During the 2016-2017 men’s basketball season, the Bucknell Bison became Patriot League Champions. Not only did they win The Patriot League title, but this accomplishment also allowed them to obtain a conference tournament title. In the first round of NCAA tournament, they played an incredible game against West Virginia, where the Bison lost 86-80. To give you a sense of just how good West Virginia is, they ended up finishing the entire NCAA tournament in a three-way tie for second place.
On November 15th, 2017, our Bucknell Bison played their first game of the season against the sixth-time NCAA National Champions, The North Carolina Tarheels (UNC). The Bison played a fierce game and ended up losing to UNC just 93-81. Our team held their own and played an extremely impressive game. A few days ago, I sat down with a couple of the players, Kimbal Mackenzie (#1) and Stephen (Stevie) Brown (#2). Stevie explained, “For me playing at UNC was honestly a dream come true. Growing up I’ve always wanted to play there and went to a few games as a kid. But to have had the opportunity to actually play there was an awesome experience and is something that I will never forget.”
So far, their season record is excellent, with 11 wins and just 2 losses. Kimbal explained, “The games have been going well, but we still have lots of things to work on. It’s also been hard because the team has had some injuries.” Unfortunately, this year multiple players suffered from injuries very early on in the season. Including Kimbal himself, who was out for about 6 weeks from an abdominal tear, that he’s had since the first day of practice. This abdominal tear resulted in Kimbal needing surgery. During this time of the year, everything starts to intensify. Kimbal explained, “This time of the year is kind of the turning point. The teams really start to buckle down on things.” When asked about their overall stress level, Stevie explained, “You really feel it after you lose a game, lots of things start piling up, and you might even struggle in practice at first––but you start to be able to manage it. You learn how to handle it.”
As you could imagine, the players have long and stressful days. They wake up each day knowing they need to balance another day of school and basketball. Stevie explained, “During the day we have an hour lift, practice between 4:30 and 6:30, and before or after practice we watch films of other teams to get some information on them.” Kimbal added, “On days we don’t have scheduled lifts, we go to the gym by ourselves, to refine certain things.” These dedicated athletes are also great students. They explained how during the season they are even more efficient because they know how to schedule their time more.
One thing you need to know about this team is how genuine every player is. Kimbal explained, “Every guy on our team is very approachable. We love meeting people who aren’t on team, or who are not athletes. I think some people think since were not a part of typical Bucknell culture, that we’re not approachable. I think some people also are under the impression that we think we’re better than everyone else. We’re not, we’re just really loud sometimes,” he added with a laugh.
When I asked Stevie, a senior, if he was sad that this was his last season, he explained, “I don’t take anything for granted. I try my absolute best every game. It’s a lot of mixed emotions. For me, the hardest thing is not being able to play with my teammates…I’m really going to miss them.”
Make sure to check out the next home games! Tonight, Monday February 12th, vs. Colgate @7pm, Wednesday, February 14th, vs. Loyola @7 pm and February 21st, vs. Navy @7 pm!