Men's Basketball Returns to Action Saturday at Marist

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- The Bucknell men's basketball squad continues its busy start to the season on Saturday at Marist. The Bison and Red Foxes tip it off at 4 p.m. at McCann Arena, with streaming coverage on ESPN+.

Bucknell fell to 2-5 after a 67-61 loss at St. Bonaventure on Wednesday. The Bison continue to make strides defensively and have now allowed fewer than 70 points in four of their last five games, with the lone exception coming at No. 9 Duke. Bucknell defended well on the road against a veteran St. Bonaventure squad that is statistically the most experienced in the country, but one quick spurt spelled doom midway through the second half. The Bison trailed by only two at that point, but the Bonnies tore off a 13-3 run in a span of 2:31 to break it open. Bucknell pulled within four in the final minute before St. Bonaventure iced it at the foul line.

Jack Forrest scored a game-high 18 points and continues to lead the Patriot League in scoring at 16.6 ppg. Ian Motta got going with a season-high 12 points. After a 1-for-11 start to the season from the 3-point arc, Motta went 3-for-3 against the Bonnies. Josh Bascoe played 38 minutes at the point and recorded his third eight-assist game of the season.

Marist is 2-2 on the season and will be playing its home opener on Saturday. The Red Foxes debuted with wins over Army and UMBC, but they have dropped their last two to Binghamton and New Hampshire. San Jose State transfer Max Allen II has been the team's most productive player thus far. After scoring 28 points on Tuesday at UNH, he is averaging a team-high 17.5 ppg with a total of 70 points in only 85 minutes. The 6'9" forward is shooting 61.9 percent from the field.

GAME DIGEST
What: Bucknell (2-5) at Marist (2-2)
Where: McCann Arena, Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
When: Saturday, Nov. 25, 4 p.m.
Streaming: ESPN+
Local Radio: The Valley (100.9 FM)
Internet Audio: BucknellBison.com
Live Stats: GoRedFoxes.com
COMPLETE GAME NOTES

Bucknell Tentative Starters
G: Josh Bascoe (8.1 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 5.0 apg)
G: Jack Forrest (16.6 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 1.1 apg)
F: Ian Motta (4.3 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 0.8 apg)
F: Ruot Bijiek (6.4 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 0.8 apg)
C: Noah Williamson (10.6 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 0.7 bpg)

With a Win over Marist, Bucknell Would ...

... improve to 3-5 on the season.
... improve to 2-4 on the road this season.
... avenge an overtime loss to the Red Foxes last season and improve to 7-5 all-time against them.

Headlines

Bucknell's busy November schedule continues on Saturday at Marist. This will be Marist's first home game of the season and Bucknell's first afternoon game of the year.
Through Thursday's games, Bucknell was one of only 15 teams in the nation to have played seven games already, and none had played more than seven. The Bison were also one of only nine teams to have played five road games. Only Jackson State has played as many as six.
Next Wednesday's home game against Princeton will be Bucknell's ninth game in the month of November, tying a school record. By contrast, Marist has played only four games thus far.
Bucknell is coming off a 67-61 loss at St. Bonaventure, the No. 3 preseason pick in the Atlantic 10. The Bonnies field the most experienced team in the nation, but it was an even game until the 10-minute mark of the second half when St. Bonaventure stretched a two-point lead up to 12 with 10 straight points in just 62 seconds.
Jack Forrest led the Bison with 18 points at St. Bonaventure, and he currently leads the Patriot League in scoring (16.6), 3-pointers per game (3.0), and minutes per game (36.5). Forrest, who has now made a 3-pointer in 14 straight games and in 26 of his 29 appearances as a Bison, is 19th nationally in minutes played. Forrest is one of only 35 guards in the nation averaging at least 16 points and six rebounds.
During the first four games of the season junior point guard Josh Bascoe provided good support for Elvin Edmonds IV coming off the bench. Bascoe had an eight-assist game against Delaware and a 15-point game at Niagara in a reserve role. After Edmonds was injured late in the first half at La Salle, Bascoe started the last three games against Duke, Southern Indiana, and St. Bonaventure and played at least 37 minutes in each. He had two more eight-assist games against Duke and St. Bonaventure, and he scored a career-high 20 points in the win over Southern Indiana.
Bascoe has epitomized Bucknell's second-half success this season. Of his 57 points through seven games, 46 have come in the second half. That includes 12 of his 15 in the win at Niagara and 16 of his 20 in the win over Southern Indiana, when he made key shots down the stretch in both. As a team, Bucknell has outscored its foes 237-236 in the second half after a -69 scoring margin in the first half.
Bascoe is one of only 10 players in the nation with at least three games of eight or more assists this season.

Most Games with 8+ Assists
Darius Brown, Utah State   4
Savion Lewis, Quinnipiac   4
Josh Bascoe, Bucknell   3
Jared Bynum, Stanford   3
Jaquan Carlos, Hofstra   3
Dajuan Harris, Kansas   3
Daniss Jenkins, St. John's   3
Jamal Shead, Houston   3
Isaiah Stevens, Colorado State   3
Stephan Swenson, Stetson   3

Rebounding has been a key stat for the Bison thus far. They are +24 on the boards in their two wins, but in the five losses Bucknell is -71 on the glass.
Bucknell is just getting going in its 129th season of basketball, dating back to its first game on Feb. 14, 1896, a 16-14 victory over Lock Haven.
Bucknell is looking to rebound from a 12-20 season a year ago. The Bison went 5-13 in Patriot League play and fell 64-59 at American in the first round of the Patriot League Tournament.
The Bison were picked ninth in this year's Patriot League preseason poll, one spot ahead of Army West Point. Defending-champion Colgate was the preseason No. 1 pick. John Griffin III is one of five new head coaches in the Patriot League this season.
Bucknell won eight Patriot League regular-season titles in a nine-year span from 2011-19, and the Bison went to the NCAA Tournament in 2011, 2013, 2017 and 2018 during that stretch. Now Bucknell is trying to rebound from a rare run of four straight sub-.500 seasons, something that has not happened since 2000-01 to 2003-04.
Marist has split its first four games of the season, all on the road. The Red Foxes started the season with wins over Army and UMBC but have dropped their last two to Binghamton and New Hampshire. Their most recent outing was a 74-71 loss to UNH, which is now led by former Bison head coach Nathan Davis.
Max Allen II, a sophomore transfer from San Jose State, scored 28 points on 12-for-17 shooting in that game. He leads the team in scoring at 17.5 ppg (70 points in 85 minutes) and is shooting 61.9% from the field and 81.0% from the foul line.
Marist is shooting a solid 46.1% from the field as a team, even though it is hitting at just 29.2% from the 3-point arc.

How to Get the Game

The Bucknell-Marist game will be streamed on ESPN+. Dean Darling and Steve Eggink will have the call from McCann Arena in Poughkeepsie.
Doug Birdsong, now in his 24th season as "The Voice of the Bison" will provide the radio call on WVLY 100.9 FM in the Susquehanna Valley.
The audio feed is also available online free of charge via BucknellBison.com.
Live statistics can be accessed via GoRedFoxes.com.
Follow @Bucknell_MBB for in-game updates on Twitter.

Last Time Out

Mika Adams-Woods scored 12 of his 16 points in the second half and hit two 3-pointers in St. Bonaventure's lone extended run of the night, leading the host Bonnies to a 67-61 win over Bucknell on Wednesday night at the Reilly Center. Jack Forrest scored a game-high 18 points, Ian Motta tallied a season-high 12, and Josh Bascoe had his third eight-assist game of the season for the Bison.
St. Bonaventure features the nation's most experienced team with five fifth-year seniors and an average college tenure of 3.6 years per player. The Bonnies defeated Oklahoma State last week and improved to 3-2 on the season.
The Bison defended very well for most of the night, holding St. Bonaventure to 41.1% shooting. But the Bonnies hit 10 of their 23 field goals from 3-point range after entering the night hitting hist 25.5% from the arc on the season. Moses Flowers, who was 3-for-9 and had only 14 points on the campaign, was 4-for-6 in this one and scored 16 points off the bench.
Bucknell was outstanding defensively at the start of both halves but just could not parlay long strings of defensive stops into any extended scoring runs.
Bucknell shot 43.5% on the night after hitting at a 50% clip in the second half. The Bison went 9-for-24 from the arc and 12-for-15 from the foul line. St. Bonaventure finished with a 31-24 edge on the glass, with 11 of its boards coming at the offensive end.

Bucknell vs. Marist Series Notes

Bucknell and Marist have met 11 times previously, with the Bison winning six.
Bucknell is 4-2 at home and 2-3 on the road in the series.
The teams first met during the 1985-86 season, with Marist winning 61-53 in Poughkeepsie. That Marist team, led by future NBA All-Star Rik Smits, would go on to win the ECAC Metro Conference tournament and make its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance. Bucknell defeated the Smits-led Red Foxes 66-64 the following season in Davis Gym.
The last meeting came one year ago Sunday at Sojka Pavilion. The Red Foxes won a defensive struggle 60-54 in overtime. Patrick Gardner scored a team-high 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead Marist. The Bison saw their two-game winning streak come to an end despite a team-high 16 points from Xander Rice, who also added seven rebounds and six assists. The score was tied at 51 heading to overtime. Marist connected on a pair of 3-pointers and three free throws while holding the Bison to one field goal and three points in the overtime period.
Bucknell's last win came at Sojka Pavilion in the 2014-15 season opener, 75-72. Dom Hoffman led five Bison in double figures with 14 points to go with nine rebounds. The Bison overcame 33 points from Marist's Khalid Hart, whose seven 3-pointers are still tied for the Sojka Pavilion record by an opposing player.

Who's Got Next?

Bucknell plays at home on Wednesday against Princeton at 7 p.m. The Tigers are 5-0 on the season heading into Saturday's home game against Northeastern. Their wins have come against Rutgers, Hofstra, Duquesne, Monmouth, and Old Dominion.

Men's Basketball Returns to Action Saturday at Marist

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Josh Bascoe

Ruot Bijiek

Elvin Edmonds IV

Jack Forrest

Ian Motta

Xander Rice

Noah Williamson

Men's Basketball Returns to Action Saturday at Marist

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Josh Bascoe

Ruot Bijiek

Elvin Edmonds IV

Jack Forrest

Ian Motta

Xander Rice

Noah Williamson

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