Men's Basketball Heads to Penn Wednesday for First Road Game of Season

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- Bucknell looks to bounce back from a season-opening loss to Delaware when it travels to the famed Palestra to face Penn on Wednesday night. The 7 p.m. tip will be streamed on ESPN+. This is the start of a four-game road trip that will also take the Bison to Niagara, La Salle, and Duke.

The Bison fell 78-67 on Monday, spoiling John Griffin's head coaching debut, as the Blue Hens used a pair of 13-0 runs to break it open early. Jack Forrest, Bucknell's top returning scorer, led the squad with 18 points, but All-CAA forward Jyare Davis had 23 and 10 rebounds to lead a hot-shooting Delaware side.

Penn will be looking for a 2-0 start after routing Division III John Jay 102-57 at home on Monday. Steve Donohue's team went 17-13 overall and 9-5 in the Ivy League last season. The third-seeded Quakers lost 77-70 to No. 2 Princeton in the Ivy League Tournament semifinals. Penn must replace 2023 Ivy League Player of the Year Jordan Dingle (23.4 ppg), who transferred to St. John's, but the Quakers have two starters back in Clark Stajchert and Nick Spinoso.

Pregame Social in Philadelphia
Join fellow Bison fans on Wednesday night prior to the Penn game. A no-host happy hour will take place from 5-6:30 p.m. at the New Deck Tavern at 3408 Sansom St. No RSVP is required and game tickets can be purchased through Penn's Box Office.

GAME DIGEST
What: Bucknell (0-1) at Penn (1-0)
Where: The Palestra, Philadelphia, Pa.
When: Wednesday, Nov. 8, 7 p.m.
Streaming: ESPN+
Local Radio: The Valley (100.9 FM)
Internet Audio: BucknellBison.com
Live Stats: PennAthletics.com
COMPLETE GAME NOTES

With a Win over Penn, Bucknell Would ...

... give John Griffin III his first win as a head coach.
... snap a four-game losing streak to the Quakers and defeat them for the first time since 1975.
... snap a four-game road losing streak dating back to last season.
... defeat an Ivy League team for the first time since a 57-52 win over Columbia on Dec. 7, 2013 (0-7 since then).

Headlines

The Bison have a quick turnaround and an opportunity to flush a tough opening-night loss when they travel to Penn on Wednesday night.
Bucknell did play a game against La Salle at the Palestra during the 2019-20 season, but this will be the first time taking on the Quakers on their historic home floor since early in the 2004-05 season. That was a turning-point game in what would later become a magical season for the Bison. They committed 25 turnovers in an ugly 65-52 loss to Penn to fall to 3-4 on the season, but then came back three nights later to beat Yale on the road in overtime, which ignited an 11-game winning streak that including an upset of No. 7 Pittsburgh. By the time March rolled around, Bucknell had won 25 games, captured the Patriot League championship, and defeated Kansas in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Bucknell will bring a heavy Philadelphia contingent to Penn. Heading the list is head coach John Griffin III, a Philadelphia native and graduate of Saint Joseph's Prep. Griffin, whose father John Griffin II is a former head coach at Saint Joseph's University, had spent the last four seasons as associate head coach at Saint Joe's before returning to his alma mater in March. Other Philly connections:
- Senior Jack Forrest (Lower Merion) and sophomore Quin Berger (Malvern/Westtown School) are both Saint Joseph's transfers. Forrest joined the Bison prior to last season and is the team's top returning scorer, while Berger is new to the squad this season. Berger's father, Seth, is the head basketball coach at Westtown, and his mother, Christelle, competed in track and field at Penn, held the school record in the 100m hurdles for 30 years, and is in the Big 5 Hall of Fame.
- Assistant coach Matt Griffin (John's younger brother) spent five seasons as head coach at Roman Catholic High School and also served as the school's athletic director for two seasons. Griffin was named the USA TODAY Coach of the Year in the state of Pennsylvania in 2018, and that season he also earned Coach of the Year honors from the Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News, Philadelphia Scholastic, and PIAA Class 6A. He also spent five seasons as the president of the Philadelphia Catholic League Coaches Association.
- Director of basketball operations Mike Walley is a Yardley native (Notre Dame H.S.) who was a two-sport athlete in basketball and baseball at TCNJ. He spent the last two years as a graduate assistant coach at Saint Joseph's before rejoining Griffin on the staff at Bucknell this season.
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. Griffin 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.
The Bison must replace their top three scorers in Xander Rice (14.1 ppg), Alex Timmerman (11.4 ppg), and Andre Screen (11.2 ppg), along with veteran forward Jake van der Heijden (3.3 ppg). Rice (Monmouth), Timmerman (Winthrop), and van der Heijden (North Florida) are all playing as fifth-year graduate students this year, while Screen is now at Butler.
In their place are incoming transfers Quin Berger (Saint Joseph's) and Pip Ajayi (Mercyhurst) and true freshmen Brandon McCreesh and Patrick O'Brien.
Bucknell's young squad will be tested early and often, with a school-record-tying nine November games on the agenda. The Bison also played nine games in the month of November in 2019-20. The non-conference slate includes home games against Delaware, Southern Indiana, Princeton, Radford, and Saint Peter's, while the Bison will travel to the likes of Duke and Penn State, as well as trips to Griffin's hometown of Philadelphia to face Penn and La Salle.
The Quakers also opened their season at home on Monday, routing Division III John Jay 102-57 at The Palestra. Penn shot 53.6% from the field, and a balanced scoring ledger was headed by 16 points from Eddie Holland III. Freshman Tyler Perkins added 15 points, six rebounds, and five assists in his collegiate debut.
Penn was picked fifth in the Ivy League preseason poll, behind Yale, Princeton, Cornell, and Brown. Senior Clark Slajchert is the top returning scorer after posting 13.6 ppg last season.

How to Get the Game

The Bucknell-Penn game will stream live on ESPN+, with Joe Tordy and Vince Curran on the call from The Palestra.
Doug Birdsong is back for his 24th season as Bucknell's play-by-play announcer, and he will have 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 PennAthletics.com.
Follow @Bucknell_MBB for in-game updates on Twitter.

Last Time Out

The head coaching debut of John Griffin III was spoiled by a veteran Delaware team on Monday night at Sojka Pavilion. The Blue Hens used a pair of 13-0 runs to grab a big early lead, and they went on to win 78-57 behind 23 points and 10 rebounds from All-CAA forward Jyare Davis.
Jack Forrest led Bucknell with 18 points, hitting 7 of 15 shots from the field and 4 of 8 from the 3-point arc. Noah Williamson had nine points and eight rebounds in his first collegiate start, and Josh Bascoe provided a spark off the bench with a career-high eight assists.
The Bison shot 38.9% from the field, compared to Delaware's 50.9%. Both teams connected on 10 3-pointers, with the Blue Hens hitting seven in the first half on the way to a commanding 44-25 halftime lead.
Bucknell came up with 11 steals, led by three each from Elvin Edmonds IV, Forrest, and Josh Adoh.

Bucknell vs. Penn Series Notes

The Bison and Quakers have met eight times previously, with Penn winning five, including the last four.
Bucknell's last win over the Quakers was a 66-64 decision on Dec. 3, 1975 at The Palestra. Bucknell Hall-of-Famer Bill Gravely, a Lower Merion High School graduate, had 16 points and 10 rebounds in his hometown return. Steve Oristaglio's fastbreak finish with 90 seconds remaining gave the Bison a 65-64 lead, and the defense shut down the Quakers the rest of the way.
Bucknell's only home victories over Penn came in the old Tustin Gymnasium in 1897 and 1901.
The Quakers won the most recent meeting, 73-68 in Bucknell's 2021-22 home opener. Phildelphia native Andrew Funk scored a then-career-high 32 points for the Bison, but the Quakers had enough down the stretch in a game that saw 12 lead changes and neither team lead by more than seven points.

The Bison in Italy

Bucknell took an overseas trip to Italy in August, playing three games to go along with a ton of sightseeing and cultural excursions in Rome, Florence, Milan, and Como.
Bucknell won all three games by wide margins, averaging 87.7 points while shooting 38.7% as a team from the 3-point arc. The Bison were terrific defensively, talling 17.0 steals per game while holding the opposition to 58.3 ppg.
Jack Forrest was the top scorer on the trip with 17.3 ppg, followed by Elvin Edmonds IV with 15.0 ppg and 6.0 apg.

Bucknell Games in Italy
Aug. 5   vs. Stella Azzura   W 71-52   Edmonds 18 pts., 4 stl.
Aug. 7   vs. Tuscan Select   W 97-68   Forrest 27 pts.; Edmonds 10 pts., 10 asst.
Aug. 10  vs. Orange1 Bassano  W 94-55   Edmonds & Forrest 17 pts.; Fulton 11 reb.

Bucknell, Mount St. Mary's play Exhibition Game in Support of Patrick Behan '10

Patrick Behan '10 was an outstanding frontcourt player for the Bison under coaches Pat Flannery and Dave Paulsen. The 34-year-old Behan is currently in a battle with with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. On Oct. 28, Bucknell and Mount St. Mary's met in a charity exhibition game in support of the BehanStrong Foundation, which is raising funds to help cover his considerable medical expenses.
Head coach John Griffin III was roommates with Behan during their playing days at Bucknell.
Mount St. Mary's won the exhibition game 72-67 in double overtime. Elvin Edmonds IV led the Bison with 16 points and four assists, and Noah Williamson logged 12 points and 14 rebounds. In a game where neither side led by more than six points all day, the Bison managed to stay engaged despite 1-for-26 shooting from the 3-point line.
Josh Bascoe hit a buzzer-beater off a steal on the baseline at the end of regulation to force overtime. Griffin elected to remove his starters after the first overtime period, as all had logged well over 30 minutes by that point.

Patriot League Success

Bucknell is 316-164 (.658) all-time in Patriot League regular-season games, the best record of any league team. Last year was only the seventh time in 33 years that the Bison finished with a sub-.500 PL record.
Bucknell won three straight Patriot League regular-season titles from 2011-13, becoming the first team in league history to accomplish that feat. The Bison had won five in a row and eight of the previous nine before finishing T-6th in 2019-20.
Bucknell has made nine Patriot League Tournament appearances as the No. 1 seed and seven as the No. 2 seed.
Bucknell won Patriot League Tournament titles in 2005, 2006, 2011, 2013, 2017 and 2018. The Bison have made it to the semifinals 24 times and to the championship game 13 times in the league's first 33 years.
The Bison are the only team to go unbeaten in league play in a season (14-0 in 2006).

Home Cooking

Since Sojka Pavilion debuted in 2003, the Bison are 207-78 (.726) overall and 149-43 (.776) against Patriot League foes.
Bucknell won a record 15 home games in 2016-17, and then it matched that figure a year later.

Who's Got Next?

Bucknell continues its four-game road trip at Niagara on Saturday night.
The Bison have won four straight in the series against the Purple Eagles, including a 68-50 win last season in Lewisburg.

Men's Basketball Heads to Penn Wednesday for First Road Game of Season

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Josh Adoh

Pip Ajayi

Josh Bascoe

Quin Berger

Elvin Edmonds IV

Jack Forrest

Brandon McCreesh

Patrick O'Brien

Xander Rice

Andre Screen

Alex Timmerman

Jake van der Heijden

Noah Williamson

Men's Basketball Heads to Penn Wednesday for First Road Game of Season

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Josh Adoh

Pip Ajayi

Josh Bascoe

Quin Berger

Elvin Edmonds IV

Jack Forrest

Brandon McCreesh

Patrick O'Brien

Xander Rice

Andre Screen

Alex Timmerman

Jake van der Heijden

Noah Williamson

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