Men's Basketball Visits First-Place Lafayette Saturday Afternoon in Easton

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- Bucknell and Lafayette, two longtime rivals currently battling for positions at or near the top of the Patriot League standings, square off on Saturday afternoon at Kirby Sports Center. The 2 p.m. game can be seen on ESPN+ with production by the Lafayette Sports Network. Doug Birdsong will have the radio call from Easton on The Valley 100.9 FM and online at BucknellBison.com.

Now 3-2 in the Patriot League and tied for fourth place with Navy, Bucknell is looking to build on a 73-57 road win at Boston University on Wednesday night. The Bison are now 2-0 on the road in league play, and on Saturday they will be looking to do something they have yet to accomplish this season, follow up a victory with another one. Bucknell is 6-6 in games following a loss this year but 0-5 in the next game after a win. Both of the team's road Patriot League wins have followed similar scripts. Against both Lehigh and Boston University, the Bison stormed out to big leads (19 at Lehigh; 20 at Boston University), withstood spirited rallies by the opponent (Lehigh pulled within 3, Boston University within 6), and then pulled away again in crunch time by making critical plays and clutch free throws.

Meanwhile, Lafayette has been the surprise of the league in the early going. The Leopards have flushed a 1-12 non-conference record, albeit one that included some close losses to good competition, and started Patriot League play with five straight wins. Lafayette sits alone atop the PL standings, one game ahead of 4-1 American and Colgate, and is off to its first 5-0 start since 2003-04. Known for many years under former head coach Fran O'Hanlon as a dangerous offensive team, this Leopards squad has been outstanding defensively under Mike McGarvey, who is in his first full year at the helm after taking Lafayette to the Patriot League Tournament final as the interim head coach last March. Lafayette is allowing only 58.4 points per game against league foes while holding them to 36.7% shooting from the field and 30.4% from the 3-point arc.

Saturday's game should feature a good battle among 7-footers in the post. Noah Williamson is averaging 11.1 points and 5.9 rebounds for the Bison, and those numbers have been even better over the last week: 14.7 ppg and 9.7 rpg in the last three games. Lafayette's Justin Vander Baan produces 9.8 points and 5.1 boards per game, and he ranks seventh among all Division I players with 48 blocked shots.

GAME DIGEST
What: Bucknell (6-12, 3-2 PL) at Lafayette (6-12, 5-0 PL)
Where: Kirby Sports Center, Easton, Pa.
When: Saturday, Jan. 20, 2 p.m.
Watch: ESPN+
Local Radio: The Valley 100.9 FM
Internet Audio: BucknellBison.com
Live Stats: GoLeopards.com
COMPLETE GAME NOTES

With a Win over Lafayette, Bucknell Would ...

... win its second straight game and improve to 4-2 in the Patriot League and 7-12 overall.
... hand the Leopards their first Patriot League loss.
... win its third straight road game and improve to 5-6 away from home this season.
... improve to 3-0 on the road in the Patriot League.

Headlines

Bucknell has alternated wins and losses through the first five rounds of Patriot League action, and now the Bison will look to break that trend by posting back-to-back wins for the first time this season when they travel to first-place Lafayette on Saturday afternoon.
The Leopards are off to a dream start in Patriot League play, sitting at 5-0 after going 1-12 in the non-conference portion of the schedule. Lafayette, which is 5-0 for the first time since 2003-04, has a one-game lead over American and Colgate, with Bucknell and Navy two back.
The Bison and Leopards are both coming off road wins in the state of Massachusetts on Wednesday. Bucknell downed Boston University 73-57, while Lafayette used a tiebreaking 3-pointer from Ryan Pettit with 29 seconds remaining to beat Holy Cross 72-68.
Patriot League scoring leader Jack Forrest tallied 26 points, and Elvin Edmonds IV flirted with what would have been the first triple-double in team history with 12 points, seven rebounds, and a career-high 10 assists in the win in Boston. Bucknell stretched a 13-point halftime lead up to 20 eight minutes into the second half, then withstood a furious Terriers rally that saw them close within six. A pivotal 3-pointer from Ian Motta helped ignite a game-ending 15-5 run, and the Bison pulled away in the final minutes to win by 16.
Forrest has boosted his season scoring average to 16.6 ppg after piling up 83 points in his last four games (20.8 ppg). Forrest also leads the conference in made 3-pointers per game (2.7), and minutes per game (35.7), and he is a close second to Loyola's Deon Perry in free-throw percentage (.891).
Forrest, who played in his 100th career game on Jan. 6 against American, is firmly on 1,000-point watch. He has 987 career points, including his stints at Columbia and Saint Joseph's.
Sophomore 7-footer Noah Williamson, who is in his first season as a starter, is the team's second-leading scorer (11.1) and leading rebounder (5.9). Williamson has two double-doubles this season, including an 18-point, 12-rebound effort in the win over Lehigh. In his last three games, Williamson is averaging 14.7 points and 9.7 rebounds.
Bucknell is in the midst of 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. 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.
Bucknell will see an old friend on Saturday, as former Bison standout Cameron Ayers '14 is in his second year as a member of the Lafayette coaching staff. Ayers was the 2014 Patriot League Player of the Year and was a key member of Bucknell's 2011 and 2013 PL championship squads. He is Bucknell's No. 10 all-time scorer with 1,526 career points.
Lafayette junior TJ Berger and Bucknell sophomore Quin Berger are brothers, although an on-court sibling matchup will have to wait as both are currently out with injuries. Their older brother, Cole, also attended Lafayette and was an All-Patriot League golfer.
Lafayette's 5-0 start in the Patriot League has been keyed by its defense. The Leopards are conceding only 58.4 ppg in its five PL games, the best mark in the league. They also lead the PL in field-goal percentage defense (.367) and 3-point percentage defense (.304).
The Leopards feature one of the Patriot League's top big men in 7-footer Justin Vander Baan. The junior leads the team in scoring (9.8 ppg) and rebounding (5.1 rpg), and his 48 blocked shots are seventh-most in the nation and 18 more than any other Patriot League player.
Lafayette finished 7-11 in the Patriot League last season but then reached the tournament final after upsetting Lehigh and Navy.

How to Get the Game

The Bucknell-Lafayette game will be streamed live on ESPN+, with Gary Laubach and former Lafayette coach John Leone calling the action from Kirby Sports Center.
"Voice of the Bison" Doug Birdsong will have the local radio call on The Valley 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 GoLeopards.com.
Follow @Bucknell_MBB for in-game updates on Twitter.

Notable Numbers

Bucknell has been strong from the free-throw line of late after a slow start to the season. The Bison are 157-191 (.822) from the stripe over the last 10 games.
Bucknell's season FT% is up to 76.6%, which leads the Patriot League and ranks 25th nationally.
In the last five minutes of games, Bucknell is shooting 81.4% from the foul line, led by a 48-for-48 effort from the trio of Jack Forrest, Ruot Bijiek, and Elvin Edmonds IV.
Bucknell went 15-for-15 from the foul line against Radford on Dec. 16 and 13-for-13 from the stripe at Boston University on Wednesday. The Bison are one of only three Division I teams to have two perfect free-throw shooting games with at least 10 attempts, joining Wisconsin (14-14 vs. Michigan State; 12-12 vs. Providence) and Stetson (12-12 vs. Johnson; 11-11 vs. Charlotte).
The Bison are one of only nine Division I teams to have had at least two different players record 10 or more assists in a game this season. Josh Bascoe handed out 10 assists in Bucknell's win over Penn State, and Edmonds tallied 10 helpers in the win over Boston University. Michigan State has had three different players record 10 assists, and others with two players include Iowa, Kansas, UNC Asheville, Virginia Tech, Washington, North Carolina, and TCU.
In Patriot League play, Bucknell ranks third in scoring (73.0), second in 3-point percentage (.376), and first in free-throw percentage (.813).
Forrest and Bascoe against Lehigh became the first Bison tandem to both score at least 23 points in a game since Nate Sestina (25) and Kimbal Mackenzie (23) did it against the Mountain Hawks in a 97-75 win in the 2019 Patriot League Tournament semifinals.
Bascoe in the win over Penn State had 11 points, 10 assists, five rebounds, and three steals. The only other Bison besides Bascoe in the last 20 years to have a game with at least 10 points, 10 assists, five rebounds, and three steals was Steven Kaspar, who went 12-10-7-3 against Navy on Jan. 15, 2014.
Edmonds' line of 12 points, 10 assists, and seven rebounds at Boston University was also the first such game since Kaspar's 2014 performance at Navy.

Last Time Out

Jack Forrest scored 26 points and Elvin Edmonds IV just missed a triple-double with 12 points, seven rebounds, and a career-high 10 assists to lead Bucknell to a 73-57 road win over Boston University on Wednesday night at Case Gym.
Noah Williamson added 13 points and eight rebounds, Ruot Bijiek had 12 points, and Ian Motta tallied eight more off the bench, including a dagger 3-pointer with 3:37 to go.
It was just a six-point margin at 58-52 after a Miles Brewster layup, but the Bison outscored the Terriers 15-5 the rest of the way. Edmonds made both ends of a 1-and-1, and then after Anthony Morales finally missed from deep after hitting four to spark their comeback attempt, Forrest fed Motta for a left-wing 3-pointer to shove the lead back to 11 at 63-52.
Edmonds' night was even more critical as backcourt mate Josh Bascoe was limited to only 4:31 of action before leaving the game with an injury. Edmonds picked up his third foul late in the first half and his fourth with 5:19 still to play, but he managed to avoid disqualification and record his first career double-double in 38 minutes of action.
Bucknell shot 52.0% in the second half and 46.4% overall.
After conceding a handful of offensive rebounds early in the game, the Bison rallied to win the glass battle 41-30.

Bucknell vs. Lafayette Series Notes

Bucknell and Lafayette have met 177 times previously, making the Leopards Bucknell's second most-played opponent (the Bison have played Lehigh 185 times). Since the series began in 1915, Lafayette leads 94-83.
Since the start of Patriot League play in 1990-91, however, Bucknell has won 54 of 76 meetings.
Lafayette won 33 of the first 37 meetings and led the series 60-14 at one point.
Bucknell had been 15-0 all-time against Lafayette in Sojka Pavilion until the Leopards posted their first win there in 2013-14. The Bison are now 22-4 against Lafayette in Sojka Pavilion and 30-7 against the Leopards in Lewisburg going back to the Patriot League's first season.
The Bison and Leopards have met in a conference championship game four times, with Bucknell winning three of those. The Bison defeated Lafayette 71-65 in the 1989 East Coast Conference final in Towson, Md., and they also won Patriot League championship games in Sojka Pavilion in 2011 (72-57) and 2013 (64-56). Lafayette claimed the 1999 Patriot League title with a 67-63 win over the Bison in Easton.
Bucknell and Lafayette recently had a remarkable stretch of four straight meetings that were decided in overtime. Each team won two of those OT clashes, including a Bison win in the 2022 Patriot League Tournament. The overtime streak ended late last season, when Bucknell won in regulation, 75-65 at Sojka Pavilion.
Last season in Easton, Lafayette won 74-67 in overtime. The Bison led 60-49 after an Alex Timmerman layup with 11:29 to play, but then they went 1-for-18 from the field the rest of the way, including overtime. Xander Rice finished with 19 points and Timmerman had 16 and nine rebounds for the Bison, while Leo O'Boyle tallied 24 and Josh Rivera 18 for the Leopards.
In the rematch in Lewisburg, Bucknell celebrated its Senior Day with a 75-65 win. Timmerman, Andre Screen, and Jack Forrest all scored 16 points for the Bison, while Justin Vander Baan had 21 and 10 rebounds for the Leopards.

Who's Got Next?

The Bison return home on Wednesday to face Navy for the first time this season. The 7 p.m. game will be streamed live on ESPN+.
Navy and Bucknell enter the weekend with 3-2 Patriot League records. The Midshipmen, who host arch-rival Army on Saturday before heading to Lewisburg, have won nine straight in the series.

Men's Basketball Visits First-Place Lafayette Saturday Afternoon in Easton

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Josh Bascoe

Quin Berger

Ruot Bijiek

Elvin Edmonds IV

Jack Forrest

Ian Motta

Xander Rice

Andre Screen

Alex Timmerman

Noah Williamson

Men's Basketball Visits First-Place Lafayette Saturday Afternoon in Easton

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Josh Bascoe

Quin Berger

Ruot Bijiek

Elvin Edmonds IV

Jack Forrest

Ian Motta

Xander Rice

Andre Screen

Alex Timmerman

Noah Williamson

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