LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Saint Joseph's men's tennis team fell, 4-3, in a close contest at Bucknell on Sunday afternoon.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
• The Hawks won a hotly-contested doubles point, as all three matches took seven games to win.  Justus Agbo and Matthew Cizmarik were 7-5 winners in the third flight before Othman Bezzaz and Ernesto Ruy won 7-6 (4) in the first to secure the point.
 
• Bucknell went ahead with wins in the second and sixth flights, but Santiago Valle drew the Hawks level with a straight-sets win in the third.
 
• Unfortunately for the Hawks, the Bison claimed wins win the first and fourth flights to clinch the match.  Bezzaz would go on to record his second win of the day in a supertiebreaker in the fifth to set the final score.
 
HAWK TALK
"We started off with winning the doubles point; then I was disappointed in several guys' mental toughness today, which cost us the match," head coach Jeff Puhan said.  "We need to get tougher when things don't go our way."
 
UP NEXT
The Hawks will take on Duquesne and Princeton on Sunday, March 2.
 
RESULTS
 
Bucknell 4, Saint Joseph's 3
 
Doubles
1. Othman Bezzaz / Ernesto Ruy (SJU) def. Brendan McDonald / Amar Tahirovic (BUCK), 7-6 (4)
2. Oscar Bain / Adam Stavrakas (BUCK) def. Matthew Dubas / Santiago Valle (SJU), 7-6 (5)
3. Justus Agbo / Matthew Cizmarik (SJU) def. Nelson Alapi / Liam Kilmer (BUCK), 7-5
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2
 
Singles
1. Tahirovic (BUCK) def. Agbo (SJU), 6-3, 7-5
2. Stavrakos (BUCK) def. Ruy (SJU), 6-2, 7-5
3. Valle (SJU) def. Bain (BUCK), 6-2, 6-2
4. Kilmer (BUCK) def. Dubas (SJU), 6-4, 6-3
5. Bezzaz (SJU) def. McDonald (BUCK), 7-5, 4-6, 10-5 (STB)
6. Alapi (BUCK) def. Cizmarik (SJU), 6-3, 6-2
Order of Finish: 2, 6, 3, 4, 1, 5