Saturday, January 27
West Point, N.Y.
1 p.m.
Bucknell University
8-13,5-3Patriot
66
at
56
Army
6-15,2-6Patriot
1
2
F
Bucknell
38
28
66
Army West Point
26
30
56
Photo by: Mady Salvani
Men’s Basketball Wins Second Straight, 66-56 at Army West Point
1/27/2024 3:18:00 PM | Men's Basketball
WEST POINT, N.Y. – Ian Motta scored a season-high 17 points off the bench to spark the Bucknell men's basketball team to a 66-56 win over Army West Point on Saturday afternoon at Christl Arena. Jack Forrest added 14 points, Ruot Bijiek added 11, and Elvin Edmonds IV handed out 10 assists to help the Bison win a second straight game and improve to 5-3 in the Patriot League.
Now 3-1 on the road in league play, Bucknell swept service academies Navy and Army this week, and with Navy's loss to Loyola on Saturday the Bison moved ahead of the Midshipmen in the Patriot League standings.
Abe Johnson and Ryan Curry tallied 14 points each, and Johnson added 10 rebounds for the Black Knights, who dropped to 2-6 in league play.
Bucknell followed a similar script from its previous three games, when it led for more than 94 percent of the time in wins over Boston University and Navy along with an overtime loss at Lafayette. This time around the Bison were once again the aggressors right from the jump. Even though they missed some close-range buckets in the early going, the Bison built a 16-point first-half lead, withstood an Army run in each half, and ultimately led for 36:40 of the 40 minutes.
"It's not easy to play the two service academies back-to-back, because they bring a similar competitive culture that you have to be ready to match," said head coach John Griffin III. "I liked our aggressiveness early in the game, even though we missed some layups that we have to make. It was a great showing by Ian Motta, who has been practicing extremely hard and has given us a real spark since he started coming off the bench. Our group believes in one another, and the results are starting to show."
Bucknell led 38-26 at halftime and extended the margin back to 16 at 44-28 on Noah Williamson's layup. The Bison managed only one more field goal over the next six minutes, however, and three straight Johnson buckets keyed a 14-3 run that drew Army within 47-42.
Williamson's interior feed to Bijiek for a jam, ended the drought, and then after the under-12 media timeout Edmonds and Motta canned back-to-back 3-pointers to put the Bison back in control at 55-42 with 8:44 to go.
Pip Ajayi soared over an Army player for an acrobatic tip-in, Williamson powered to the rim for two, and Forrest finished a tough one-handed reverse while drawing a foul, with each of those buckets answering an Army score. Another Williamson-to-Forrest layup iced it with 57 seconds left.
Bucknell outrebounded Army 39-35, including 12 offensive boards that led to 17 second-chance points, and held a 32-22 edge in points in the paint. The Bison shot 41.7 percent from the field and went 9-for-23 from the arc. Army finished at 33.3 percent overall and 8-for-30 from deep.
A big key for the Bison was limiting Army's top scorer Josh Scovens to two points, although he did have five assists and five rebounds.
Edmonds recorded his second double-figure assist game of the month, as he also dished out 10 in a win at Boston University. He had eight assists in the first half alone and ended up setting up 10 of the team's 25 field goals. Bucknell had 18 assists with only nine turnovers on the day, with the center Williamson adding a career-high five helpers.
The first half featured big runs by both sides. Down 9-6 early, the Bison ran off 12 straight points highlighted by a breakaway dunk from Motta and threes from Forrest and Williamson. Army then scored nine straight to pull even at 18-18, but then Motta's triple ignited a 15-1 Bucknell run.
Bijiek's 3-pointer gave the Bison a 33-19 lead, and Forrest canned a trey in the final minute to give them their largest lead of the half at 38-22. TJ Small's two free throws with a tenth of a second left in the half pulled Army within 38-26.
Bucknell returns home on Wednesday to face Loyola at 7 p.m. The Greyhounds won 74-70 at Navy on Saturday to improve to 2-6 in the Patriot League.
Now 3-1 on the road in league play, Bucknell swept service academies Navy and Army this week, and with Navy's loss to Loyola on Saturday the Bison moved ahead of the Midshipmen in the Patriot League standings.
Abe Johnson and Ryan Curry tallied 14 points each, and Johnson added 10 rebounds for the Black Knights, who dropped to 2-6 in league play.
Bucknell followed a similar script from its previous three games, when it led for more than 94 percent of the time in wins over Boston University and Navy along with an overtime loss at Lafayette. This time around the Bison were once again the aggressors right from the jump. Even though they missed some close-range buckets in the early going, the Bison built a 16-point first-half lead, withstood an Army run in each half, and ultimately led for 36:40 of the 40 minutes.
"It's not easy to play the two service academies back-to-back, because they bring a similar competitive culture that you have to be ready to match," said head coach John Griffin III. "I liked our aggressiveness early in the game, even though we missed some layups that we have to make. It was a great showing by Ian Motta, who has been practicing extremely hard and has given us a real spark since he started coming off the bench. Our group believes in one another, and the results are starting to show."
Bucknell led 38-26 at halftime and extended the margin back to 16 at 44-28 on Noah Williamson's layup. The Bison managed only one more field goal over the next six minutes, however, and three straight Johnson buckets keyed a 14-3 run that drew Army within 47-42.
Williamson's interior feed to Bijiek for a jam, ended the drought, and then after the under-12 media timeout Edmonds and Motta canned back-to-back 3-pointers to put the Bison back in control at 55-42 with 8:44 to go.
Pip Ajayi soared over an Army player for an acrobatic tip-in, Williamson powered to the rim for two, and Forrest finished a tough one-handed reverse while drawing a foul, with each of those buckets answering an Army score. Another Williamson-to-Forrest layup iced it with 57 seconds left.
Pip crashes the glass to put the Bison back up by 12! #rayBucknell
— Bucknell MBasketball (@Bucknell_MBB) January 27, 2024
Watch: https://t.co/LlxmsnXPYU@PatriotLeagueTV | @ESPN pic.twitter.com/3VD4NApzWg
Jack Forrest did what??? How about a one-handed catch and flip for the and-1. #rayBucknell #PLTop3
— Bucknell MBasketball (@Bucknell_MBB) January 27, 2024
Watch: https://t.co/LlxmsnXPYU@PatriotLeagueTV | @ESPN pic.twitter.com/wNAz6jDMCm
Bucknell outrebounded Army 39-35, including 12 offensive boards that led to 17 second-chance points, and held a 32-22 edge in points in the paint. The Bison shot 41.7 percent from the field and went 9-for-23 from the arc. Army finished at 33.3 percent overall and 8-for-30 from deep.
A big key for the Bison was limiting Army's top scorer Josh Scovens to two points, although he did have five assists and five rebounds.
Edmonds recorded his second double-figure assist game of the month, as he also dished out 10 in a win at Boston University. He had eight assists in the first half alone and ended up setting up 10 of the team's 25 field goals. Bucknell had 18 assists with only nine turnovers on the day, with the center Williamson adding a career-high five helpers.
The first half featured big runs by both sides. Down 9-6 early, the Bison ran off 12 straight points highlighted by a breakaway dunk from Motta and threes from Forrest and Williamson. Army then scored nine straight to pull even at 18-18, but then Motta's triple ignited a 15-1 Bucknell run.
Bijiek's 3-pointer gave the Bison a 33-19 lead, and Forrest canned a trey in the final minute to give them their largest lead of the half at 38-22. TJ Small's two free throws with a tenth of a second left in the half pulled Army within 38-26.
Bucknell returns home on Wednesday to face Loyola at 7 p.m. The Greyhounds won 74-70 at Navy on Saturday to improve to 2-6 in the Patriot League.
Team Stats
Buck
ARM
FG%
.417
.333
3FG%
.391
.267
FT%
.583
.714
RB
39
35
TO
9
9
STL
4
2
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
14
FGM
6
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
11
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
3
Pts
9
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
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