Men's Basketball Looks to Stay Hot at Home when Navy Visits on Alumni Day

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- The Bucknell men's basketball team goes for a 4-0 home start in Patriot League play when Navy visits Sojka Pavilion on Saturday. The Bison are coming off their best offensive performance of the season in Wednesday's 86-82 win over Holy Cross. They connected on 16 3-pointers while committing only five turnovers while improving to 3-2 in PL action and remaining just a game behind frontrunning Colgate. Navy started league play 2-0 but has since dropped its last three. Still, the Midshipmen are only two games off the lead in the jam-packed Patriot League standings.

Josh Bascoe (14.8 ppg) and Noah Williamson (14.6) have been carrying much of the scoring load for the Bison this season, but the team had excellent scoring balance in the Holy Cross game on Wednesday. Five players scored in double figures, led by Bascoe with 17, and all eight players who saw action scored at least six. It was a great night for the bench trio of Jayden Williams, Brandon McCreesh, and Pip Ajayi, who combined for 26 points, eight rebounds, seven assists, and no turnovers.

Navy is led by All-Patriot League guard Austin Benigni, who ranks third in the Patriot League in scoring at 17.0 ppg and first in assists with 4.3 apg. Expect a good battle in the low post between Williamson and Aidan Kehoe, who tallies 10.9 ppg and a league-high 9.1 rpg.

Bucknell had dropped nine straight to Navy before sweeping the season series last season. The Bison won 71-63 at home and 80-67 at Alumni Hall. The teams first met in 1920, and since then Bucknell holds a narrow 46-44 lead in 90 all-time meetings.

Saturday will be Alumni Day at Sojka, with former Bison players from different eras returning to campus. There will be a special tribute to the 2005 championship squad as we approach the 20th anniversary of its milestone win over Kansas in the NCAA Tournament.

GAME DIGEST
What: Navy (5-13, 2-3 PL) at Bucknell (7-11, 3-2 PL)
Where: Sojka Pavilion, Lewisburg, Pa.
When: Saturday, Jan. 18, 4 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 Navy, Bucknell Would ...

... win its fourth game in the last five and improve to 4-2 in the Patriot League.
... improve to 4-0 at home in Patriot League play and win its sixth straight PL home game dating back to last season.
... improve to 6-3 at home this season and 158-47 all-time against Patriot League opponents at Sojka Pavilion.
... defeat the Midshipmen for the third straight time and improve to 47-44 all-time against them.

Headlines

Bucknell wraps up a stretch of four games out of five at home when Navy visits Sojka Pavilion on Saturday. It's the first of two regular-season meetings between the two teams, with the Bison making the return trip to Annapolis on Feb. 1.
Saturday is Alumni Day at Sojka Pavilion, with a special focus on the 2004-05 team as we approach the 20-year anniversary of its landmark win over Kansas in the NCAA Tournament.
The Patriot League standings continue to be a logjam, with the top nine teams separated by only two games. Bucknell is situated in a four-way tie for second place at 3-2 record, one game behind 4-1 Colgate. The Raiders' lone PL loss came at Bucknell, and the two teams will meet for the second time in 15 days on Monday night. Meanwhile, Navy sits in a four-way tie for third place at 2-3.
In league play, Bucknell is 3-0 at home and 0-2 on the road, but the Bison feel like they let the two road games get away. Bucknell had a 20-point lead with 11:00 remaining at Lehigh and an 11-point lead with just over 17:00 to play at American, but the Mountain Hawks and Eagles both rallied late.
Home teams are 22-3 in Patriot League games thus far, with the lone exceptions Army's win at Lehigh on Saturday, American's win at Loyola on Monday night, and Colgate's win over Navy on Wednesday night. The Bison are 5-3 at home this season and have not lost to a Patriot League foe at home since last Feb. 12, when Lehigh won in overtime at Sojka Pavilion.
Bucknell finally broke out from the 3-point line in Wednesday's 86-82 shootout win over Holy Cross. The Bison were shooting just 27.6% from the arc in Patriot League play after a 2-for-19 showing at American last Saturday, but they went 16-for-34 against the Crusaders. The 16 treys were the most since the 2022-23 season-opener, when Bucknell hit 21 against Lebanon Valley. The Bison snapped a streak of 11 straight games shooting under 44% from the field when they connected at a 46.8% clip against Holy Cross.
The 65-62 win over Lafayette on Jan. 8 was Bucknell's sixth overtime game and eighth overtime period this season. Both of those figures are the most in all of Division I men's basketball, and it means that the Bison have played a full 40 minutes of extra time this season. Bucknell is now within two of the NCAA record for overtime games in a season. Western Kentucky (1978), Portland (1984), and Valparaiso (1993) all played eight in a season. The six OT games have matched the school record. The Bison also played six in 2008-09 and 2021-22.
Noah Williamson was a preseason All-Patriot League selection and is averaging a team-high 14.8 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 1.1 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. He posted double-doubles in three of the five Patriot League games, including his 23-point, 11-rebound performance at American last Saturday. Williamson's 17.6 ppg scoring average in league play is No. 3 in the PL, and his 9.0 rpg ranks No. 2.
Josh Bascoe is averaging a career-high 14.6 ppg, including 16.4 ppg in his last eight games. Bascoe ranks seventh in the Patriot League in scoring and is in the top 15 in the PL in seven different categories. He leads the league and ranks 11th nationally in minutes played at 36.5 per game. He has played more than 40 minutes in a game five times this season.
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.
Navy started 2-0 in Patriot League play with wins over American and Lafayette, but since then they have dropped three straight to Holy Cross, Loyola, and Colgate. The Midshipmen went 3-10 in non-conference action, but two of the wins came against Ivy Leaguers Harvard and Penn.
The Midshipmen feature the Patriot League's third-leading scorer in Austin Benigni, who tallies 17.0 ppg. Benigni, who scored 40 points in the two games against Bucknell last season, also leads the league in assists at 4.3 apg. Junior center Aidan Kehoe is having a breakout season with 10.9 ppg and a league-high 9.1 rpg. Kehoe has recorded double-digit rebounds in six straight games and eight on the season, and he is shooting 61.9% from the field but only 33.3% from the foul line.
This is an experienced Navy team, with all five starters and nine lettermen back from last season. The Mids returned 80% of their points from last season.

How to Get the Game

The Bucknell-Navy game will be streamed on ESPN+, with "Voice of the Bison" Doug Birdsong and former Bucknell assistant coach Terry Conrad calling the action from Sojka Pavilion.
Sam Kuperman 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 BucknellBison.com.
Follow @Bucknell_MBB for in-game updates on Twitter.

Last Time Out

The Bison had five players score in double figues in Wednesday's 86-82 win over Holy Cross: Josh Bascoe (17), Ruot Bijiek (14), Noah Williamson (12), Jayden Williams (11) and Elvin Edmonds (10). All eight Bison players who took the court scored at least six points, and seven made a shot from beyond the arc.
Bucknell received a season-high 26 points from its bench and only committed five turnovers while improving to 3-2 in Patriot League play.
The Bison knocked down a season-high 16 3-pointers. Bascoe, Bijiek, Williams and Brandon McCreesh each hit three.
Holy Cross took a 63-61 lead on a put-back with 11:05 to go in the second half, but Bucknell responded with 10 straight points to surge in front for good. The Bison caught a break with 16 seconds left when Bascoe was fouled on a 3-point attempt just before the shot clock expired. He made 2 of 3 for an 84-79 lead, but then Green splashed another 3-pointer with nine seconds left. Bucknell inbounded to Bijiek, who made it a two-possession game with two clutch free throws.
The Bison shot 57.7% in the second half and led for the final 10 minutes. Bucknell shot 46.8% overall, its best mark since the win over NJIT on Nov. 21. The 16 3-pointers were the team's most since hitting 21 against Lebanon Valley in the 2022-23 season opener.

Bucknell vs. Navy Series Notes

This is the 91st all-time meeting between Bucknell and Navy, with the Bison hanging on to a slim 46-44 lead in a rivalry that dates back to 1920.
The series has been marked by long stretches of dominance by both sides. Navy won the first 10 meetings between 1920-50; the Midshipmen had an 11-2 stretch in the late-90s/early-2000s; and they were riding a nine-game winning streak until Bucknell swept the season series last year. That recent Navy run came right on the heels of Bucknell's 19-1 stretch from 2011-19. The Bison also won 11 of 13 from 2003-08, culminating with current head coach John Griffin's half-court buzzer-beater in an 87-86 triple-overtime thriller in the 2008 Patriot League Tournament quarterfinals.
As conference rivals, Bucknell leads 42-32, with the home team winning most of the time. Since Navy joined the league, Bucknell is 28-8 against the Mids at home but is only 14-24 against Navy in Alumni Hall.
Bucknell is 5-3 all-time against Navy in the Patriot League Tournament, including the Midshipmen's 76-75 win in the 1997 championship game. Navy won the first three postseason clashes, but the Bison have won the last five, including a 70-65 decision in the 2017 semifinal round.
Bucknell halted a nine-game series losing streak last Jan. 24 at Sojka Pavilion, as Jack Forrest scored 20 of his 24 points in the second half to lead the Bison to a 71-63 win. Noah Williamson tallied 14 points, and Josh Adoh scored 10 first-half points in his best game of the season. The Midshipmen saw their two-game winning streak come to an end, despite 22 points from Austin Benigni and 11 points and 11 rebounds from Donovan Draper. Bucknell stormed out to a 30-15 lead, but Navy shot back with a 15-2 run, with Austin Inge's 3-pointer on the first possession of the second half making it a two-point game at 32-30. The Bison responded well, scoring 17 of the next 21 points to build the margin back to 15 at 49-34.
In the rematch at Alumni Hall, Bucknell used a big second-half run to win 80-67 and snap a five-game losing skid in Annapolis. The Bison trailed by as many as 10 in the first half when Williamson was limited to five minutes due to foul trouble, but Williamson scored 13 points in the second half, including a big 3-pointer that sparked a game-changing 15-2 run. Elvin Edmonds IV canned two treys in that surge as well, as the Bison turned a 48-all tie into a 63-50 lead. The Bison shot 69.6% in the second half and a season-best 61.2% overall, buoyed by 11-for-21 accuracy from 3-point range. Forrest led the Bison with 18 points, and Edmonds tallied 14 and a career-high 12 assists. Benigni led Navy with 18 points, followed by Mitch Fischer with 17.

Facts & Figures

Pip Ajayi has been a big factor off the bench for the Bison. The reserve frontcourt player tallied 13 points — his most in a Bucknell uniform — five rebounds, and three steals in 18 minutes at Lehigh. After starting the season 3-for-8 from the field, Ajayi is 24-for-35 (.686) since then, including 22-for-31 (.710) over his last 11 games.
Bucknell has 26 offensive rebounds in the last two games, including a season-high 16 at American last Saturday. The Bison lead the Patriot League with 10.2 offensive boards per game in conference play.
The Bison have struggled in the turnover department this season, but they committed a season-low five miscues in the win over Holy Cross on Wednesday.
Achile Spadone has recorded at least five rebounds in each of the last five games and is averaging 5.8 rpg over that span.
Bucknell shot the three better against its "high major" opponents this season. The Bison shot 35.0% (41-117) from the arc against Kentucky, Maryland, Gonzaga, and Syracuse, compared with 29.4% (101-344) in all other games.
Noah Williamson against Richmond became the first Bison to block five shots in a game since Nana Foulland against Loyola in 2018.
Williamson's six double-doubles are tied for the most in the Patriot League with Loyola's Milos Ilic and Navy's Aidan Kehoe and tied for 34th-most in the nation.
Williamson's 5.94 defensive rebounds per game are the most in the PL and rank 51st nationally.
Bucknell was picked fourth in this year's Patriot League preseason poll.

Who's Got Next?

Bucknell will have a short turnaround before traveling to Colgate for a Monday-night game on CBS Sports Network. It will already be the second meeting between the Bison and Raiders. Bucknell won 66-60 at Sojka Pavilion on Jan. 5.

Men's Basketball Looks to Stay Hot at Home when Navy Visits on Alumni Day

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Players Mentioned

Josh Adoh

Pip Ajayi

Josh Bascoe

Ruot Bijiek

Elvin Edmonds IV

Jack Forrest

Brandon McCreesh

Achile Spadone

Jayden Williams

Noah Williamson

Men's Basketball Looks to Stay Hot at Home when Navy Visits on Alumni Day

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Next Event

Players Mentioned

Josh Adoh

Pip Ajayi

Josh Bascoe

Ruot Bijiek

Elvin Edmonds IV

Jack Forrest

Brandon McCreesh

Achile Spadone

Jayden Williams

Noah Williamson

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