Men's Hoops Set for First Trip to Radford to Close Out First Semester

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- The Bison men's basketball squad looks to head into the final exams break on a positive note when it treks to the western side of Virginia to face Radford on Sunday afternoon. Bucknell has played an extremely difficult non-conference schedule, and things don't get any easier on Sunday with an 8-2 Radford team lurking at the Dedmon Center.

Bucknell started the season 4-2, highlighted by impressive come-from-behind wins over Delaware and Richmond, but some key injuries and an offensive slump have led to four straight losses. Senior guard Elvin Edmonds IV recently returned after a three-game injury absence, but the Bison suffered another blow when senior wing Ian Motta went down with a knee injury early in the Maryland game, and it was learned this week that Motta will be lost for the remainder of the season. Junior Achile Spadone has filled in well in his first season at Bucknell after transferring from Davidson. Spadone is averaging 9.8 points per game in his six starts.

Radford, meanwhile, brings a four-game winning streak into Sunday's contest. The Highlanders' only losses have come on the road to ACC foes Pittsburgh and Clemson. Most recently, Radford erased a 16-point deficit with 15 minutes to play and stole a 70-67 road win at North Carolina Central on Thursday.

Both teams have even more challenging non-league games still to come. After the 13-day layoff for finals, Bucknell visits No. 7/8 Gonzaga and Syracuse before starting Patriot League play. Radford will journey into the Mountain time zone to take on Utah and Colorado State, and the Highlanders also have a date with South Carolina to close out the calendar year.

GAME DIGEST
What: Bucknell (4-6) at Radford (8-2)
Where: Carilion Clinic Court at the Dedmon Center, Radford, Va.
When: Sunday, Dec. 8, 2 p.m.
Watch: ESPN+
Local Radio: Eagle 107
Internet Audio: BucknellBison.com
Live Stats: RadfordHighlanders.com
COMPLETE GAME NOTES

With a Win over Radford, Bucknell Would ...

... snap a four-game losing streak and head into the final exams break with a 5-6 record.
... improve to 3-2 on the road this season.
... avenge last year's loss to the Highlanders and even the all-time series at 1-1.

Headlines

The Bison make their first-ever trip to the Dedmon Center on Sunday afternoon in the final game before a lengthy break for final exams. Bucknell and Radford met for the first time last season at Sojka Pavilion, with the Highlanders winning 70-63.
One game after facing an 8-1 St. Bonaventure team, Bucknell now takes on a Radford squad that is off to a terrific 8-2 start. The Bison have certainly taken on a challenging non-conference schedule. The 10 opponents that they have played so far are a combined 50-34 (.595), and the three remaining opponents are 19-6 for an overall combined mark of 69-40 (.633). Rider (4-5) and NJIT (1-9) are the only two out of the 13 non-conference foes that currently have losing records.
Sunday's game features a unique matchup in which both head coaches have their brothers on staff. Bucknell assistant coach Matt Griffin is the younger brother of head coach John Griffin III, and Radford assistant Shane Nichols is the older brother of head coach Darris Nichols. Darris Nichols succeeded Mike Jones — father of former Bucknell guard Nate Jones — after Mike Jones departed to become the head coach at UNC Greensboro.
Bucknell started the season 4-2 but have dropped four straight to Rider, Maryland, Siena, and St. Bonaventure. The Bison have suddenly slumped offensively. After averaging 80.3 points per game in their first six, over the last four outings they have averaged 56.3 ppg while shooting 40.2% from the field, 24.5% from 3-point range, and 55.3% from the foul line.
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. At home 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 was a preseason All-Patriot League selection and is averaging 13.8 points, 6.7 rebounds, and a league-high 1.6 blocks per game. Williamson scored a career-high 32 points in the win over Southern Indiana, and he scored 22 of his 26 after halftime to lead the comeback charge against Richmond.
Ruot Bijiek has upped his offensive production this season and comes in averaging 10.3 ppg. That includes a 12.1 ppg mark over his last seven games. Entering the season, the junior forward had never scored more than 14 points in a game, but in the last three weeks he has posted a pair of 20-point games against Richmond and Maryland.
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.
Radford is 8-2, its best start since 1990-91, with the only two losses coming to ACC foes Pitt and Clemson. The Highlanders have won four straight since that Nov. 21 loss at Clemson. They defeated Chicago State and Fort Wayne to capture the Ocean Bracket championship at the Sunshine Slam in Daytona Beach — Bucknell earned the same title two seasons ago — and then they have started the month of December with road wins over Saint Francis and North Carolina Central.
Like Bucknell, Radford has had some impressive comebacks this season. The Highlanders overcame a 22-point deficit in a win over Evansville, and they trailed by 16 with 15 minutes left on Thursday at NC Central and won 70-67.
Radford averages better than 75 points per game and ranks 31st nationally in bench scoring at 32.7 ppg. The Highlanders shoot 35.3% from the 3-point arc and 43.5% overall, and when they do miss they are adept at getting it back. Radford has a +7.4 rebounding margin on the season, thanks to 13.5 offensive boards per game. Josiah Harris pulled down a whopping 11 offensive rebounds (16 total) in the last game against NC Central, and he averages 8.1 rpg on the season.
Jarvis Moss leads the team in scoring at 15.6 ppg. No other Highlander scores in double figures, but nine others score at least 4.0 ppg. Moss, like Bucknell's Achile Spadone, is a Davidson transfer who played sparingly last season. He had a three-game stretch earlier this season when he scored 24-23-30 in wins over William & Mary, Old Dominion, and Evansville.

How to Get the Game

The Bucknell-Radford game will be streamed on ESPN+.
"Voice of the Bison" Doug Birdsong will have the local radio call on Eagle 107.
The audio feed is also available online free of charge via BucknellBison.com.
Live statistics can be accessed via RadfordHighlanders.com.
Follow @Bucknell_MBB for in-game updates on Twitter.

Pat Behan Named Special Adviser to the Head Coach

John Griffin III announced on Nov. 22 that Pat Behan '10 has been named Special Adviser to the Head Coach.
A native of Leesburg, Va., and 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.

Last Time Out

Chance Moore scored a game-high 17 points and grabbed six rebounds to lead St. Bonaventure to a 64-47 victory over Bucknell on Wednesday evening at Sojka Pavilion.
The Bison were led by nine points from Achile Spadone, but they struggled offensively for most of the night, making just 4 of 20 3-pointers and 7 of 19 from the free-throw line. The Bonnies, now 8-1 and projected to be one of the top teams in the Atlantic 10, opened a 38-16 halftime advantage and never looked back. They stretched their lead to as many as 32 midway through the second half, but the Bucknell fought to the end. The Bison outscored the Bonnies 23-8 over the game's final 10 minutes and got as close as 15.
Pip Ajayi continued his strong play off the bench with seven points and a game-high nine rebounds. Josh Bascoe tallied seven points, six rebounds, and six assists.
Bucknell finished at 38.3% from the field and was also held back by 18 turnovers. St. Bonaventure shot 44.6% overall, 7-for-22 from the arc, and 7-for-11 from the foul line. The Bonnies led 36-31 on the glass.

Bucknell vs. Radford Series Notes

These two teams met for the first time last season at Sojka Pavilion, and Radford prevailed 70-63 despite 19 points from Bucknell's Jack Forrest. The veteran Highlanders scored seven straight points around the four-minute mark of the second half to break open a 55-55 tie and then iced the game at the free-throw line on a day when the two teams combined to go 26-for-26 from the stripe.
Aside from the one game against Radford, Bucknell has only played one other team that currently resides in the Big South Conference. Bucknell is 2-0 against Presbyterian, including a 66-65 win over the Blue Hose in 2022-23 at the Sunshine Slam in Daytona Beach, Fla.

Facts & Figures

Noah Williamson against Richmond became the first Bison to block five shots in a game since Nana Foulland against Loyola in 2018.
Williamson's 71 free-throw attempts are seventh-most in the nation.
Williamson has certainly been a catalyst for the Bison thus fall. In the team's four wins, he is averaging 22.8 points and 8.5 rebounds while shooting 63.6% from the field. In the six losses, he is averaging 7.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, and shooting 33.3%.
Bucknell is shooting 37.6% from 3-point range on the road but just 28.7% at home this season.

Who's Got Next?

Bucknell will now have 13 days to focus on final exams and prepare for a trip to No. 7/8 Gonzaga on Dec. 21. The Bison and Zags will be meeting for the first time, and this will be Bucknell's first-ever game in the state of Washington.

Men's Hoops Set for First Trip to Radford to Close Out First Semester

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Pip Ajayi

Josh Bascoe

Ruot Bijiek

Elvin Edmonds IV

Jack Forrest

Ian Motta

Achile Spadone

Noah Williamson

Men's Hoops Set for First Trip to Radford to Close Out First Semester

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Pip Ajayi

Josh Bascoe

Ruot Bijiek

Elvin Edmonds IV

Jack Forrest

Ian Motta

Achile Spadone

Noah Williamson

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