Men's Basketball Wraps up Homestand Saturday Night vs. Rider

Saturday, November 23

Lewisburg, Pa.

7 p.m.

Bucknell University

Rider

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Photo by: Lianne Garrahan

Men's Basketball Wraps up Homestand Saturday Night vs. Rider

11/22/2024 6:21:00 PM | Men's Basketball

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- Bucknell goes in search of a third straight victory when Rider visits Sojka Pavilion on Saturday night. The game is part of a full day of excitement on campus, as the Bison women's basketball team tips off at 11 a.m. at home against Youngstown State, followed by the Bucknell-Colgate football game at 1 p.m. at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium. The Bison swimming and diving teams will also be in the midst of their three-day invitational next door at Kinney Natatorium.

After back-to-back double-overtime games last week, the Bison finally won a runaway on Thursday night, beating NJIT 81-64 at Sojka Pavilion. Bucknell led by as many as 25 points in the second half and improved to 4-2 on the season. Five Bison scored in double figures, led by Ian Motta with 15. Achile Spadone, starting in place of the injured Elvin Edmonds IV, had his best game as a Bison with 14 points, eight rebounds, five assists, and three steals.

Longtime Bucknell fans will remember Rider as a former conference rival in both the Middle Atlantic Conference and the East Coast Conference. Bucknell leads the all-time series 31-26, as the two teams met for the first time since the 2021-22 season. The Bison and Broncs split two meetings that year. Bucknell won in Sojka Pavilion, and then a week later Rider returned the favor with a come-from-behind win in Cancun.

GAME DIGEST
What: Rider (3-2) at Bucknell (4-2)
Where: Sojka Pavilion, Lewisburg, Pa.
When: Saturday, Nov. 23, 7 p.m.
Watch: ESPN+
Local Radio: WKOK 1070 AM
Internet Audio: BucknellBison.com
Live Stats: BucknellBison.com
COMPLETE GAME NOTES | BUY TICKETS

With a Win over Rider, Bucknell Would ...

... win its third straight game and improve to 5-2 on the season.
... start a season 5-2 for the first time since 2016-17.
... win three straight in the month of November for the first time since 2017-18.
... improve to 32-26 all-time against the Broncs.
... improve to 3-1 this season and 216-86 all-time at Sojka Pavilion.

Headlines

Bucknell wraps up a four-game homestand on Saturday night against Rider. The Bison have won the last two, coming from 21 points down to beat Richmond last Saturday before routing NJIT 81-54 on Thursday.
The Bison are off to a 4-2 start for the first time in two seasons, and they will be taking on a Rider team that is also off to a strong start at 3-2. The Broncs' two losses have come on the road to UCLA and Iowa, and on Saturday they will be playing game No. 6 in a seven-game road trip to open the season. Their home opener will not come until Nov. 30 against Delaware.
The schedule says Bucknell has competed in six games so far this month, but in reality it's 6.6 games when factoring in the five overtime periods the team has already played. The Bison lead all Division I teams in overtime games (3) and overtime periods (5), and just last week they played back-to-back 2OT games in a span of four days against Mount St. Mary's and Delaware. It was the first time Bucknell played consecutive 2OT games since 1978-79, when the Bison defeated Saint Joseph's and American.
Three of Bucknell's wins this season have featured dramatic second-half comebacks. The Bison trailed by as many as 12 at Delaware on opening night before ending the game on a 12-0 run to win 85-73. At Southern Indiana, Bucknell held the Screaming Eagles to one point in the last 3:58 of regulation and then led from the first possession on in overtime. Last Saturday against Richmond, the Bison trailed by as many as 21 in the first half and by 18 at the break before storming back to win 80-76 in 2OT.
Noah Williamson ranks third in the Patriot League in both scoring (18.3) and rebounding (8.2), and he leads the league in blocked shots (2.0) after swatting a career-high five against Richmond last week. Williamson scored a career-high 32 points in the win over Southern Indiana, and last Saturday he scored 22 of his 26 after halftime to lead the comeback charge against the Spiders.
Josh Bascoe (15.2) scored at least 15 points in the first five games of the season and is the league's No. 6 scorer. Bascoe ranks in the top 10 in the league in eight statistical categories, and he ranks ninth in the nation in minutes played at 36.7 per game.
Senior Ian Motta had never missed a game at Bucknell — 100 straight — before sitting out last Wednesday's game against Mount St. Mary's due to injury. Motta returned for the Richmond game and hit a big 3-pointer in the second overtime period. He then led the team with 15 points in the win over NJIT.
Ruot Bijiek has stepped up his offensive production in the last week. He matched his career high with 14 points against Mount St. Mary's and then blew past that total with 20 against Richmond. With 13 points against NJIT, he has now scored in double figures in three straight games for the first time in his career.
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).
Rider's losses to UCLA and Iowa bookended a three-game winning streak. The Broncs downed San Diego (68-67), Coppin State (64-53), and Navy (90-79) in a six-day stretch.
T.J. Weeks Jr. is the team's top scorer, averaging 13.8 ppg. Weeks is a grad transfer from UMass who entered the season with 1,146 career points. Jay Alvarez is also in double figures at 10.4 ppg, and the Broncs have also gotten good production from their bench thus far.
Kevin Baggett's squad was picked seventh in the MAAC preseason poll after going 12-8 in league play last season.

How to Get the Game

The Bucknell-Rider game will be streamed on ESPN+ with "Voice of the Bison" Doug Birdsong and former Bison assistant coach Terry Conrad calling the action.
Joe Vasile and Luke Smith will have the local radio call on WKOK 1070 AM 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

Ian Motta scored 15 points, one of five Bucknell players to reach double figures in scoring, and the Bison defeated NJIT 81-64 on Thursday night at Sojka Pavilion. Motta drained a three-pointer on Bucknell's first possession, and the Bison led the Highlanders wire-to-wire.
It was a balanced attack for the Bison, who hit 10 3-pointers and led by as many as 25 points in the second half. Achile Spadone, starting in place of the injured Elvin Edmonds IV, had his best game at the college level with 14 points, eight rebounds, five assists, and three steals. Noah Williamson also had 14 points in just 21 minutes, and Ruot Bijiek (13) and Brandon McCreesh (11) also hit double digits. Josh Bascoe tallied seven points and six assists, and as a team the Bison totaled 19 assists with only 11 turnovers.
Bucknell took control by limiting the Highlanders to a 1-for-12 shooting start, and the Bison piled up 29 points off NJIT's 14 turnovers. NJIT finished the night at 36.1% from the field and 6-for-20 from 3-point range, while the Bison shot 48.1% and hit 10 of 23 from downtown.
Other than one NJIT run in each half, it was a dominant performance by the Bison, who led by as many as 25 points at 66-41 with 10:30 remaining. The runaway victory was much needed, as Bucknell was coming off back-to-back double-overtime games and had already played a Division I-high three OT contests in the first two weeks of the season. Only Spadone was used for more than 30 minutes in this one.

Pat Behan Named Special adviser to the Head Coach

John Griffin III announced on Friday that Pat Behan '10 has been named Special Adviser to the Head Coach.
A former member of the Bison men's basketball team, Behan is currently in a battle with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. While the disease cut short a promising basketball coaching career, he still regularly watches Bucknell games and sends text messages with advice to Griffin, who was his teammate and roommate at Bucknell.
Behan's best season at Bucknell was his junior year, when he earned Second Team All-Patriot League honors and received the Benton A. Kribbs Award as the team MVP. He led the team in scoring (13.8 ppg) and rebounding (6.8 rpg) that year. He had a torrid stretch late in the season when he recorded five straight 20-point games. Behan captained the team as a senior in 2009-10. In his career, he played in 119 of a possible 123 games and totaled 925 points.
In five years as the head coach at St. John's College High School in the Washington, D.C., area Behan's teams compiled a 127-51 record and sent 26 players on to the college level. In his final season as head coach in 2022-23, he led the Cadets to a 32-4 record, the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference championship, and a No. 18 national ranking.
More information about Pat and his battle with ALS can be found at the BehanStrong website at BehanStrong.com.

Bucknell vs. Rider Series Notes

Bucknell and Rider were once league rivals in both the Middle Atlantic Conference and the East Coast Conference. The Bison lead the all-time series 31-26, including a 2-2 mark in ECC Tournament action. Rider defeated Bucknell 73-71 in the 1984 ECC Championship game. Bucknell came back to win 74-62 in the semifinals the following year, and the Bison also won 106-80 in the 1989 quarterfinals on the way to the league title.
The first meeting between the two teams came on Dec. 3, 1969 in Lawrenceville. The Broncs won that one 94-90 in overtime.
These two teams met twice just one week apart in the 2021-22 season. Bucknell won 81-74 at Sojka Pavilion behind 23 points from Xander Rice and 20 from Andre Screen. Seven days later, the Bison and Broncs met up again, this time in Cancun, Mexico. Rider used a late 11-0 run to rally for an 85-79 win at the Cancun Challenge. Rice had another big game with 24 points, while Mervin James had 23 for Rider.

Facts & Figures

Noah Williamson's three double-doubles are fifth-most among all Division I players.
Williamson's 7.7 defensive rebounds per game are 15th-most in the nation.
Williamson against Richmond became the first Bison to block five shots in a game since Nana Foulland against Loyola in 2018.
Bucknell is shooting 37.7% from 3-point range on the road but just 32.1% at home this season. The Bison did hit 10 treys in 23 attempts against NJIT, however.
Bucknell was picked fourth in this year's Patriot League preseason poll.

Patriot League Preseason Poll
1. Colgate (14)   156
2. American (4)   144
3. Boston U. (2)   120
4. Bucknell   115
5. Lehigh   103
6. Lafayette   77
7. Army   64
8. Navy   61
9. Holy Cross   40
10. Loyola   20

Preseason Player of the Year: Matt Rogers, American
Preseason Defensive Player of the Year: Caleb Kenney, Holy Cross
Preseason All-Patriot League:
Matt Rogers, American
Miles Brewster, Boston U.
Noah Williamson, Bucknell
Tyler Whitney-Sidney, Lehigh
Austin Benigni, Navy

Bucknell Announces Two Early Signees

Bucknell head men's basketball coach John Griffin III has announced the signings of highly regarded guards Pat Curtin and Jacob Meachem to the 2025 recruiting class. Curtin is a 6'3" combo guard from Ellicott City, Md., and Meachem is a 5'10" point guard from Pottstown, Pa.

Who's Got Next?

Bucknell heads back out on the road next Wednesday to face Maryland in a 4:30 p.m. contest on Thanksgiving Eve. The Terrapins are 4-1 after a 108-37 bludgeoning of Canisius on Tuesday. Maryland plays Villanova at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., on Sunday before hosting the Bison.
Following the Maryland game, Bucknell and Siena get together on Saturday, Nov. 30 at Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. Siena head coach Gerry McNamara is a Scranton native and will be returning home in his first year as the Saints' head coach. That is a 6 p.m. tip, and tickets are still available.