the Bison have taken to coach Nate Davis’ defensive system. The Bison do get after it on that end of the court, ranking first in defensive field goal percentage (42.6%) and second in 3-point defensive percentage (32.7%). They are a strong defensive rebounding team and they keep opponents off the free throw line.

Bucknell has lost three of five.

Other contenders: Colgate, Lehigh, and American

Colgate: The Raiders are the hottest team in the league, having run off eight straight victories. The Raiders are also perhaps the most complete team as coach Matt Langel gets contributions from all eight men in his rotation. Plus, they are one of the biggest teams in the Patriot.

Colgate, like Bucknell, shares the ball extremely well but they turn over the ball more often. The Raiders are a very good shooting team, ranking 21st in the nation (47.6%) in shooting percentage and 38th  in 3-point percentage (38.4%) as they make nearly nine triples a game (45th). Additionally, the Raiders are a very good offensive rebounding team at 29.2%.

Colgate has not been great on the defensive end, but they have been good enough to lead the conference in scoring defense at 69.8 points a game. The Raiders also rank second in the league in field goal defense (45%) and fifth in 3-point percentage (36.2%), but those numbers are significantly higher than their season averages of 43.2% and 33.3%, respectively.

While Ivanauskas is the team’s top player, sophomore Jordan Burns and freshman Tucker Richardson are the table setters. Burns and Richardson are combining to average 23.4 points and 9.4 assists a game.  6-foot-8 Will Rayman is a proven scorer and 6-foot-9 center Dana Batt is a solid rim protector.

Lehigh: The Mountain Hawks are an excellent offensive team that shoots the ball extremely well, particularly from beyond the three-point line. The Hawks lead the conference with 82.4 points a game and is 33rd in the nation at 80.3 a contest. They also are No. 1 in the country at 43.5% from long distance while making slightly more than nine triples (39th) a game. Overall, the Mountain Hawks are shooting 48.8% (15th) from the field, although that has increased to 50.5% against conference foes. Lehigh does turnover the ball a lot.

Senior guard Lance Tejada (14.6 ppg, 3.3 apg) leads five players who are averaging at least 9.2 points. Kyle Leufroy (14.0 pppg, 5.2 rpg, 3.5 apg), Jordan Cohen (13.1 ppg, 3.7 apg), Pat Andree (13.6 ppg, 6.4 rpg) and James Karnik (9.2 ppg, 6.1 RPG) are the others who average at least nine points.

Defense has been a problem for Lehigh. The Mountain Hawks rank 314th in the nation in scoring defense (77.4) though they are giving up 79.3 points a game versus conference foes. The good news is that they are not as bad on that end as those numbers would indicate. The Mountain Hawks are limiting their opponents to 42.8% shooting from the floor and 34.1% from beyond the arc. The biggest issue is that the Hawks play at a lot of possessions and they don’t force many turnovers.

American: The Eagles are the least experience of the four teams listed on the contender’s list with just one senior being in their seven-man regular rotation. The Eagles make up for this inexperience by being patient on the offensive and taking good shots. Which has paid off for them as American ranks 31st in the NCAA in field goal percentage at 48.0%. However, they don’t shoot the ball well from three-point line or free throw line and they turn the ball over a ton.

The good news is that Nelson does have some help with three others scoring in double figures — Sam Iorio, Stacy Beckton, and Mark Gasperini.

American is solid defensively. The Eagles defend the three-point line extremely well, ranking third in the nation in d3-pointers made, sixth in 3-point attempts and third in 3-point percentage. They also get a lot of steals and protect the rim well.

Biggest sleeper: Boston University

The Terriers only have a 1.5% chance to capture the tournament title, per Team Rankings. But the Terriers have won three of four and possess victories over Colgate and Bucknell.

BU is a good shooting team, although the Terriers don’t shoot a lot of three-pointers they drained them at a 36.3% clip during conference play. BU does not defend well at all. Junior forwards Max Mahoney and Tyler Scanlon lead the way for the Terriers.