Men's Hoops Host Lehigh Monday Night; Orange Out Game Televised on CBS Sports Network

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- We're down to four games remaining in the regular season, and Bucknell plays its final two home games this week against Lehigh on Monday and Army on Sunday. Both games will be nationally televised on CBS Sports Network, and Orange Outs have been declared for both. The Bison will be looking to avenge overtime losses to both the Mountain Hawks and Black Knights earlier in the season.

Bucknell is coming off a productive Saturday. Not only did the Bison win 75-69 at Lafayette, but losses by Army and Colgate helped the Bison move up a spot in the standings. Bucknell and Army are now tied for second place at 9-5, two games behind first-place American. Colgate is alone in fourth at 8-6, and then Boston University and Navy are tied for fifth at 7-7. Remember, the top four seeds will earn the right to play at home in the quarterfinal round of the Patriot League Tournament.

Bucknell and Lehigh will be meeting for the first time since the opening day of Patriot League play on Jan. 2. The Bison left Bethlehem that day thinking they let one get away. They had a 49-29 lead with 11 minutes to play, but Lehigh stormed back to win 66-64 in overtime. Nasir Whitlock had one of the best games of his career for Lehigh with 20 points, including the go-ahead 3-pointer in the final 30 seconds of overtime. Bucknell's low-post tandem of Noah Williamson (17) and Pip Ajayi (13) combined for 30 points.

Williamson posted his 10th 20-point game of the season with 24 at Lafayette on Saturday, and Patriot League assist leader Josh Bascoe handed out a season-high eight dimes. A big key in recent games has been the play of young reserve guards Brandon McCreesh and Jayden Williams. McCreesh, a sophomore, scored a career-high 14 points at Lafayette, including four big points in the final 17 seconds as the Bison were protecting the lead. Williams also hit two critical free throws against Lafayette, and one game earlier against Boston University his 11-point sput in six minutes sparked Bucknell's decisive second-half run.

Bucknell is 7-0 at home in Patriot League play and is averaging nearly 82 points per game over its last 10 outings. The Bison will need to be sharp at both ends of the floor against a dangerous Lehigh squad. The Mountain Hawks are tied for seventh place at 5-9 in the Patriot League, but they feature a dynamic backcourt and rank No. 2 in the league in 3-point accuracy.

GAME DIGEST
What: Lehigh (10-15, 5-9 PL) at Bucknell (13-14, 9-5 PL)
Where: Sojka Pavilion, Lewisburg, Pa.
When: Monday, Feb. 17, 7 p.m.
Watch: CBS Sports Network
Local Radio: Eagle 107
Internet Audio: BucknellBison.com
Live Stats: BucknellBison.com
COMPLETE GAME NOTES | BUY TICKETS

With a Win over Lehigh, Bucknell Would ...

... win its third straight game and sixth in the last seven.
... improve to 10-5 in the Patriot League and take over sole possession of second place, pending Army's Round 15 game against American on Wednesday.
... win double-digit Patriot League games for the 17th time.
... win its eighth straight home game and improve to 8-0 in PL play at Sojka Pavilion this season.
... earn a split of the season series with the Mountain Hawks.
... improve to 113-75 all-time against the Mountain Hawks.

Headlines

Bucknell has gotten hot at the right time, winning five of its last six games to solidify a top-four position in the Patriot League standings. With only four regular-season games remaining, the Bison are tied for second place with Army at 9-5, two games behind first-place American and one in front of fourth-place Colgate. Bucknell has a two-game cushion on fifth-place Boston University and Navy, which is important as the top four teams are guaranteed to host Patriot League Tournament quarterfinal games.
Bucknell's final two home games of the regular season are this week against Lehigh and Army, and both will be televised on CBS Sports Network. This could also be described as Revenge Week for the Bison, as they lost in overtime to both the Mountain Hawks and Black Knights on the road earlier in the season. Bucknell and Lehigh will be meeting for the first time since Round 1 of PL play on Jan. 2.
The Bison have bounced back nicely from that wild 116-110 double-overtime loss at Army last Saturday with wins over Boston University and Lafayette. Last Wednesday, the Bison jumped out to a 21-6 lead on the Terriers, withstood a run in the middle portion of the game, and then pulled away again midway through the second half. On Saturday in Easton, Bucknell built a 17-point lead and withstood a late Lafayette run by hitting 6 of 7 free throws in the final 40 seconds.
Freshman Jayden Williams has given the Bison a big lift in recent games and has played important minutes in crunch time. In less than six minutes in the second half against Boston University, Williams scored 11 points on three 3-pointers and a layup, and he also dished out two assists as the Bison stretched a five-point lead all the way up to 19. At Lafayette, Williams was in the game with the Bison trying to protect a late lead, and he made both ends of an important 1-and-1 to make it a seven-point lead with 40 seconds left.
The Army game was one the wildest in team history. The 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 the Army 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
South Alabama 5
Tennessee-Martin 5
(17 with) 4

Bucknell has picked up the pace offensively over the last 10 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 10 games since then:

Scoring Average 81.7
FG% .521
3FG% .438
ASST/TO 149/112

Noah Williamson was a preseason All-Patriot League selection and is averaging a team-high 16.9 points, 7.5 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. Williamson leads the Patriot League with nine double-doubles, he has 10 20-point games, and he is averaging 20.1 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 15.1 ppg, and he has taken over the league lead in assists at 4.4 apg. Bascoe, who scored a career-high 25 points at Army, 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 eighth nationally in minutes played at 36.7 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.
Lehigh comes in with a 10-15 overall record and a 5-9 mark in the Patriot League. The Mountain Hawks snapped a two-game losing streak on Saturday with a 72-60 home win over Holy Cross.
Lehigh is tied for seventh place along with Loyola and Lafayette, and the Mountain Hawks will need to make up a two-game deficit on either Boston University or Navy to avoid playing a first-round game in the Patriot League Tournament. Lehigh has road games this week against Bucknell and Lafayette before hosting Boston University in the regular-season finale.
Lehigh lost top scorer Keith Higgins Jr. (17.9 ppg) to injury just after the first Bucknell-Lehigh meeting back on Jan. 2. The Mountain Hawks still have a host of other high-scoring guards in Tyler Whitney-Sidney (13.5), Cam Gillus (10.0), Nasir Whitlock (9.5), and Joshua Ingram (6.5).
Lehigh is a dangerous 3-point shooting team. They rank second in the league in 3FG% at 37.4%.

How to Get the Game

The Bucknell-Lehigh game will be televised on CBS Sports Network. Jason Knapp and Mo Cassara will call the action from Sojka Pavilion.
"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 BucknellBison.com.
Follow @Bucknell_MBB for in-game updates on Twitter.

Last Time Out

Noah Williamson scored 24 points and Brandon McCreesh registered a career-high 14 off the bench, including two critical free throws in the final 20 seconds of the game, leading the Bison to a 75-69 win over Lafayette on Saturday afternoon at Kirby Sports Center. The Bison have now won five of their last six to get to 9-5 in Patriot League play.
Bucknell led by two at the half, and it was a 40-40 game after a Caleb Williams 3-pointer early in the second. McCreesh broke the tie with a 3-pointer off a drive and dish from Josh Bascoe, and the Bison were off and running. Bucknell started 13-for-17 from the field in the second half and ran its lead into double digits with a 19-3 run.
Leading 64-47 with 7:24 to play, the Bison suddenly hit a scoring drought, and Lafayette got back in it with a 15-3 surge of its own. Ryan Pettit and Luka Savicevic hit 3-pointers during the run, and the Leopards chipped away even more thanks to a wide disparity in fouls. Alex Vander Baan's free throw made it a 67-62 game with 44 seconds to play, but the Bison held on thanks to some good free-throw shooting. Reserve guards Jayden Williams and McCreesh both made both ends of 1-and-1s, McCreesh scored on a breakaway after a long inbounds pass, and Williamson iced it with two more free throws with 1.2 seconds remaining.
Lafayette finished 18-for-31 from the foul line, compared to Bucknell's 11-for-12. Seven of Bucknell's 12 attempts came when the Leopards were forced to foul, however. In the game's first 39 minutes the free-throw attempts were 31-5, and Lafayette was left lamenting some costly misses.
Williamson went 8-for-13 from the field, 4-for-7 from the 3-point arc, and 4-for-4 from the foul line on the way to his 10th 20-point game of the season. He also led the Bison with eight rebounds. Bascoe was held to eight points in the game, but he handed out a season-high eight assists.
Bucknell shot 62.5% in the second half and 51.9% overall. The Bison connected on 8 of 19 from the arc and outrebounded the Leopards 35-29.

Bucknell vs. Lehigh Series Notes

Bucknell has played more games (187) and won more games (112) against Lehigh than any other school. The Bison have a 112-75 lead in a series that originated in 1902.
Since the start of Patriot League play in 1990-91, Bucknell holds a 52-29 advantage, including a 29-11 mark at home.
Lehigh is responsible for snapping Bucknell's 35-game home winning streak against Patriot League foes. The Bison had not lost to a conference opponent at Sojka Pavilion in nearly five years, until the Mountain Hawks won 56-54 in Lewisburg on Jan. 30, 2008.
Lehigh also won the first game ever played in Sojka Pavilion, a 60-56 decision on Jan. 15, 2003. Including that game, Bucknell is 15-10 against the Mountain Hawks in Sojka.
Bucknell is 7-3 against Lehigh in Patriot League Tournament action, including an 81-65 win in the 2017 championship game.
Bucknell and Lehigh split two close contests last season, with the road team winning each time.
In last year's clash at Stabler Arena, Josh Bascoe recorded 18 of his career-high 23 points in the first half, Jack Forrest finished with 24, and Noah Williamson had 18 points and 12 rebounds as the Bison prevailed 86-80. Lehigh did cut a 19-point deficit down to three with 4:24 to go, but Williamson scored six big points down the stretch to hold off the comeback bid. Jalin Sinclair paced the Mountain Hawks with 20 points, followed by Bube Momah with 19 and Burke Chebuhar and Tyler Whitney-Sidney with 10 each.
Lehigh returned the favor with a 71-63 overtime win at Sojka Pavilion later in the season. The Bison took a 59-58 lead with 25.9 seconds to go in regulation on a Forrest three-pointer. The Mountain Hawks tied it on a Dominic Parolin free throw with 12.3 seconds remaining, and Forrest's contested jumper was off the mark as time expired in regulation. Whitney-Sidney converted a 3-point play on the first possession of overtime, and Lehigh never trailed in the extra session as the Bison went 1-for-7 from the field. Elvin Edmonds IV set career highs with 20 points and 10 rebounds, but the Bucknell played without Bascoe and Williamson, who combined for 41 points in the first meeting. Joshua Ingram led Lehigh with 22 points.
In this year's first meeting at Stabler Arena on Jan. 2, Bucknell led 49-29 with 11 minutes remaining, but Lehigh stormed back to win 66-64 in overtime. Williamson recorded 17 points and 10 rebounds and frontcourt mate Pip Ajayi had a Bucknell-career-high 13 points off the bench. Nasir Whitlock scored 20 points for the Mountain Hawks, including the game-winning 3-pointer with 24 seconds remaining in OT.

Facts & Figures

Brandon McCreesh now ranks third in the Patriot League in 3-point percentage (.455) thanks to a recent hot streak. McCreesh has hit at least one trey in 11 of the last 12 games and is 19-for-31 from the arc in that stretch.
Noah Williamson has been on a tear from the 3-point arc, going 14-for-21 over the last eight 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.
Also heating up from downtown is Elvin Edmonds IV, who went 4-for-5 at Army and is 13-for-19 in his last six games.
The Bison lead the Patriot League in free-throw attempts (20.9) and made free throws (13.9) per game, even though they rank ninth in free-throw percentage (.663). Williamson's 199 free-throw attempts are seventh-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 42-for-63 (.667) since then, including 40-for-59 (.678) over his last 20 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 10 straight games.
Williamson's nine double-doubles are the most in the Patriot League and 30th-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    19.9
2. Ryan Kalkbrenner, Creighton   19.0
3. Noah Williamson, Bucknell    16.9
4. Hunter Dickinson, Kansas 16.4
5. Bent Leuchten, UC Irvine    15.8
6. Vladislav Goldin, Michigan 15.5

NCAA Leaders, Made 3-Pointers, Players 7'0" or Taller
1. Maxime Raynaud, Stanford 46
2. Tomislav Ivisic, Illinois 36
3. Noah Williamson, Bucknell 26
Danny Wolf, Michigan   26
5. Nick Bittie, Oregon 24

Men's Hoops Host Lehigh Monday Night; Orange Out Game Televised on CBS Sports Network

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Pip Ajayi

Josh Bascoe

Elvin Edmonds IV

Jack Forrest

Brandon McCreesh

Jayden Williams

Noah Williamson

Men's Hoops Host Lehigh Monday Night; Orange Out Game Televised on CBS Sports Network

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Pip Ajayi

Josh Bascoe

Elvin Edmonds IV

Jack Forrest

Brandon McCreesh

Jayden Williams

Noah Williamson

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