Thursday, November 7
Evansville, Ind.
8 p.m. (ET)
Bucknell University
2-0,0-0Patriot
75
at
69
Southern Indiana
0-2,0-0OVC
1
2
OT 1
F
Bucknell
30
33
12
75
Southern Ind.
27
36
6
69
Photo by: Jon Lambert
Bison Rally Again for 75-69 OT Win at Southern Indiana
11/7/2024 10:55:00 PM | Men's Basketball
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Noah Williamson scored a career-high 32 points, including 11 straight Bucknell points late in regulation and overtime, to lift the Bison to a 75-69 win over Southern Indiana on Thursday night at Liberty Arena. One game after closing on a 12-0 run in an 85-73 win at Delaware, Bucknell once again took over the game late, holding the Screaming Eagles to one point in the last 3:58 of regulation and then leading from the first possession on in overtime.
Williamson was dominant all night, finishing 9-for-16 from the field and 14-for-18 from the foul line. He also grabbed nine rebounds and blocked two shots. Josh Bascoe joined him in double figures with 15 points, punctuated by a tough layup that gave the Bison a six-point lead with 44 seconds left in overtime.
The Bison have now started a season with two straight road wins for the first time since beating Rider and Syracuse in 2005-06.
The Bison trailed 62-57 with just inside four minutes to play, and even though they kept getting stops, they struggled to score down the stretch. Bucknell missed four shots on one possession before Bascoe hit a layup. A USI free throw made it a four-point game with 1:45 left, but again the Bison were stymied by an offensive foul and a missed layup.
Williamson rejected a shot at the end of the shot clock, and then the 7'0" center powered his way to the rim for a 3-point play with 36 seconds left. Jack Mielke missed a 3-pointer, and the Bison had the ball back down one inside 10 seconds to play. Elvin Edmonds IV couldn't get a tough drive to go, but Achile Spadone forced a tie-up on the rebound with three seconds left. Williamson drew a foul on the inbound and split two free throws with 1.1 seconds left to force overtime.
Williamson's driving layup on the first possession of the extra period gave the Bison the lead for good, as they held USI to 2-for-8 shooting in overtime. Williamson's layup off a lob pass from Edmonds made it 70-66, and then Bascoe drove hard down the lane for a layup and a 72-66 lead with 44 seconds to go. Edmonds made 3 of 4 at the foul line to seal it.
The Bison won despite being held to 40.4 percent shooting and committing 16 turnovers. They made up for it by outscoring Southern Indiana 25-11 at the foul line and parlaying a 43-32 rebounding edge into a 15-6 lead in second-chance points.
Jayland Randall led Southern Indiana with 17 points, while Damoni Harrison added 15 and Sam Kodi and Stephen Olowoniyi 12 each.
Bucknell extended a three-point halftime lead to eight after Bascoe opened the second half with five straight free throws. But the Bison's turnover issues resurfaced, and USI took advantage with three transition buckets in a 12-2 run. Randall's 3-pointer gave the Screaming Eagles the lead back at 39-37, prompting a quick timeout.
Ruot Bijiek hit a couple of threes to put the Bison back in front by four, but Southern Indiana used a 7-0 run to flip a one-point deficit into a six-point lead. The Screaming Eagles' advantage was still five at 62-57 with 3:58 to go, but the Bison held them to one point over the remainder of regulation to force overtime.
The Bison got out to a slow start, as three early turnovers led to an 8-2 lead for Southern Indiana. Down 16-11 after a Josiah Dunham 3-pointer, Bucknell held the Screaming Eagles to two field goals over the next 10 minutes on the way to a 15-6 run.
Bijiek's put-back gave the Bison their first lead of the night at 17-16. An Edmonds 3-pointer followed by a sweet reverse alley-oop from Spadone to Pip Ajayi put the Bison in front 26-22, and they took a 30-27 lead into the locker room.
Bucknell's season-opening road trip continues on Saturday with a trip to Rupp Arena to face No. 23 Kentucky. Tip-off is 4 p.m. on SEC Network Plus.
Williamson was dominant all night, finishing 9-for-16 from the field and 14-for-18 from the foul line. He also grabbed nine rebounds and blocked two shots. Josh Bascoe joined him in double figures with 15 points, punctuated by a tough layup that gave the Bison a six-point lead with 44 seconds left in overtime.
The Bison have now started a season with two straight road wins for the first time since beating Rider and Syracuse in 2005-06.
Williamson surpassed his previous career high of 28 points against Loyola last season, and he became the first Bucknell player to hit 30 since Andrew Funk had 34 against Loyola in 2021-22. The Bison needed every one of them against an athletic Southern Indiana squad that had just taken DePaul to overtime before falling 80-78 on Monday.Coach Griffin says it was a #BehanStrong effort tonight in Evansville. #rayBucknell #Team130 pic.twitter.com/VhI81J52Cz
— Bucknell MBasketball (@Bucknell_MBB) November 8, 2024
The Bison trailed 62-57 with just inside four minutes to play, and even though they kept getting stops, they struggled to score down the stretch. Bucknell missed four shots on one possession before Bascoe hit a layup. A USI free throw made it a four-point game with 1:45 left, but again the Bison were stymied by an offensive foul and a missed layup.
Williamson rejected a shot at the end of the shot clock, and then the 7'0" center powered his way to the rim for a 3-point play with 36 seconds left. Jack Mielke missed a 3-pointer, and the Bison had the ball back down one inside 10 seconds to play. Elvin Edmonds IV couldn't get a tough drive to go, but Achile Spadone forced a tie-up on the rebound with three seconds left. Williamson drew a foul on the inbound and split two free throws with 1.1 seconds left to force overtime.
Williamson's driving layup on the first possession of the extra period gave the Bison the lead for good, as they held USI to 2-for-8 shooting in overtime. Williamson's layup off a lob pass from Edmonds made it 70-66, and then Bascoe drove hard down the lane for a layup and a 72-66 lead with 44 seconds to go. Edmonds made 3 of 4 at the foul line to seal it.
The Bison won despite being held to 40.4 percent shooting and committing 16 turnovers. They made up for it by outscoring Southern Indiana 25-11 at the foul line and parlaying a 43-32 rebounding edge into a 15-6 lead in second-chance points.
Jayland Randall led Southern Indiana with 17 points, while Damoni Harrison added 15 and Sam Kodi and Stephen Olowoniyi 12 each.
Bucknell extended a three-point halftime lead to eight after Bascoe opened the second half with five straight free throws. But the Bison's turnover issues resurfaced, and USI took advantage with three transition buckets in a 12-2 run. Randall's 3-pointer gave the Screaming Eagles the lead back at 39-37, prompting a quick timeout.
Ruot Bijiek hit a couple of threes to put the Bison back in front by four, but Southern Indiana used a 7-0 run to flip a one-point deficit into a six-point lead. The Screaming Eagles' advantage was still five at 62-57 with 3:58 to go, but the Bison held them to one point over the remainder of regulation to force overtime.
The Bison got out to a slow start, as three early turnovers led to an 8-2 lead for Southern Indiana. Down 16-11 after a Josiah Dunham 3-pointer, Bucknell held the Screaming Eagles to two field goals over the next 10 minutes on the way to a 15-6 run.
Bijiek's put-back gave the Bison their first lead of the night at 17-16. An Edmonds 3-pointer followed by a sweet reverse alley-oop from Spadone to Pip Ajayi put the Bison in front 26-22, and they took a 30-27 lead into the locker room.
Early play of the year candidate?!? Pip Ajayi goes full Saquon Barkley with the reverse leap for the alley-oop jam off the lob from Achile Spadone. #rayBucknell #Team130 #PLTop3
— Bucknell MBasketball (@Bucknell_MBB) November 8, 2024
Watch: https://t.co/tgfEk6ocnU@PatriotLeagueHQ | @ESPN pic.twitter.com/eBMJuWnsEj
Bucknell's season-opening road trip continues on Saturday with a trip to Rupp Arena to face No. 23 Kentucky. Tip-off is 4 p.m. on SEC Network Plus.
Team Stats
Buck
USI
FG%
.404
.417
3FG%
.235
.348
FT%
.735
.611
RB
43
32
TO
16
12
STL
6
12
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
32
FGM
9
3FGM
0
FTM
14
Pts
15
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
7
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
6
FGM
1
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Players Mentioned
G
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