Men’s Basketball Off to 2-0 Start after 73-62 win at Mount St. Mary’s

EMMITSBURG, Md. – Playing on the road in front of a sellout crowd against a 2025 NCAA Tournament team, the Bucknell men's basketball team remained composed down the stretch and defeated Mount St. Mary's 73-62 on Friday night at Knott Arena. Now 2-0 on the season, the Bison had five double-digit scorers and finished the game on a 13-4 run after the Mountaineers had cut a 12-point deficit to two.

Freshman Amon Dörries scored 15 points to lead the Bison in scoring for the second straight game, and Ruot Bijiek matched him with 15 points and six rebounds. Point guard Jayden Williams had a sensational game with 12 points, six rebounds, five assists, and no turnovers, and his pull-up jumper with 1:15 left was a dagger, giving Bucknell an eight-point lead. The sophomore now has 11 assists and two turnovers in two games this season.

Achile Spadone (11) and Pat Curtin (10) also scored in double figures to help the Bison get out to a 2-0 start for the second straight year.

This game followed a similar script as Monday's season-opening 78-70 win over Delaware. Bucknell led for the majority of the game (31:57) and never relinquished the lead after the opponent cut a double-digit margin down to two.

This time it was a 12-point lead at 50-38 after Dörries slashed down the lane for a layup. But Mount St. Mary's, which unveiled its 2025 MAAC championship banner before the game, got all the way back within two at 60-58 after a pair of free throws from Justin Amadi coming out of the under-4 break.

With the crowd roaring, Bijiek cut down the lane for a layup. Williams stole the ball in the corner and drew a foul, then hit both ends of a 1-and-1. After another defensive stop, Dörries spun along the baseline for a reverse layup and a 66-58 lead with 2:13 to go.

Luke McEldon, who led Mount St. Mary's with 21 points, ended Bucknell's run with a layup, but Williams came off a screen and answered with a late-shot-clock, mid-range jumper to push the lead back to eight. After a couple of misses at the line, the Bison hit their final five of the night to seal it.

"I'm proud of our mentality, coming into a hostile environment and showing tremendous resilience," said head coach John Griffin III. "Physicality was a huge talking point leading up to this game, and we checked all the boxes there in terms of ball security and getting big stops when we needed them. I thought Jayden Williams was tremendous tonight. We recruited him for his leadership, and he did a great job staying poised against a very physical team."

Bucknell shot 43.1 percent from the field and went 8-for-22 from the 3-point line and 15-for-23 from the charity stripe. Mount St. Mary's finished at 39.2 percent overall, 4-for-25 from deep, and 18-for-25 from the foul line.

A big key to the game was turnovers, as the Bison finished with a +11 margin. Bucknell committed only four miscues all night – all in the second half – against a high-pressure defense.

The game was tied at each of the first three television timeouts in the first half, but the Bison opened up some breathing room by holding Mount St. Mary's scoreless for a span of 5:20. Bucknell scored 11 straight points in that interval, capped by 3-pointers from Brandon McCreesh and Bijiek, both off assists from Williams.

Mount St. Mary's pulled within five, but Williams beat the halftime buzzer with a 3-pointer to make it 38-30 at the break.

The Bison head back on the road on Tuesday to face Princeton at 7 p.m.

The 2025-26 Bucknell men's basketball season is presented by Aspire Wealth Group.

Men’s Basketball Off to 2-0 Start after 73-62 win at Mount St. Mary’s

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Team Stats

Ruot Bijiek

Amon Dörries

Jayden Williams

Achile Spadone

Players Mentioned

Ruot Bijiek

Pat Curtin

Brandon McCreesh

Achile Spadone

Jayden Williams