Bison, Terriers Set For Wednesday Rematch at Sojka Pavilion

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- It has been a wild season of basketball in Lewisburg, and there should be plenty more in store with the February postseason chase in full swing. Bucknell is 7-5 and tied for third place in the Patriot League after dropping a bonkers 116-110 double-overtime game at second-place Army on Saturday, and now the Bison are set to host another upper-division foe when fifth-place Boston University visits Sojka Pavilion on Wednesday night. The Terriers are 6-6, and one of those wins was an 85-82 overtime verdict over Bucknell at Case Gym on Jan. 25.

If you're sensing an overtime theme, it's because Bucknell has now tied the all-time NCAA record for overtime games in a season with eight. Three of those eight have gone to double overtime, meaning the Bison have now played 55 extra minutes of basketball this season. No other Division I team has played more than five OT contests in 2024-25. The Bison will have at least seven more chances to break the record, and they still have to play Lafayette again on Saturday. Six of the last eight games between the Bison and Leopards have required overtime.

Noah Williamson's big junior season continued on Saturday when he led the Bison with 29 points on 12-for-15 shooting from the field. Williamson is averaging a league-high 20.8 points per game in league play and 17.0 ppg overall. He was named the Patriot League Player of the Week on Monday. In addition to the 29-point showing at Army, he also had 18 points and 12 rebounds in a 71-49 rout of first-place American last Wednesday. Williamson is the first Bison to win two straight PL Player of the Week citations since Zach Thomas early in the 2017-18 season.

Josh Bascoe tallied a career-high 25 points against Army, raising his season average to 15.3 ppg. Bascoe also leads the league in assists at 4.3 per game. Achile Spadone is coming off one of his best games as a Bison with 17 points, eight rebounds, and six assists, and backcourt mates Elvin Edmonds IV (10-for-15 last four games) and Brandon McCreesh (17-for-27 last 10 games) are both coming in red-hot from 3-point range.

GAME DIGEST
What: Boston University (12-13, 6-6 PL) at Bucknell (11-14, 7-5 PL)
Where: Sojka Pavilion, Lewisburg, Pa.
When: Wednesday, Feb. 12, 7 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 Boston University, Bucknell Would ...

... win its seventh straight home game and improve to 7-0 in Patriot League play at Sojka Pavilion.
... remain two games behind first-place American in the Patriot League standings.
... gain a split of the season series with the Terriers and move two games ahead of them in the standings.
... improve to 16-13 all-time against the Terriers.

Headlines

Two teams with nearly opposite home/away ledgers get together on Wednesday night when Bucknell hosts Boston University in the second of two regular-season meetings. In Patriot League play, Bucknell is 6-0 at home and 1-5 on the road, while the Terriers are 6-0 at home and 0-6 away.
Bucknell comes into the game tied for third place alongside Colgate at 7-5. American, which has already won its Round 13 game, leads the way at 10-3, followed by Army at 8-4. Boston University is alone in fifth place at 6-6, which adds a level of importance to the contest in Sojka Pavilion. The Terriers would not only move into a tie with the Bison, but they would have a season sweep and own the head-to-head tiebreaker.
The Bison are coming off one of the wildest games in team history. Saturday's 116-110 double-overtime loss was the highest-scoring game in school history, eclipsing the 225 points from a 119-106 win over Colgate in 1968. There was high drama throughout the afternoon. Bucknell trailed 87-74 with 3:17 remaining in regulation before stunning the Black Knights with a 13-0 run to force overtime. Noah Williamson scored the tying basket 16 seconds left, and then he did it again with 26 seconds to go in the first OT period. The Bison led 105-102 in the second OT session, but Army took control with an 8-0 run. The 116 points were the most ever scored by the Black Knights, and it was the most points allowed by Bucknell since a 117-93 loss to Lafayette in 1955.
The other bit of history from Saturday's game involved Bucknell playing its NCAA record-tying eighth overtime game of the season. The Bison lead the nation with eight OT games and 11 OT periods in 2024-25. Western Kentucky (1978), Portland (1984), and Valparaiso (1993) also played eight in a season.

Most Overtime Games, 2024-25 Season
Bucknell   8
Tennessee-Martin   5
(10 with)    4

uBucknell has picked up the pace offensively over the last eight games. Since going 2-for-19 from 3-point range and being held to 58 points in a loss at American on Jan. 11, the Bison have put up these offensive numbers in the eight games since then:

Scoring Average   83.3
FG%   .525
3FG%    .441
ASST/TO   119/87

Noah Williamson was a preseason All-Patriot League selection and is averaging a team-high 17.0 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 1.0 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. Williamson leads the Patriot League with nine double-doubles, and he is averaging 20.8 ppg in conference play.
Williamson has won the last two Patriot League Player of the Week awards. He is the first Bison to win two in a row since Zach Thomas on Nov. 27 and Dec. 4, 2017.
Josh Bascoe is averaging a career-high 15.3 ppg, and he has taken over the league lead in assists at 4.3 apg. Bascoe, who scored a career-high 25 points at Army on Saturday, ranks sixth 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 seventh nationally in minutes played at 37.0 per game. He has played more than 40 minutes in a game seven 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.
Boston University dropped a 72-52 decision at in-state rival Holy Cross on Saturday at the Hart Center. That came one game after one of its best performances of the season in an 87-65 home victory over Navy.
Kyrone Alexander leads the team in scoring at 12.4 ppg, followed by seven others who score at least 5.0 ppg. Michael McNair is also in double figures at 10.7 ppg, and he hits at a 41.8% clip from downtown.
Boston University allows a league-low 67.7 points per game, but the Terriers also score the fewest at 66.4 ppg.
The Bison will have to be strong on the glass on Wednesday, as the Terriers far and away lead the Patriot League with a +5.5 rebounding margin. Boston University gets 11.0 offensive boards per game. When these two teams met at Case Gym on Jan. 25, the Terriers outrebounded the Bison 35-22 and had a 21-6 edge in second-chance points. It was the biggest statistical separator in a game Boston University won 85-82 in overtime.
Ben Defty, a 7'0" freshman center, played at St. Thomas More in Connecticut, which is also the alma mater of Bucknell juniors Noah Williamson and Achile Spadone.
Bucknell assistant coach Matt Griffin played his final two seasons of college basketball at Boston University and captained the team in both years. He was part of the Terriers' 2011 NCAA Tournament team, and he also holds a master's degree from the Boston University School of Education.

How to Get the Game

The Bucknell-Boston University game will be streamed on ESPN+ with "Voice of the Bison" Doug Birdsong and former Bison assistant coach Terry Conrad on the call from Sojka Pavilion.
Joe Vasile 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

Ryan Curry scored 11 of his career-high 30 points in the second overtime period, leading Army West Point to a wild 116-110 win over Bucknell on Saturday afternoon at Christl Arena. Both teams shot well over 50% and combined for 30 3-pointers, and the Black Knights used a key 8-0 run in double overtime to break a second-place tie in the Patriot League standings.
Bucknell tied the NCAA record with its eighth overtime game of the season, and this was the highest-scoring game in team history. The previous mark was 225 points in 119-106 win over Colgate in 1968. It was also the highest scoring game between two Patriot League opponents in league history.
Noah Williamson scored 29 points to lead Bucknell, and he hit the tying baskets at the end of both regulation and the first overtime period. Josh Bascoe scored a career-high 25 points, and Achile Spadone (17) and Elvin Edmonds IV (12) also scored in double figures. Spadone added eight rebounds and six assists to his 17 points.
In addition to Curry's 30, Jalen Rucker added 25 and Josh Scovens had 23 for Army, which set a new team scoring record. The Black Knights came into the game ranked ninth in the Patriot League in 3-point shooting at 32.9%, but they went 17-for-29 in this one and shot 58.2% overall.
Bucknell fought back from an early 13-point deficit to go up by four in the second half, but the Bison seemed doomed when Army went back up by 13 again late in regulation. AJ Allenspach's layup with 3:17 remaining gave Army an 87-74 lead, but those would be the Black Knights' final points of regulation. Williamson's layup at the other end ignited a wild 13-0 run that forced extra time.
The two sides alternated buckets throughout the first overtime period. Williamson's finish off a lob pass tied the game at 99-99 with 0:26 left in OT. The Bison forced a turnover, and then Bascoe's halfcourt attempt was off the mark. Bascoe and Curry swapped 3-pointers to start the second overtime session. Bucknell went up 105-102 on two Williamson free throws, but Rucker's layup ignited an 8-0 Army run. The Bison missed a couple of corner threes and a follow-up attempt, and the Black Knights finished the game with 10 straight made free throws to put it away.

Bucknell vs. Boston University Series Notes

Bucknell and Boston University have met 28 times previously in men's basketball, and the Bison have a 15-13 lead in the series.
Bucknell is 7-6 at home in the series, 7-7 on the road, and 1-0 at neutral sites. In games played in Boston, Bucknell is 2-1 at Agganis Arena and 5-6 at Case Gym.
The two teams met for the first time at the 2005 Cable Car Classic at Santa Clara. The Bison won that one 63-57 behind 20 points from Chris McNaughton and 15 from Charles Lee.
The Bison and Terriers split the two meetings last season, with the road team winning each time.
In the first meeting at Case Gym, Bucknell won 73-57 behind 26 points from Jack Forrest and a near triple-double from Elvin Edmonds IV, who finished with 12 points, seven rebounds, and 10 assists. Noah Williamson (13) and Ruot Bijiek (12) also scored in double figures, and Ian Motta added eight off the bench, including a dagger 3-pointer with 3:37 to go. Anthony Morales scored 19 of his 21 in the second half to lead the Terriers.
Boston University turned the tables with a 77-62 win at Sojka Pavilion. It was a 25-24 game at the half, but the Terriers outscored the Bison 52-38 in the second stanza. Kyrone Alexander led four Boston University players in double figures with 19 points. Forrest scored 18 points and Edmonds had 17 and five assists for the Bison.
In this season's first meeting in Boston, the Terriers rallied to win 85-82 in overtime, despite 26 points from Williamson. Bucknell started the day 11-for-13 from the field and led by as many as 11 points in the first half. The Bison shot 60.4% in regulation but only 1-for-4 in overtime. Kyrone Alexander led the Terriers with 16 points.

Facts & Figures

Brandon McCreesh now ranks third in the Patriot League in 3-point percentage (.452) thanks to a recent hot streak. McCreesh has hit at least one trey in 10 straight games and is 17-for-27 from the arc in that stretch.
Noah Williamson has been on a tear from the 3-point arc, going 10-for-13 over the last six games. He was 6-for-6 at Colgate, 2-for-2 at Boston University, and he made his only attempt against Loyola to tie the school record for consecutive made threes, originally set by Mike Bright on the night when he went 9-for-10 against Loyola in Davis Gym in 1993. The streak ended at nine when he missed his first attempt against American last Wednesday.
Also heating up from downtown is Elvin Edmonds IV, who went 4-for-5 at Army and is 10-for-15 in his last four games.
The Bison lead the Patriot League in free-throw attempts (20.9) and made free throws (13.8) per game, even though they rank ninth in free-throw percentage (.658). Williamson's 184 free-throw attempts are ninth-most in the nation.
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 38-for-57 (.667) since then, including 36-for-53 (.679) over his last 18 games.
The Bison have struggled in the turnover department this season, but they committed a season-low five miscues in the win over Holy Cross and have had a positive or even assist-to-turnover ratio in eight straight games.
Williamson's nine double-doubles are the most in the Patriot League and 24th-most in the nation.
Williamson ranks in some pretty good company when it comes to national scoring leaders among 7-footers.

NCAA Leaders, Points per Game, Players 7'0" or Taller
1. Maxime Raynaud, Stanford 20.4
2. Ryan Kalkbrenner, Creighton   19.2
3. Noah Williamson, Bucknell   17.0
4. Hunter Dickinson, Kansas    16.5
5. Bent Leuchten, UC Irvine 16.0
6. Vladislav Goldin, Michigan 15.7

Who's Got Next?

Bucknell visits Lafayette on Saturday at 1 p.m. The Bison defeated the Leopards 65-62 in overtime at Sojka Pavilion on Jan. 8. Six of the last eight Bucknell-Lafayette games have gone to OT.

Bison, Terriers Set For Wednesday Rematch at Sojka Pavilion

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Pip Ajayi

Josh Bascoe

Ruot Bijiek

Elvin Edmonds IV

Jack Forrest

Brandon McCreesh

Ian Motta

Achile Spadone

Noah Williamson

Bison, Terriers Set For Wednesday Rematch at Sojka Pavilion

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Pip Ajayi

Josh Bascoe

Ruot Bijiek

Elvin Edmonds IV

Jack Forrest

Brandon McCreesh

Ian Motta

Achile Spadone

Noah Williamson

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