The Bison men’s basketball team (22-9, 16-2 PL) ended their regular season on Feb. 24 with a dominating win over American University (6-23, 3-15 PL) by a final score of 80-61. Nana Foulland ’18 led the charge with a 20-point performance, while Zach Thomas ’18 broke the school record for total points scored in a season with 651 points, passing current NBA forward Mike Muscala. With this win, the Orange and Blue managed to become the only team in league history to finish a regular season with 16 conference wins.

“It was a great team accomplishment,” Stephen Brown ’18 said. “It was good to see all the hard work that we have put in throughout the season and [it was] a blessing to be a part of it.”

The Bison opened up the game going 6-for-13 from the free throw line, which gave American some opportunity to hang with the Bison early on. The Eagles eventually tied the game at 16, but that proved to be the closest they would come to leading the Orange and Blue. A quick run with consecutive three-pointers from Nate Sestina ’19 and Bruce Moore ’20 gave the Bison the lead, and they remained in control for the rest of the contest.

The Bison outscored American 22-6 in the final seven minutes of the first half, which helped them go on cruise control for the rest of the game. They took a 22-point lead just over two minutes into the second half. Lockdown defense from the Orange and Blue proved to be too much for American to handle in the second half, and they held American to just 38.6 percent shooting from the floor.

The Bison shot 49 percent from the field and 33 percent from beyond the arc, but a large portion of their points came off of free throws, as the team went 25 for 36 from the line. The Orange and Blue also dominated on the glass with a plus-11 rebounding margin.

The Bison proved to be the most dominant team in the regular season once again, finishing first in the Patriot League standings. The team will have to continue to prove themselves now that the playoffs are here, and they have their sights set on the postseason.

“It is all about the postseason,” Foulland said.  “It has always been about that because that is our only ticket to the NCAA tournament.”

The Bison will host the Loyola Greyhounds in the Patriot League quarterfinals on March 1 and, should they win, will move on to the semifinals on March 4.