BOX SCORE LEWISBURG, Pa. (Nov. 16, 2013) – The Saint Francis men's basketball team dropped to 1-1 against Patriot League opponents this season with a 72-50 setback at the hands of Bucknell.

Fresh off a win at Penn State, the Bison (2-1) carried their momentum into Saturday's game shooting a red-hot 52 percent (32-of-58) from the field including 43 percent (8-of-17) from 3-point range.  Cameron Ayers paced Bucknell with 16 points.

"Give Bucknell credit, they move the ball very well," said SFU coach Rob Krimmel.  "When you have guys who can move the ball like that and stretch the floor it makes things hard to guard."

Playing in front of their home crowd for the first time this season, the Bison used the occasion to unveil banners commemorating their third-consecutive regular season league title and their 2013 NCAA Tournament appearance.

After an empty Saint Francis (1-3) possession to open the game, Ayers responded with a 3-pointer as Bucknell built a 10-point lead nine minutes into the contest.  The Bison pushed their lead to 16 on a Brian Fitzpatrick layup three minutes later.

A pair of Dominique Major (Woodbridge, Va./Forest Park) 3-pointers pulled the Red Flash to within nine with less than six minutes to play in the first half before the Bison once again distanced themselves.  Saint Francis trimmed the lead to nine a second time, 34-25, at the 2:48 mark on a Malik Harmon (Queens, N.Y./Christ the King) layup. 

That's as close as the Flash would get, going into the locker room down 41-25.

"I thought in the first half we missed too many easy shots and, defensively, we weren't making many stops," said Krimmel.  "You can't give a team like that that kind of momentum.  When they get rolling they're very good."

The Red Flash hit on 9-of-29 (31%) in the first half and showed a slight improvement in the second half (10-of-29; 35%).

Harmon paced the Frankies with 14 points – including a 4-for-9 showing from long-range.  Junior Ollie Jackson (Dallas, Texas/Pinkston ) chipped in 11 points and pulled down a career-best-tying seven boards.

Earl Brown (Philadelphia, Pa./Imhotep Charter) ended up with 10 points and nine of SFU's 23 rebounds.  Bucknell grabbed 39 rebounds on the evening.

Saint Francis returns to action on Tuesday with a visit to George Mason.