Sports

Bucknell, Colgate clash in Patriot League Championship for shot at 2019 NCAA Tournament auto-bid

March 12, 2019 | Sports, Uncategorized,

By Garrett Jones
We all know that friend: the one who fills out their bracket solely by picking the higher seed in each one of the games.
If that fan were picking the 2019 Patriot League men’s basketball tournament, it would’ve worked out for them. Aside from No. 10 Holy Cross upsetting No. 7 Navy in the first round, the Patriot League tournament largely held to form.
It all comes down to No. 1 Colgate and No. 2 Bucknell for the Patriot League Title on Wednesday night at 6:30. KCOU Sports didn’t release a preview of the tournament when it started last week, but here we are for the finale and championship game.
Colgate was truly dominant in the tournament, holding each of its first two opponents under 55 points, highlighted by a 76-54 romp of Lafayette on Mar. 1.

Bucknell has won two blowouts as well. The Bison beat upstart Holy Cross by 12, and punched its ticket to the final with a 22-point win over Lehigh Sunday.
Something’s gotta give for these two high-flying offenses in Tuesday’s championship game. They enter the game No. 2 and No. 3 in the conference in scoring, respectively.
Bucknell has three different players that rank in the top-five in conference in three key offensive statistics. Kimbal McKenzie is third with 17.5 PPG. Floor general Jimmy Sotos leads the conference with a whopping 6.0 assists per game. Nate Sestina is second in rebounding at 8.6 boards per game.
As for Colgate, one player does many things well. Northwestern transfer Raponas Ivanasukas is fifth in the conference with 16.5 PPG and third in boards at 7.9 RPG.
Neither team really has the resumé to grab a rare mid-major at-large bid for the 2019 NCAA Tournament, so these teams don’t need any motivation to leave it all on the court tomorrow night.
No matter what happens, the action tips off at 6:30 central and can be seen on CBS Sports Network.
Predicted champion: Colgate.