Men's Basketball Ends Regular Season with Two on Road, Starting Wednesday at Loyola

NOTE: The final Bucknell Basketball Luncheon of the season will take place on Thursday at noon at the Bull Run Tap House on Market Street in Lewisburg. Bison head coaches John Griffin III and Trevor Woodruff will be joined by players from the men's and women's squads.

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- Bucknell puts a four-game winning streak on the line Wednesday night at Loyola as the Bison finish up the regular season with two road tests this week. Sunday's thrilling 84-53 win over Army capped off a perfect 9-0 run in Patriot League home games, and it has Bucknell on the brink of clinching a top-two seed for the Patriot League Tournament.

The Bison are 11-5 in the Patriot League and sit one game behind American with two to play. Third-place Army dropped to 10-7 with a loss at Lafayette on Tuesday, meaning Bucknell would be guaranteed a top-two seed -- and hosting rights through at least the semifinals -- with a win over Loyola. Bucknell defeated the Greyhounds 79-67 on Jan. 29, which kicked off this hot streak that has seen the Bison win seven of eight.

Josh Bascoe earned Patriot League Player of the Week honors after his 30-point game against Army on Sunday. On a day when top scorer Noah Williamson sat out with an eye injury, the Bison got contributions from up and down the lineup. Ruot Bijiek chipped in 13 points, Achile Spadone handed out a career-high eight assists and Josh Fulton pulled down 11 rebounds in 16 minutes. Pip Ajayi made his first Bucknell start at center in place of Williamson and had nine points on 4-for-5 shooting.

GAME DIGEST
What: Bucknell (15-14, 11-5 PL) at Loyola (11-16, 6-10 PL)
Where: Reitz Arena, Baltimore, Md.
When: Wednesday, Feb. 26, 7 p.m.
Watch: ESPN+
Local Radio: Eagle 107
Internet Audio: BucknellBison.com
Live Stats: LoyolaGreyhounds.com
COMPLETE GAME NOTES

With a Win over Loyola, Bucknell Would ...

... win its fifth straight game and eighth in the last nine.
... improve to 12-5 in the Patriot League and clinch a top-two seed in the Patriot League Tournament.
... pull into a tie for first place if American loses to Navy.
... win five straight games for the first time since 2018-19.
... finish the month of February with a 7-1 record.
... defeat the Greyhounds for the fourth straight time and improve to 24-7 all-time against them.

Headlines

We're down to two games remaining in the 2024-25 regular season, and after going a perfect 9-0 at home in Patriot League play, Bucknell finishes up with two important road games against Loyola and Holy Cross. The Bison enter Wednesday's game in Baltimore in sole possession of second place in the Patriot League at 11-5, one game behind frontrunning American. With third-place Army losing at Lafayette on Tuesday, Bucknell can clinch a top-two seed with a victory over the Greyhounds. The Bison are already assured of at least a top-four seed, which means a home game for the tournament quarterfinals on March 6.
Eighth-place Loyola has a lot riding on this game as well. The Greyhounds are looking to get out of the bottom four and earn a bye into the quarterfinals, or at the very least hold on to the 7 or 8 seed and host a first-round game. The Bison are catching a Loyola team on the rebound. The Greyhounds snapped a four-game losing streak with a dominant 84-65 win over Colgate on Sunday.
Bucknell has gotten hot at the right time, winning seven of its last eight games to solidify a position in the top echelon of the Patriot League standings. The Bison have bounced back nicely from a wild 116-110 double-overtime loss at Army with four straight wins, including an 84-53 rout of the Black Knights in the rematch on Sunday. Josh Bascoe exploded for a career-high 30 points in that game, as the Bison led for all but 18 seconds despite playing without injured leading scorer Noah Williamson.
Bucknell last seven wins have come by an average margin of 16.3 points, with six of them by 10 or more.
Bascoe earned his first Patriot League Player of the Week honor on Monday. He became the ninth Bison to score 30 points in a game at Sojka Pavilion, and he also added five assists and four steals. Bascoe upped his season scoring average to 15.6 ppg, and he continues to lead the league in assists at 4.4 apg.
Bucknell has tied the NCAA record with eight overtime games this season. The Bison lead the nation with eight OT games and 11 OT periods in 2024-25. Western Kentucky (1977-78), Portland (1983-84), Valparaiso (1992-93), Michigan State (2014-15), Toledo (2016-17), and Texas (2017-18) also played eight in a season.
Bucknell has picked up the pace offensively over the last 12 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 11 games since then:

Scoring Average 80.7
FG% .520
3FG% .433
ASST/TO 181/136

Williamson was a preseason All-Patriot League selection and is averaging a team-high 17.2 points, 7.6 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, he has 11 20-point games, and he is averaging 20.5 ppg in conference play.
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.
Loyola is under the direction of first-year head coach Josh Loeffler, who was previously a head coach at Baltimore schools Johns Hopkins (2017-23) and Stevens (2006-08), where he won 80 percent of his games. His first season as head coach at Johns Hopkins was the senior year for current Bucknell assistant coach Jesse Flannery, who was an outstanding guard for the Blue Jays.
Loyola has three double-digit scorers in Milos Ilic (14.1), Jacob Theodosiu (12.8), and Jordan Stiemke (12.1). Ilic also leads the team with 7.6 rebounds per game, and his twin brother Veljko tallies 8.3 ppg and 4.8 rpg off the bench.

How to Get the Game

The Bucknell-Loyola game will be streamed on ESPN+. Gary Lambrecht and Jim Chivers will call the action from Reitz Arena.
"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 LoyolaGreyhounds.com.
Follow @Bucknell_MBB for in-game updates on Twitter.

Last Time Out

Josh Bascoe scored a career-high 30 points on Senior Day to lead Bucknell to an 84-53 victory over Army West Point on Sunday afternoon at Sojka Pavilion.
Bascoe made 11 of 18 field goals, including 5 of 8 from 3-point range to pace the Bison offense. He also dished out five assists and posted four steals. The Ontario native set the tone early, scoring 18 first-half points as the Bison assumed a 10-point lead only five minutes into the game and never looked back.
Bucknell shot over 50 percent in both halves to finish the game at 56.9% (33 of 58). The Bison were 14-for-25 from 3-point range. Bucknell's starters were especially efficient from the field, making 27 of 44 (.614).
The Bison led 44-30 at halftime and grew their lead to as many as 36 points in the second half, avenging a wild 116-110 double-overtime loss at West Point 15 days earlier. Bucknell was much better defensively in this one, holding Army to 38.9% shooting, including 5-for-27 from 3-point range. The Black Knights were 17-for-29 from downtown in first meeting.
Both teams were without key players in this one. Noah Williamson, who leads the Patriot League in conference scoring at 20.5 ppg, was unable to go because of an eye injury. Josh Scovens, the Patriot League's fifth-leading scorer at 16.0 ppg, was unavailable for Army.
The Bison had plenty of support without Williamson. Pip Ajayi started in his place and tallied nine points and four rebounds. Ruot Bijiek connected on three 3-pointers and scored 13 points to join Bascoe in double figures. Achile Spadone tallied eight points, a career-high eight assists, and three steals. Reserve forward Josh Fulton grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds off the bench in just 16 minutes. Fulton also had four points, a steal, and a blocked shot, and five of his 11 rebounds came on the offensive glass.
Bucknell outrebounded Army 39-25 in the game, with 11 offensive boards leading to a 10-2 edge in second-chance points.

Bucknell vs. Loyola Series Notes

The Bison and Greyhounds have met 30 times previously. Bucknell leads 23-7 in the series, including a 17-5 mark since Loyola joined the Patriot League in 2013-14.
Bucknell is 10-4 all-time at Loyola's Reitz Arena and 13-3 at home (2-0 in Davis Gym, 11-3 at Sojka Pavilion).
The first series meeting came on Jan. 7, 1987 in Lewisburg. The Bison prevailed that day 72-70. A year later Bucknell won 80-60 on Loyola's home floor.
Bucknell and Loyola played twice within the 1992-93 season. The Bison won 75-59 in Baltimore, and in late February at Davis Gym the Bison rolled to a 116-85 victory. In the latter game, the Bison produced what was then their second-highest point total in program history, led by an incredible 9-for-10 3-point shooting performance by Hall-of-Famer Mike Bright.
Bucknell swept the season series a year ago, winning the two games by a combined 37 points.
In last year's first meeting in Lewisburg, Noah Williamson scored a then-career-high 28 points to lead the Bison to a 67-52 win. Williamson scored 18 of Bucknell's 33 first-half points. The Bison led 33-31 at the half and pulled away with an 11-2 run to start the second. Loyola pulled within six on a few occasions but could get no closer. Deon Perry led Loyola with 22 points.
In the rematch at Reitz Arena, Bucknell won 68-46 behind 18 points from Jack Forrest. Bucknell finished the game at 54.0% from the field and hit 11 of 27 (.407) from downtown. Loyola shot 34.0%, including a 4-for-15 (.267) clip from the arc.
In this year's first meeting on Jan. 29 at Sojka Pavilion, Bucknell won 79-67, behind 13 points, 16 rebounds, and four assists from Williamson and a team-high 14 points from Achile Spadone. Five Bison scored in double figures and they turned it over only eight times in the game. Jacob Theodosiou paced Loyola with 22 points.

Facts & Figures

The first 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 with 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.
Brandon McCreesh now ranks second in the Patriot League in 3-point percentage (.449) thanks to a recent hot streak. McCreesh has hit at least one trey in 12 of the last 14 games and is 20-for-34 from the arc in that stretch.
Williamson has been on a tear from the 3-point arc, going 15-for-25 over his last nine 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 14-for-23 in his last eight games.
The Bison lead the Patriot League in free-throw attempts (20.4) and made free throws (13.4) per game, even though they rank ninth in free-throw percentage (.659). Williamson's 203 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 47-for-69 (.681) since then, including 45-for-65 (.692) over his last 22 games.
The Bison had 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 12 straight games.
Williamson's nine double-doubles are the most in the Patriot League and 34th-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 18.7
3. Noah Williamson, Bucknell 17.2
4. Hunter Dickinson, Kansas 16.8
5. Bent Leuchten, UC Irvine 15.7
6. Vladislav Goldin, Michigan 15.6

NCAA Leaders, Made 3-Pointers, Players 7'0" or Taller
1. Maxime Raynaud, Stanford 48
2. Tomislav Ivisic, Illinois 37
3. Danny Wolf, Michigan 29
4. Nate Bittie, Oregon 28
5. Noah Williamson, Bucknell 27

Who's Got Next?

Bucknell finishes up the regular season on Saturday afternoon at Holy Cross. The Bison won a high-scoring affair 86-82 in the first meeting between the two teams on Jan. 15 at Sojka Pavilion.

Men's Basketball Ends Regular Season with Two on Road, Starting Wednesday at Loyola

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Pip Ajayi

Josh Bascoe

Ruot Bijiek

Elvin Edmonds IV

Jack Forrest

Josh Fulton

Brandon McCreesh

Achile Spadone

Noah Williamson

Men's Basketball Ends Regular Season with Two on Road, Starting Wednesday at Loyola

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Pip Ajayi

Josh Bascoe

Ruot Bijiek

Elvin Edmonds IV

Jack Forrest

Josh Fulton

Brandon McCreesh

Achile Spadone

Noah Williamson

Related Videos