Brittany Willwerth, Sports Co-Editor

Coming off a dominant performance in the Patriot League Championship, the Bison men’s basketball team sought to continue their momentum, put on their dancing shoes, and compete in the NCAA tournament. The men ultimately fell to a tough third-seeded Michigan State basketball team by a score of 82-78.

In the first half, Patriot League Player of the Year, Zach Thomas ’18 put up 20 points and went on to score seven more in the second. Also showing strong offensive performances were teammates Stephen Brown ’18 and Kimbal Mackenzie ’19 who scored 20 and 10 points, respectively.

Proving their resiliency from the very beginning, the team fought their way through the first half, and took a 28-27 lead after going on a 16-4 burst. In one play following this run, MacKenzie took a hard drive to the paint and threw a beautiful lob to Nana Foulland ’18 who slam it home for the dunk.The Bison would go on to close out the half only down by four points.

In the second half, the team lost a bit of momentum, and went over 11 minutes without making a field goal. During this lapse, the Spartans built a 14 point lead and ultimately concluded the game having shot 53 percent from the the field, compared to the Bison’s 42 percent.

With only 6:06 left in the contest, Thomas was charged his fifth foul after earning a technical, resulting in his ejection from the game. Thomas finished the game going 7-for-14 from the field, 3-4 from the 3-point line, and 10-for-11 from the charity stripe. Continuing to battle, Brown scored three 3-pointers in the last two minutes, although it did not prove to be enough.

After earning their second straight bid to the Big Dance, the men finished the 2017-2018 season with a record of 25-10 overall. As the season comes to an end, the team looks forward to next year, once again seeking to re-claim their title as Patriot League Champions.