Monday, February 17
Lewisburg, Pa.
7 p.m.
Bucknell University
14-14,10-5Patriot
67
vs
50
Lehigh
10-16,5-10Patriot
1
2
F
Lehigh
25
25
50
Bucknell
29
38
67
Photo by: Lianne Garrahan
Williamson's 25 Points Propel Men's Basketball to 67-50 Win over Lehigh
2/17/2025 9:04:00 PM | Men's Basketball
POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE:
LEWISBURG, Pa. -- Noah Williamson scored 18 of his game-high 25 points in the second half, leading the Bucknell men's basketball team to a 67-50 victory over Lehigh on Monday night at Sojka Pavilion. The win marks the Bison's eighth straight home victory and improves the team's overall record to 14-14 with a 10-5 mark in Patriot League competition. The Orange and Blue moved into sole possession of second place, pending 9-5 Army West Point's outcome against league-leader American on Wednesday. Bucknell will host Army on Sunday in another CBS Sports Network showdown.
Now 8-0 at home in league play, Bucknell had to overcome a shaky start in this one. The Mountain Hawks (10-16, 5-10 PL) started the game with a 9-0 lead and went up 19-6 after the first nine minutes of game action. The Bison missed their first nine field goal attempts before Elvin Edmonds IV finally scored on a running bank shot at the 11:24 mark, but they stormed back and closed the half on a 23-6 run to take a 29-25 lead to the locker room
Williamson took over after halftime, scoring the first eight points of the half. Included in the run was a coast-to-coast driving lay-up prompting a Lehigh timeout at the 17:17 mark of the half. The Orange and Blue extended their lead to as large as 20 at 65-45, as Williamson closed his night with back-to-back spectacular dunks off of feeds from Jayden Williams. The Bison big man also grabbed a game-high nine rebounds.
Josh Bascoe joined Williams in double figures with 14 points and handed out a game-high four assists. Tyler Whitney-Sidney scored 10 of Lehigh's first 14 points and finished with 19.
The Bison, who had averaged 81.7 points over its previous 10 games, was stuck on six more than 11 minutes into the contest when Bascoe's step-back 3-pointer got them going. Pip Ajayi followed with a 3-point play, and Josh Fulton came off the bench for a pair of layups off Bascoe feeds.
Ruot Bijiek's 3-pointer made it a 15-2 run and tied the game at 21. Alfredo Addesa momentarily gave Lehigh the lead back with a 3-pointer, but Williamson answered with a trey, and his baseline drive for a layup with 40 seconds left put the Bison in front for the first time at 26-25. That would be the game's one and only lead change, as Bascoe closed the first-half scoring with a 3-pointer, and then Williamson exploded for four straight buckets to start the second half.
Ajayi's free throws at the 14:04 mark gave Bucknell a 43-27 lead, capping a dominant 37-8 run over a 15-minute stretch.
In the first meeting between the two teams on Jan. 2, Lehigh erased a 20-point lead with 11 minutes to play and won in overtime. The Mountain Hawks did climb within 11 on a Nasir Whitlock layup, but the Bison retaliated with a 7-0 run to put the game away. Bijiek finished with a dunk off a nice high-low feed from Williamson, then Williamson scored with his own driving layup, followed by a 3-point play from Bascoe to make it 57-39 with 7:06 to go.
Williamson put an exclamation point on the evening with back-to-back dunks, including a high-flying jam on a fastbreak that brought the crowd to its feet.
Walk-on forward Kellen Welch scored his first career points on a put-back in the final seconds to finish off Bucknell's sixth win in its last seven games. The Bison have now won double-digit Patriot League games for the 17th time.
After starting the game 0-for-9, Bucknell rallied to shoot 46.3 percent from the field. The Bison were just 5-for-21 from 3-point distance but went 7-for-7 from the foul line in the second half and 12-for-16 overall.
Bucknell held Lehigh to 34.5 percent shooting and outrebounded the Mountain Hawks 40-27. Lehigh was also 5-for-21 from long range and made just 7 of 13 from the foul line.
Bucknell committed only three second-half turnovers after giving it away seven times in the first half. The Bison finished with an even or positive assist-to-turnover ratio for the 11th straight game.
Williamson, who made 10 of his final 13 shots after an 0-for-5 start, recorded his 11th 20-point game of the season.
Bucknell will now be off until Sunday when it hosts Army on Senior Day. The noon tip will be televised on CBS Sports Network.
LEWISBURG, Pa. -- Noah Williamson scored 18 of his game-high 25 points in the second half, leading the Bucknell men's basketball team to a 67-50 victory over Lehigh on Monday night at Sojka Pavilion. The win marks the Bison's eighth straight home victory and improves the team's overall record to 14-14 with a 10-5 mark in Patriot League competition. The Orange and Blue moved into sole possession of second place, pending 9-5 Army West Point's outcome against league-leader American on Wednesday. Bucknell will host Army on Sunday in another CBS Sports Network showdown.
Now 8-0 at home in league play, Bucknell had to overcome a shaky start in this one. The Mountain Hawks (10-16, 5-10 PL) started the game with a 9-0 lead and went up 19-6 after the first nine minutes of game action. The Bison missed their first nine field goal attempts before Elvin Edmonds IV finally scored on a running bank shot at the 11:24 mark, but they stormed back and closed the half on a 23-6 run to take a 29-25 lead to the locker room
Williamson took over after halftime, scoring the first eight points of the half. Included in the run was a coast-to-coast driving lay-up prompting a Lehigh timeout at the 17:17 mark of the half. The Orange and Blue extended their lead to as large as 20 at 65-45, as Williamson closed his night with back-to-back spectacular dunks off of feeds from Jayden Williams. The Bison big man also grabbed a game-high nine rebounds.
Josh Bascoe joined Williams in double figures with 14 points and handed out a game-high four assists. Tyler Whitney-Sidney scored 10 of Lehigh's first 14 points and finished with 19.
The Bison, who had averaged 81.7 points over its previous 10 games, was stuck on six more than 11 minutes into the contest when Bascoe's step-back 3-pointer got them going. Pip Ajayi followed with a 3-point play, and Josh Fulton came off the bench for a pair of layups off Bascoe feeds.
Ruot Bijiek's 3-pointer made it a 15-2 run and tied the game at 21. Alfredo Addesa momentarily gave Lehigh the lead back with a 3-pointer, but Williamson answered with a trey, and his baseline drive for a layup with 40 seconds left put the Bison in front for the first time at 26-25. That would be the game's one and only lead change, as Bascoe closed the first-half scoring with a 3-pointer, and then Williamson exploded for four straight buckets to start the second half.
Ajayi's free throws at the 14:04 mark gave Bucknell a 43-27 lead, capping a dominant 37-8 run over a 15-minute stretch.
In the first meeting between the two teams on Jan. 2, Lehigh erased a 20-point lead with 11 minutes to play and won in overtime. The Mountain Hawks did climb within 11 on a Nasir Whitlock layup, but the Bison retaliated with a 7-0 run to put the game away. Bijiek finished with a dunk off a nice high-low feed from Williamson, then Williamson scored with his own driving layup, followed by a 3-point play from Bascoe to make it 57-39 with 7:06 to go.
Williamson put an exclamation point on the evening with back-to-back dunks, including a high-flying jam on a fastbreak that brought the crowd to its feet.
Noah Williamson is a beast. @Bucknell_MBB pic.twitter.com/aB8Zb5AVeP
— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) February 18, 2025
Walk-on forward Kellen Welch scored his first career points on a put-back in the final seconds to finish off Bucknell's sixth win in its last seven games. The Bison have now won double-digit Patriot League games for the 17th time.
After starting the game 0-for-9, Bucknell rallied to shoot 46.3 percent from the field. The Bison were just 5-for-21 from 3-point distance but went 7-for-7 from the foul line in the second half and 12-for-16 overall.
Bucknell held Lehigh to 34.5 percent shooting and outrebounded the Mountain Hawks 40-27. Lehigh was also 5-for-21 from long range and made just 7 of 13 from the foul line.
Bucknell committed only three second-half turnovers after giving it away seven times in the first half. The Bison finished with an even or positive assist-to-turnover ratio for the 11th straight game.
Williamson, who made 10 of his final 13 shots after an 0-for-5 start, recorded his 11th 20-point game of the season.
Bucknell will now be off until Sunday when it hosts Army on Senior Day. The noon tip will be televised on CBS Sports Network.
Team Stats
Lehigh
Buck
FG%
.345
.463
3FG%
.238
.238
FT%
.538
.750
RB
27
40
TO
7
10
STL
6
4
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
25
FGM
10
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
7
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Pts
5
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
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