Men's Basketball Hosts Richmond Saturday at Noon

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- On the heels of a 2-0 start, the Bison men's basketball squad is now looking to shake a two-game losing streak when defending Atlantic 10 regular-season champion Richmond comes to Sojka Pavilion on Saturday. It's a noon tip, with coverage on ESPN+ and Eagle 107.

After losing at No. 23 Kentucky last Saturday, the Bison let one get away in the home opener on Wednesday. Bucknell led 63-49 with 10 minutes to play, but Mount St. Mary's stormed back to take a four-point lead with just over a minute to go. The Bison had to rally to force overtime on an Elvin Edmonds IV layup with eight seconds remaining, and then they overcame a six-point deficit in the final 90 seconds to extend the game to a second overtime. The Mount ultimately prevailed 93-89 to spoil Bucknell's home debut.

The Bison still have three more to go on this four-game homestand, starting Saturday against Richmond. The Spiders went 15-3 in the Atlantic 10 last season, sharing the A-10 regular-season title with Loyola Chicago. Richmond was the No. 1 seed in the A-10 Tournament in Brooklyn but got upset by Saint Joseph's in the quarterfinals. That relegated the Spiders to the NIT, and now this season Chris Mooney's squad is looking to rebuild with nine newcomers on the roster. Like Bucknell, Richmond is also looking to shed a two-game losing streak after back-to-back setbacks against Marist and Charlotte.

GAME DIGEST
What: Richmond (1-2) at Bucknell (2-2)
Where: Sojka Pavilion, Lewisburg, Pa.
When: Saturday, Nov. 15, 12 p.m.
Watch: ESPN+
Local Radio: Eagle 107
Internet Audio: BucknellBison.com
Live Stats: BucknellBison.com
COMPLETE GAME NOTES | BUY TICKETS

With a Win over Richmond, Bucknell Would ...

... snap a two-game losing streak and improve to 3-2 on the season.
... break a two-game series losing streak against the Spiders and level the all-time series at 5-5.
... improve to 214-86 at Sojka Pavilion.

Headlines

After playing two preseason scrimmages and their first three regular-season games on the road, the Bison finally returned home on Wednesday night and are now in the midst of a four-game homestand. Saturday's game against Richmond will be the team's 300th in Sojka Pavilion.
The Bison went 2-1 on the opening week road trip, starting with good wins over Delaware and Southern Indiana before falling at No. 23 Kentucky on Saturday. Bucknell hit a bump in the road on Wednesday, however, as Mount St. Mary's came from behind to beat the Bison 93-89 in double overtime in the home opener.
Bucknell's two wins at Delaware and Southern Indiana were punctuated by strong finishes, but Mount St. Mary's flipped the script on Wednesday. In the opener at Delaware, the Bison trailed by as many as 12 in the first half, they took their first lead with 3:47 remaining in the game, and then they broke a 73-all tie with a dominant 12-0 run to end the game. Last Thursday in Evansville, Bucknell held the Screaming Eagles to one point in the final 3:58 of regulation to force overtime, and then the Bison outscored USI 12-6 in the extra period. Against the Mount, however, Bucknell led 63-49 with 10 minutes left in regulation before conceding a 22-4 run.
Even after being stunned by that late Mount St. Mary's run, the Bison still came back from multi-possession deficits in the final minute of both regulation and the first overtime period to keep the game going. Elvin Edmonds IV was clutch in both scenarios. He tied the game with a layup with 0:08 remaining in regulation, and his two free throws with 0:06 left forced a second OT session.
Noah Williamson (17.5) and Josh Bascoe (17.0) rank 4-5 in the Patriot League in scoring thus far. Williamson scored a career-high 32 points against Southern Indiana, and Bascoe is coming off a 20-point game against Mount St. Mary's. Bascoe has scored at least 15 points in every game this season.
Williamson was a Third Team All-Patriot League selection after a breakout sophomore season and was one of five players named to this year's Preseason All-Patriot League Team.
Senior Ian Motta had never missed a game at Bucknell — 100 straight — before sitting out Wednesday's game due to injury.
This is year No. 2 under head coach John Griffin III, a 2008 Bucknell graduate who was a standout guard for the Bison. Bucknell went 14-19 overall and 10-8 in the Patriot League last season. The Bison were playing their best basketball at the end of the year and finished in a four-way tie for second place, although tiebreakers relegated them to the No. 5 seed in the Patriot League Tournament. An 80-57 rout of American in the PL quarterfinals was the team's fourth straight victory, and then the Bison took top-seeded Colgate to the final seconds in a 68-65 loss in the semifinals.
The Bison returned all but three members of last year's team. Josh Adoh graduated and is using his extra COVID year at Cal State San Bernardino, a reigning Division II Final Four team. Also graduated from last year's team are top scorer Jack Forrest (16.0 ppg, First Team All-Patriot League) and walk-on Alek Delev.
That continuity leaves the Bison with one of its oldest teams in several years. Of the 15 players on the roster, 10 are either seniors (4) or juniors (6).
Richmond won the Atlantic 10 regular season with a 15-3 record last season, but the Spiders were upset by Saint Joseph's 66-61 in the A-10 Tournament quarterfinals in Brooklyn. Richmond did not receive an NCAA Tournament at-large bid and then fell to Virginia Tech in the first round of the NIT.
Chris Mooney, in his 20th year as head coach at Richmond, has a new-look squad in 2024-25 with nine newcomers (six transfers, three freshmen) joining eight returnees.
Richmond is off to a 1-2 start. After an opening-night rout of Mount Olive, the Spiders have fallen to Marist and Charlotte. Their most recent outing was a 65-48 road loss to the 49ers, as Richmond was held back by 3-for-21 shooting from the 3-point arc. Delonnie Hunt, one of those eight returnees, scored 27 points in the Marist game and leads the team in scoring at 17.7 ppg. Dartmouth transfer Dusan Neskovic led the team with 14 at Charlotte and averages 11.3 ppg. Jonathan Beagle, a 6'10" center who was the America East Rookie of the Year for UAlbany last season, averages 8.3 ppg and 7.3 rpg.
There are a number of Bucknell ties in the Richmond athletic department. Most notably, director of athletics John Hardt was previously the AD at Bucknell for 18 years before moving on to Richmond. Former Bison quarterback Ryan Colton is now Richmond's deputy AD and chief of staff. Another senior associate AD, Lauren Wicklund, previously spent time as an administrator at Bucknell, where she oversaw the athletics leadership program. Head women's basketball coach Aaron Roussell and two of his assistants came to Richmond from Bucknell. Associate director of student-athlete success R.D. Montgomery is a former assistant football coach at Bucknell. Associate director of academic support/director of football academic performance Bri Kropinack was an outstanding soccer player at Bucknell. Assistant baseball coach Nate Mulberg was an assistant at Bucknell in 2016.

How to Get the Game

The Bucknell-Richmond game will be streamed on ESPN+ with Joe Vasile and former Bison assistant coach Terry Conrad calling the action.
Luke Smith will have the local radio call on Eagle 107 in the Susquehanna Valley.
The audio feed is also available online free of charge via BucknellBison.com.
Live statistics can be accessed via BucknellBison.com.
Follow @Bucknell_MBB for in-game updates on Twitter.

Last Time Out

After winning twice on the road with fast finishes last week, Bucknell saw the tables turned as Mount St. Mary's fought off a 14-point second-half deficit and went on to defeat the Bison 93-89 in double overtime on Wednesday night at Sojka Pavilion.
Josh Bascoe led six Bucknell players in double figures with 20 points, while Jedy Cordilia came off the bench to post 22 points and eight rebounds for the Mountaineers.
Pip Ajayi's put-back gave the Bison a 63-49 lead with 10:16 left in regulation, but Bucknell was held to only two more field goals over the next nine minutes as Mount St. Mary's surged ahead with a 22-4 run.
Elvin Edmonds IV drove for a layup to tie the game at 71 with eight seconds left. Bucknell never led in either of the overtime periods but did fight back from multi-possession deficits in both. Dallas Hobbs swished a 28-footer at the end of the shot clock to put the Mount up 78-72 in the first OT period, but Edmonds' free throws with 6.3 seconds left capped a 7-1 run and sent the Bison into a double overtime game for the first time since 2016.
Even though it didn't officially count, these two teams also played a double overtime game last season in Emmitsburg in a charity exhibition to benefit the Behan Strong Foundation.
All five starters scored in double-figures, and Brandon McCreesh scored 10 first-half points off the bench to give the Bison six double-figure scorers for the first time in two seasons. Edmonds finished with 16 points and nine rebounds, and Ruot Bijiek added 14 points, five rebounds, four assists, and two blocks before fouling out. Noah Williamson recorded 12 points, 10 rebounds, and three blocks, and Spadone in his first Bucknell start scored 12 points, which was his career high including his two seasons at Davidson.

Bucknell vs. Richmond Series Notes

The Bison and Spiders have met nine times on the hardwood, and Richmond holds a narrow 5-4 lead. Richmond won the first three, Bucknell took the next four, and now the Spiders have taken the last two.
The Bison are 2-4 on Richmond's home floor and 2-3 at the Robins Center. The very first meeting came on Feb. 1, 1958, an 81-63 Spiders verdict in Richmond, but that was before the Robins Center was constructed.
These two teams last met two seasons ago in Richmond, with the Spiders prevailing 81-71. Tyler Burton scored 29 points and Matt Grace had 20 for Richmond, which built a 41-25 halftime lead thanks to a 24-6 run over the final eight minutes of the half. Xander Rice paced the Bison with 19 points, while Hopewell native Elvin Edmonds IV had 13 in his return to his home area.
Bucknell's last series win came on Dec. 19, 2017 in Richmond, when the Bison came from 14 points down to win 86-78. Zach Thomas scored 20 of his 27 points in the second half for the Bison, who would go on to win the Patriot League championship that season.
One of Bucknell's most memorable wins in recent memory came at the Robins Center on Jan. 2, 2011. In a play reminiscent of the famous Christian Laettner shot that beat Kentucky in the 1992 NCAA Tournament, Mike Muscala took a 70-foot inbounds pass from Joe Willman and hit a turnaround jumper as time expired to give the Bison a 62-61 win. That Richmond team had already beaten No. 8 Purdue, Arizona State, and Seton Hall, and they would go on to finish 29-8, and advance to the NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen.

Who's Got Next?

Bucknell will play twice more at home next week. The Bison host NJIT next Thursday and Rider on Saturday, Nov. 23.
The Rider game will be part of an exciting sports quadrupleheader on campus on Nov. 23. The women's basketball team hosts Youngstown State at 11 a.m., followed by the football team's regular-season finale against Colgate at 1 p.m., followed by the men's hoops game at 7 p.m. Next door in Kinney Natatorium, the Bison swimming & diving teams will be on day two of the three-day Bucknell Invitational, with trials starting at 10 a.m. and finals at 6 p.m.

Men's Basketball Hosts Richmond Saturday at Noon

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Players Mentioned

Josh Adoh

Pip Ajayi

Josh Bascoe

Ruot Bijiek

Alek Delev

Elvin Edmonds IV

Jack Forrest

Brandon McCreesh

Ian Motta

Noah Williamson

Men's Basketball Hosts Richmond Saturday at Noon

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Josh Adoh

Pip Ajayi

Josh Bascoe

Ruot Bijiek

Alek Delev

Elvin Edmonds IV

Jack Forrest

Brandon McCreesh

Ian Motta

Noah Williamson

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