Saturday, February 4
Lewisburg, Pa.
7 p.m.
Bucknell University
10-15,3-9Patriot
73
vs
67
Army
13-12,7-5Patriot
1
2
F
Army West Point
30
37
67
Bucknell
35
38
73
Men's Basketball Wins 2nd Straight, Defeats Army 73-67
2/4/2023 9:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Bucknell men's basketball team won its second straight game, defeating Army 73-67 on Saturday night before a spirited crowd at Sojka Pavilion. The Bison led for nearly the entire contest and swept the season series from the Black Knights, who entered the night in third place in the Patriot League. Senior Xander Rice was one of four Bison in double figures with a team-high 17 points, leaving him three points shy of reaching 1,000 for his career.
Bucknell led by as many as 11 points in the first half and by five at halftime. Army rallied to take a brief lead about six minutes into the second stanza, but a 15-2 Bison run gave them a seemingly commanding 65-51 lead with 2:29 to play. Army freshman Ethan Roberts made things interesting, however, knocking down four straight 3-pointers in the final minute to get the Black Knights as close as four. Rice made 6 of 8 free throws in the final 28 seconds to help preserve the victory.
The Orange and Blue (10-15, 3-9 PL) shot 24-for-51 (47.1%) from the field and 19-for-24 (79.2%) from the foul line, while Army (13-12, 7-5 PL) countered with 27-for-66 (40.9%) shooting from the floor and 5-for-11 (45.5%) at the charity stripe. Army did outrebound Bucknell, 37-29, and turned 14 offensive rebounds into 16 second-chance points.
Rice drew 10 fouls in the game, resulting in a season-high 12 free throw attempts, making eight. He also handed out a game-high six assists without committing a turnover in over 34 minutes of action. Andre Screen contributed 15 points, making all six of his field goal attempts, seven rebounds, and three blocks, while freshman Ruot Bijiek matched his career-high offensively with 12 points and added a new career-high defensively with four blocks. Bijiek also made four big free throws in the late stages of the contest. Alex Timmerman scored 10 points while battling foul difficulty for much of the night.
Roberts finished with a career-high 32 points, making six of his eight three-point attempts, including those four makes in a 42-second span. Fellow plebe Coleton Benson was Army's other double-digit scorer with 15, as the two rookies combined for 47 of the team's 67 points.
Bucknell hit four of its first five shots on the way to a quick 9-4 lead, and Bijiek's steal and fastbreak layup made it 15-6 after seven minutes of play. Bijiek later hit a 3-pointer to make it 26-15 before Benson got hot late in the half. The Army guard's 4-point play started a stretch where he scored 11 points in the final 4:41 of the half. His 3-pointer made it a 33-30 game with 52 seconds left, but the Bison ended the half with a well-executed alley-oop from Rice to Screen.
Army's offensive rebounding hurt the Bison in the first six minutes of the second half, and a second-chance 3-pointer by Roberts put the Black Knights in front for the first time all night at 41-40. Timmerman's free throws two possessions later gave Bucknell the lead right back, and the hosts would never trail again.
Bucknell had a hot-and-cold evening from the 3-point arc, finishing 6-for-18, but back-to-back treys from Bijiek and Ian Motta provided a seven-point lead and a bit of breathing room. Army did pull within 50-49 on two Roberts free throws after the under-8 timeout, but the Bison held the Black Knights to only two more points over the next 5:34.
Four straight points from Jack Forrest restored the seven-point advantage, and after a Chris Mann layup for Army, Bucknell scored the next nine in a row. Timmerman and Screen finished layups, Bijiek made both ends of a 1-and-1, and Elvin Edmonds IV hit a right-corner three for a 65-51 lead.
Army scored 10 straight late points to pull even at West Point last month in a game the Bison eventually won 68-66 on Screen's free throws with 2.1 seconds to go. Roberts seemed poised to singlehandedly repeat the feat in this one, but Bucknell made enough free throws to hold them off.
Bucknell snapped a five-game home losing streak and improved to 61-24 all-time against Army.
Next up for the Bison is a trip to Navy on Wednesday night. The Midshipmen dealt Bucknell a 63-46 loss at Sojka Pavilion on Jan. 25.
PRESS CONFERENCE:
Bucknell led by as many as 11 points in the first half and by five at halftime. Army rallied to take a brief lead about six minutes into the second stanza, but a 15-2 Bison run gave them a seemingly commanding 65-51 lead with 2:29 to play. Army freshman Ethan Roberts made things interesting, however, knocking down four straight 3-pointers in the final minute to get the Black Knights as close as four. Rice made 6 of 8 free throws in the final 28 seconds to help preserve the victory.
The Orange and Blue (10-15, 3-9 PL) shot 24-for-51 (47.1%) from the field and 19-for-24 (79.2%) from the foul line, while Army (13-12, 7-5 PL) countered with 27-for-66 (40.9%) shooting from the floor and 5-for-11 (45.5%) at the charity stripe. Army did outrebound Bucknell, 37-29, and turned 14 offensive rebounds into 16 second-chance points.
Rice drew 10 fouls in the game, resulting in a season-high 12 free throw attempts, making eight. He also handed out a game-high six assists without committing a turnover in over 34 minutes of action. Andre Screen contributed 15 points, making all six of his field goal attempts, seven rebounds, and three blocks, while freshman Ruot Bijiek matched his career-high offensively with 12 points and added a new career-high defensively with four blocks. Bijiek also made four big free throws in the late stages of the contest. Alex Timmerman scored 10 points while battling foul difficulty for much of the night.
Roberts finished with a career-high 32 points, making six of his eight three-point attempts, including those four makes in a 42-second span. Fellow plebe Coleton Benson was Army's other double-digit scorer with 15, as the two rookies combined for 47 of the team's 67 points.
Bucknell hit four of its first five shots on the way to a quick 9-4 lead, and Bijiek's steal and fastbreak layup made it 15-6 after seven minutes of play. Bijiek later hit a 3-pointer to make it 26-15 before Benson got hot late in the half. The Army guard's 4-point play started a stretch where he scored 11 points in the final 4:41 of the half. His 3-pointer made it a 33-30 game with 52 seconds left, but the Bison ended the half with a well-executed alley-oop from Rice to Screen.
Sweet little alley-oop from Xander to Andre to close out the half! #rayBucknell
— Bucknell MBasketball (@Bucknell_MBB) February 5, 2023
Watch: https://t.co/EnS7uuWWy7@PatriotLeagueTV | @ESPN pic.twitter.com/N4Ov9yfv6r
Army's offensive rebounding hurt the Bison in the first six minutes of the second half, and a second-chance 3-pointer by Roberts put the Black Knights in front for the first time all night at 41-40. Timmerman's free throws two possessions later gave Bucknell the lead right back, and the hosts would never trail again.
Bucknell had a hot-and-cold evening from the 3-point arc, finishing 6-for-18, but back-to-back treys from Bijiek and Ian Motta provided a seven-point lead and a bit of breathing room. Army did pull within 50-49 on two Roberts free throws after the under-8 timeout, but the Bison held the Black Knights to only two more points over the next 5:34.
Four straight points from Jack Forrest restored the seven-point advantage, and after a Chris Mann layup for Army, Bucknell scored the next nine in a row. Timmerman and Screen finished layups, Bijiek made both ends of a 1-and-1, and Elvin Edmonds IV hit a right-corner three for a 65-51 lead.
Elvin with a dagger from the corner! #rayBucknell
— Bucknell MBasketball (@Bucknell_MBB) February 5, 2023
Watch: https://t.co/EnS7uuWWy7@PatriotLeagueTV | @ESPN pic.twitter.com/Qd5fIMCBo3
Army scored 10 straight late points to pull even at West Point last month in a game the Bison eventually won 68-66 on Screen's free throws with 2.1 seconds to go. Roberts seemed poised to singlehandedly repeat the feat in this one, but Bucknell made enough free throws to hold them off.
Bucknell snapped a five-game home losing streak and improved to 61-24 all-time against Army.
Next up for the Bison is a trip to Navy on Wednesday night. The Midshipmen dealt Bucknell a 63-46 loss at Sojka Pavilion on Jan. 25.
PRESS CONFERENCE:
Team Stats
ARM
Buck
FG%
.409
.471
3FG%
.421
.333
FT%
.455
.792
RB
37
29
TO
11
10
STL
3
5
Game Leaders
Pts
17
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
8
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
12
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
4
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballC
/ Men's BasketballC
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