Men's Basketball Visits Loyola Wednesday in Final Road Game of Regular Season

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- We're down to just two games remaining in the regular season, and Bucknell travels to Baltimore on Wednesday for its final scheduled road tilt. The Bison and Loyola Maryland square off at Reitz Arena at 7 p.m., with streaming coverage on ESPN+ and the local radio broadcast on The Valley 100.9 FM.

After losing four straight, Bucknell turned to its defense to spark a suffocating 54-41 win over Army West Point on Sunday. The Bison simply want to be playing well heading into the postseason, but there are plenty of seeding implications at stake over the coming week. Currently tied for fifth place with Boston University at 8-8, the first goal is to clinch a top-six seed and a bye into the quarterfinal round. The Bison can do just that with one more victory, or with one more loss from Holy Cross. Bucknell is also just one game behind 9-7 Lehigh and American for the 3/4 spots, however tiebreakers are generally not favorable for the Bison against the teams above them in the standings.

The Bison on Wednesday will be facing a Loyola team that sits in 10th place at 4-12 in the Patriot League. The Greyhounds need two wins and some help to avoid going on the road for a first-round game next Tuesday.

Bucknell is going for the season sweep after beating Loyola 67-52 at Sojka Pavilion on Jan. 31. Noah Williamson scored a career-high 28 points for the Bison, while Deon Perry tallied 22 for the Greyhounds. Perry has scored at least 20 points in all three of his career games against Bucknell.

GAME DIGEST
What: Bucknell (11-18, 8-8 PL) at Loyola (6-23, 4-12 PL)
Where: Reitz Arena, Baltimore, Md.
When: Wednesday, Feb. 28, 7 p.m.
Watch: ESPN+
Local Radio: The Valley 100.9 FM
Internet Audio: BucknellBison.com
Live Stats: LoyolaGreyhounds.com
COMPLETE GAME NOTES

With a Win over Loyola, Bucknell Would ...

... win its second straight game and improve to 12-18 overall and 9-8 in the Patriot League.
... clinch a top-six seed and a bye into the quarterfinal round of the Patriot League Tournament.
... sweep the season series from the Greyhounds and improve to 22-7 all-time against them.
... snap a three-game losing streak at Reitz Arena.
... pick up win No. 1,500 in team history.

Headlines

We're down to the final week of the 2023-24 regular season, and there is still plenty to be determined when it comes to postseason seeding. The Bison wrap up with a visit to Loyola on Wednesday and a Senior Night home game with Lafayette on Saturday. At 8-8 in the Patriot League, the Bison are tied for fifth place with Boston University, one game behind American and Lehigh for third. Bucknell is two games clear of seventh place. The 7-10 seeds play first-round games next Tuesday, and the Bison can get a bye through to the quarterfinals with at least one more win or with one more loss by Holy Cross.
Loyola at 4-12 is assured of playing in the first round next Tuesday.
Bucknell snapped a four-game losing streak and hit several defensive milestones in Sunday's 54-41 win over Army West Point. The 41 points allowed was Bucknell's best since a 75-41 win over Holy Cross in 2011-12, and the Bison kept an opponent under 50 points for the first time since a 65-43 win over Monmouth in 2018-19. Army had only 33 points with two minutes to go, as Bucknell nearly posted a sub-40 defensive effort for the first time since a 66-38 win over Binghamton in 2010-11.
The Bison welcomed guard Josh Bascoe back into the lineup two games ago against Holy Cross after he had missed nine games due to a lower leg injury. Bascoe was a difference-maker off the bench, recording a team-high 11 points with three assists. He hit 3 of 5 from 3-point range on a day when both teams struggled to get shots to drop.
Jack Forrest has led the Patriot League in scoring for much of the season, although he has dipped to third behind Loyola's Deon Perry and Navy's Austin Benigni. Forrest averages 16.2 ppg, and he is vying to become Bucknell's first Patriot League scoring champion since Zach Thomas in 2017-18. Forrest played through an illness in Sunday's win over Army and was limited to four points in 25 minutes. It was only the second time all season and the first time in Patriot League play where he did not reach double figures.
Forrest has carried a heavy minutes load this season. He ranks 20th nationally in minutes per game (36.2), and twice in the last six games he has played all 40 minutes. Prior to Forrest, the last Bison to play all 40 minutes in a regulation-time game was Bryan Cohen against Delaware in 2009. Teammate Elvin Edmonds IV ranks second in the Patriot League in workload at 34.2 mpg.
Center Noah Williamson will be looking to reprise his 28-point performance from the last meeting between Bucknell and Loyola, a 67-52 Bison win. That is one of five 20-point games this season for Williamson, who is enjoying a breakout sophomore season. He played only 86 minutes with 26 points as a freshman last season, but this year he ranks in the top 10 in the Patriot League in scoring, rebounding, blocked shots, and field-goal percentage.
Loyola routed second-place Lafayette 79-64 in Easton on Feb. 14, but the Greyhounds have dropped three straight since then. Most recently, Loyola fell 82-79 in overtime at Boston University on Sunday. Alonso Faure banked in a 40-footer at the buzzer to force overtime, but the Terriers pulled it out in the extra period.
Loyola has struggled at home this season with a 1-10 record (0-7 PL), and the Greyhounds finish up the regular season with home tilts against Bucknell and Army.
The Greyhounds feature one of the league's top guards in Perry, who has 75 3-pointers and leads the league in scoring at 17.2 ppg. Perry, who missed Loyola's last game in Boston due to injury, is also a 91.0% free-throw shooter and ranks fourth in the league in steals at 1.5 per game.
Loyola has three veteran, international big men up front in Milos Ilic (7.8 ppg, 5.1 rpg), Golden Dike (7.8 ppg, 6.8 rpg), and Faure (7.8 ppg, 5.5 rpg). All three stand 6'10" and shoot better than 50% from the field. Dike recorded the second triple-double in Patriot League history earlier this season against Lehigh.
Bucknell is in the midst of its 129th season of basketball, dating back to its first game on Feb. 14, 1896, a 16-14 victory over Lock Haven.
Bucknell is looking to rebound from a 12-20 season a year ago. The Bison went 5-13 in Patriot League play and fell 64-59 at American in the first round of the Patriot League Tournament. Bucknell won eight Patriot League regular-season titles in a nine-year span from 2011-19, and the Bison went to the NCAA Tournament in 2011, 2013, 2017 and 2018 during that stretch.

How to Get the Game

The Bucknell-Loyola game will be streamed on ESPN+, with Gary Lambrecht and Jim Chivers on the call from Reitz Arena.
"Voice of the Bison" Doug Birdsong will have the local radio call on The Valley 100.9 FM in the Susquehanna Valley.
The audio feed is also available online free of charge via BucknellBison.com.
Live statistics can be accessed via LoyolaGreyhounds.com.
Follow @Bucknell_MBB for in-game updates on Twitter.

Notable Numbers

Reserve frontcourt man Pip Ajayi has been on a shot-blocking tear of late, with multiple rejections in seven of his last 10 games. Ajayi ranks third in the Patriot League in blocked shots at 1.3 per game, even though he plays only 12.7 minutes per game. Ajayi ranks 31st nationally in blocks per minute.
Overtime has not been friendly to the Bison this season. Of Bucknell's eight Patriot League losses, three have come in overtime. In those three OT periods, the Bison are a combined 5-for-22 (.227) from the field and have been outscored 35-15.
Bucknell had been the Patriot League's best free-throw shooting team all season and ranked as high as 25th nationally at 76.6% going into the Lafayette game on Jan. 20. But the Bison have struggled at the stripe of late, hitting 98 of 158 (.620) over the last 10 games. Missed free throws in the final seconds of regulation proved costly in the overtime losses at Lafayette and American.
Bucknell went 15-for-15 from the foul line against Radford on Dec. 16 and 13-for-13 from the stripe at Boston University. The Bison are one of only three Division I teams to have two perfect free-throw shooting games with at least 10 attempts, joining Wisconsin (14-14 vs. Michigan State; 12-12 vs. Providence) and Stetson (12-12 vs. Johnson; 11-11 vs. Charlotte).
Jack Forrest and Josh Bascoe against Lehigh became the first Bison tandem to both score at least 23 points in a game since Nate Sestina (25) and Kimbal Mackenzie (23) did it against the Mountain Hawks in a 97-75 win in the 2019 Patriot League Tournament semifinals.
Bascoe in the win over Penn State had 11 points, 10 assists, five rebounds, and three steals. The only other Bison besides Bascoe in the last 20 years to have a game with at least 10 points, 10 assists, five rebounds, and three steals was Steven Kaspar, who went 12-10-7-3 against Navy on Jan. 15, 2014.
Elvin Edmonds' line of 12 points, 10 assists, and seven rebounds at Boston University was also the first such game since Kaspar's 2014 performance at Navy.
Forrest recently joined the top-10 on Bucknell's single-season 3-point field goal charts.

3-POINT FIELD GOALS MADE, SEASON
1. Bryson Johnson 2010-11   99
2. Andrew Funk 2021-22   87
3. Bryson Johnson 2011-12   84
4. Kimbal Mackenzie    2018-19   83
5. Chris Hass 2014-15   82
6. Kevin Bettencourt 2005-06   79
   John Griffin 2007-08   79
8. Kevin Bettencourt 2004-05   78
   Jack Forrest 2023-24   78
10.Bryson Johnson 2012-13   73

Last Time Out

Bucknell rode an 11-0 run in each half and its best defensive performance in 12 years to a 54-41 victory over Army West Point on Sunday afternoon at Sojka Pavilion. Josh Bascoe scored 11 points and Ian Motta had 10 to lead a big day for the bench unit, as the Bison snapped a four-game losing streak and improved to 8-8 in Patriot League play.
Noah Williamson recorded 10 points and seven rebounds, and it was his 3-pointer-steal-layup combo that sparked Bucknell's decisive run in the latter stages of the second half.
Both teams struggled offensively and endured lengthy droughts, but it was the Bison who were able to piece together two big runs. After starting the game 2-for-16 from the field, Bucknell made 8 of 9 and finished the first half on an 11-0 run to go up 26-19. The Bison then missed their first eight shots of the second half but never relinquished the lead, and their second 11-0 run stretched a six-point margin all the way to 17 at 48-31 with 4:29 to play.
Army came into the day as the Patriot League's toughest team on which to score, and the Bison rallied to shoot 40.0% from the field for the game. They finished 8-for-28 from downtown and saw their free-throw struggles continue with a 2-for-9 ledger.
Bucknell's defense carried the day, as the Bison limited the Black Knights to 28.6% shooting, including a 4-for-20 mark from the 3-point arc. Two of those treys came from deep reserves in the final two minutes, including a 40-footer at the buzzer from Griff Lamb.

Bucknell vs. Loyola Series Notes

The Bison and Greyhounds have met 28 times previously. Bucknell leads 21-7 in the series, including a 15-5 mark since Loyola joined the Patriot League in 2013-14, but the Greyhounds have captured four of the last six.
Bucknell is 9-4 all-time at Loyola's Reitz Arena and 12-3 at home (2-0 in Davis Gym, 10-3 at Sojka Pavilion). The Bison have dropped their last three in Baltimore, however.
The first series meeting came on Jan. 7, 1987 in Lewisburg. The Bison prevailed that day 72-70. A year later Bucknell won 80-60 on Loyola's home floor.
Bucknell and Loyola played twice within the 1992-93 season. The Bison won 75-59 in Baltimore, and in late February at Davis Gym the Bison rolled to a 116-85 victory. In the latter game, the Bison produced what was then their second-highest point total in program history, led by an incredible 9-for-10 3-point shooting performance by Hall-of-Famer Mike Bright.
Loyola swept the season series for the first time in 2022-23.
In last season's first meeting at Sojka Pavilion, Loyola led wire-to-wire in a 67-57 verdict. Then-freshman guard Deon Perry enjoyed the best game of his young career, finishing with 22 points on 7 of 13 shooting, including 5 of 10 from 3-point range. Xander Rice had 18 points to lead the Bison, who were held to 36.7% shooting on the night.
In the rematch at Reitz Arena, Jaylin Andrews (24) and Perry (20) both hit the 20-point mark to offset a 21-point game from Rice, and the Greyhounds pulled away late for an 80-66 verdict, Jack Forrest tallied 13 points, six rebounds, and six assists for the Bison, who shot 42.4% and hit nine 3-pointers but could not overcome 20 turnovers.
In this year's first meeting in Lewisburg on Jan. 31, Noah Williamson scored a career-high 28 points to lead the Bison to a 67-52 win. Williamson scored 18 of Bucknell's 33 first-half points. The Bison led 33-31 at the half and pulled away with an 11-2 run to start the second. Loyola pulled within six on a few occasions but could get no closer. Perry led Loyola with 22 points, and Faure had 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Who's Got Next?

Bucknell concludes the regular season at home next Saturday night against Lafayette. The Senior Night affair tips off at 7 p.m.

Men's Basketball Visits Loyola Wednesday in Final Road Game of Regular Season

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Players Mentioned

Pip Ajayi

Josh Bascoe

Elvin Edmonds IV

Jack Forrest

Ian Motta

Xander Rice

Noah Williamson

Men's Basketball Visits Loyola Wednesday in Final Road Game of Regular Season

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Next Event

Players Mentioned

Pip Ajayi

Josh Bascoe

Elvin Edmonds IV

Jack Forrest

Ian Motta

Xander Rice

Noah Williamson

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