EASTON, Pa. - Bucknell used a 9-2 run to start the second half and never looked back, winning 79-65 over Lafayette on Saturday afternoon at Kirby Sports Center. Seth Hinrichs tied his career high with a team-best 17 points, but it wasn't enough to offset Mike Muscala's 27-point effort for the Bison.

With 11:15 showing on the first half clock, Muscala misfired on a jumper that Ryan Willen saved to Tony Johnson on the Leopards' baseline. Johnson then found Hinrichs in transition for a three-pointer, making the score 14-13 in favor of the Bison. Willen's rebound to spark the basket was the 500th of his career, putting him in a class of 13 players with 1,000 points and 500 rebounds in their Lafayette careers.

Aside from Jim Mower's layup to open the game, Bucknell (13-6, 3-0) controlled the action in the first half, led by Muscala, the reigning Patriot League Player of the Year, who scored 19 points in the opening 20 minutes. Lafayette (7-11, 2-1) went into the locker room trailing 34-30 as the team shot 5-of-8 from beyond the arc, including a pair of threes from Hinrichs and Levi Giese.

Bucknell scored nine of the first 11 points after halftime to take its largest lead of the game to that point, 43-32, prompting a Lafayette timeout. Mower's drive down the center of the lane for a three-point play resulted from the timeout, but Joe Willman answered with an 18-footer on the other end.

Mower's three assisted by Joey Ptasinski at 12:31 cut the deficit to seven (49-42) but Bucknell wouldn't allow Lafayette to get any closer over the next six minutes of action, holding at least an eight-point lead for a majority of the stretch.

Trailing by 14, Johnson's corner triple cut the deficit to 66-55 with 5:55 remaining, but Cameron Ayers connected from outside on the next trip for three of his 11 points to retake a 14-point lead. As a team the Bison shot 57 percent from the field and were 14-of-14 from the stripe. Lafayette shot 46 percent in the game, but was outrebounded 34-18.The Leopards' recorded a season-low six turnovers.

Willen and Mower were the other two Lafayette players in double figures, scoring 14 and 10 points, respectively.

Lafayette hits the road on Thursday, when it travels to Worcester, Mass. to play Holy Cross at 7 p.m. The game will nationally televised on CBS Sports Network (DirecTV 613, DISH Network 152) and GoLeopards.com will carry an audio-only broadcast.

Click here for a full breakdown of the game's stats!