Bison Men Visit Army Saturday in Battle of Second-Place Teams

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- The race for the Patriot League men's basketball regular-season title is now in full swing, with the top three teams separated by only one game and the top five by only two games. Bucknell and Army West Point, the two teams tied for second place with 7-4 league records, square off on Saturday at West Point. This is the first of two meetings between the Bison and Black Knights, with Army returning the trip on Feb. 23.

At the start of the week, American was riding a seven-game winning streak and had a two-game lead atop the Patriot League standings. But Bucknell reeled the Eagles closer to the pack with a convincing 71-49 win at Sojka Pavilion on Wednesday. The Bison were firing on all cylinders, shooting a season-best 60 percent from the field while holding American to 34.8 percent. Army held on to beat Holy Cross at home on Wednesday, and now the Bison and Black Knights are just a game behind 8-3 AU for the league lead with seven games remaining. Lurking one game below are Boston University and Colgate at 6-5.

Patriot League Player of the Week Noah Williamson recorded his third straight double-double and his league-leading ninth of the season with 18 points and 12 rebounds against American. He also helped limit American star Matt Rogers to nine points and two rebounds. Josh Bascoe had a sensational all-around game with 14 points on 6-for-7 shooting from the field and seven assists. It was his third straight seven-assist game, and Bascoe has taken over the Patriot League lead in assists with 4.3 per game.

Army features one of the Patriot League's premier backcourts, led by the dynamic Jalen Rucker who is back at West Point after sitting out last season. Rucker, a two-time All-Patriot League honoree, is the league's No. 2 scorer at 17.8 points per game. Ryan Curry is third in the league in assists (4.0) while scoring 12.3 ppg and shooting just under 40 percent from the 3-point arc. On the wing, Josh Scovens is the league's No. 5 scorer 15.8 ppg, and Army also has a very productive post player in AJ Allenspach, who shoots a league-best 68.8 percent from the field while averaging 10.1 points and 7.7 rebounds per game.

Bucknell has beaten Army four straight times and leads the all-time series 63-24, but this is a dynamic Black Knights team that leads the Patriot League in scoring at 74.7 ppg.

GAME DIGEST
What: Bucknell (11-13, 7-4 PL) at Army West Point (13-10, 7-4 PL)
Where: Christl Arena, West Point, N.Y.
When: Saturday, Feb. 8, 1 p.m.
Watch: ESPN+
Local Radio: Eagle 107
Internet Audio: BucknellBison.com
Live Stats: GoArmyWestPoint.com
COMPLETE GAME NOTES

With a Win over Army, Bucknell Would ...

... extend its season-high winning streak to four and improve to 8-4 in the Patriot League.
... move into a tie for first place if American loses at Lehigh.
... win its second straight road game on the heels of a nine-game road losing streak.
... win its fifth straight game against the Black Knights and its sixth straight against the Patriot League's two service academies.

Headlines

Bucknell and Army — the two teams tied for second place and just one game off the lead in the Patriot League — get together for the first time this season on Saturday at Christl Arena. Both teams won on Wednesday and come in with identical 7-4 league records. Bucknell's 71-49 rout of first-place American brought both teams within a game of the Eagles.
The Bison have put together their first three-game winning streak of the year and are 5-2 in their last seven games. In Patriot League play, Bucknell is 6-0 at home and 1-4 on the road, while Army is 5-1 at home and 2-3 on the road. The Black Knights are 10-3 at Christl Arena over the full season.
Saturday's game will feature four of the Patriot League's top-six scorers. Bucknell is led by Noah Williamson (3rd, 16.5 ppg) and Josh Bascoe (6th, 14.9), while Army's top point-producers are Jalen Rucker (2nd, 17.8) and Josh Scovens (5th, 15.8). We will also see two of the top-four rebounders in Army's AJ Allesnpach (3rd, 7.7) and Williamson (4th, 7.5), and two of the top-three assist leaders in Bascoe (1st, 4.3) and Army's Ryan Curry (3rd, 4.0).
Last Saturday's 85-75 win in Annapolis finally put to bed a nine-game road losing streak dating back to a Nov. 7 overtime win at Southern Indiana. Bucknell had been 0-4 on the road in Patriot League play, despite leading by at least eight points in each.
On the flip side, Bucknell is 6-0 at home in league play. The Bison are 8-3 at home on the season and have not lost to a Patriot League foe at home since last Feb. 12, when Lehigh won in overtime at Sojka Pavilion.
Bucknell has picked up the pace offensively over the last seven 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 seven games since then:

Scoring Average 79.4
FG% .518
3FG% .451
ASST/TO 105/73

Bucknell has played seven overtime games and nine overtime periods this season. Both of those figures are the most in all of Division I men's basketball, and it means that the Bison have played 45 minutes of extra time this season. Bucknell is now within one of the NCAA record for overtime games in a season. Western Kentucky (1978), Portland (1984), and Valparaiso (1993) all played eight in a season. The seven OT games are a new school record. The Bison played six in 2008-09 and 2021-22.
Noah Williamson was a preseason All-Patriot League selection and is averaging a team-high 16.5 points, 7.5 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 has recorded three straight double-doubles (13/16 vs. Loyola; 29/12 at Navy; 18/12 vs. American) and was named Patriot League Player of the Week on Monday.
Williamson has been on a tear from the 3-point arc, going 10-for-11 over the last five games. He was 6-for-6 at Colgate, 2-for-2 at Boston University, and he made his only attempt against Loyola last Wednesday. Williamson tied 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 on Wednesday, and then he started a new streak with a trey on the first possession of the second half.
Josh Bascoe is averaging a career-high 14.9 ppg, and he has taken over the league lead in assists with three straight seven-assist showings. Bascoe ranks sixth in the Patriot League in scoring and is in the top 15 in the PL in eight different categories. He leads the league and ranks ninth nationally in minutes played at 36.5 per game. He has played more than 40 minutes in a game six times this season.

NCAA Leaders, Minutes per Game
1. Bennett Stirtz, Drake     38:38
2. Gibson Jimerson, Saint Louis   37:50
3. Nick Martinelli, Northwestern   37:35
4. Mitch Mascari, Drake 37:31
5. Ethan Taylor, Air Force 37:17
6. Johnathan Lawson, Little Rock   36:59
7. Jalen Terry, Eastern Michigan   36:47
8. Adam Clark, Merrimack 36:33
9. Josh Bascoe, Bucknell 36:28
10. JaCobi Wood, Murray St. 36:25

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.
Bucknell and Army have a couple of connections. Josh Fulton's father Vernon is a West Point graduate, and assistant coach Jesse Flannery was on Jimmy Allen's staff for one season in 2022-23.
Army had a tough start to Patriot League play, falling on the road to Colgate and Boston University, but the Black Knights responded with five straight wins to move into the upper third of the standings.
Army held off a late Holy Cross rally in Wednesday's 68-65 home win. Rucker had 19 points and Scovens 16 as the Black Knights swept the season series from the Crusaders.

How to Get the Game

The Bucknell-Army game will be streamed on ESPN+ with Rich DeMarco on the call from Christl 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 GoArmyWestPoint.com.
Follow @Bucknell_MBB for in-game updates on Twitter.

Last Time Out

Noah Williamson scored 18 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for his Patriot League-leading ninth double-double, leading the Bison men's basketball team to its sixth straight home win, 71-49 over American on Wednesday night before a lively crowd at Sojka Pavilion.
In addition to Williamson's third straight double-double, teammate Josh Bascoe contributed 14 points and seven assists. Bascoe has recorded seven assists in each of the last three and four of the last six contests. Achile Spadone joined Williamson and Bascoe in double-figures with 11 points.
The Orange and Blue shot 60.0% from the field, making 27 of their 45 shots, while holding the Eagles to 34.8% shooting (16-46). Bucknell outscored American 40-18 in the paint and outrebounded the Eagles 27-21.
Matt Mayock scored a team-high 10 points to lead American, which was limited to only nine players in uniform due to injury and illness.
It was a 12-8 game when Bascoe slashed through the lane and rifled a pass to Spadone for a 3-pointer from the left corner. American was called for a foul while the shot was in flight, and Bascoe scored on a layup after the inbounds. Williamson followed with another bucket, and suddenly the margin was 11 at 19-8.Josh Fulton's layup off a Bascoe dish made it 21-10 with 9:44 remaining, and the Bison led by double digits the rest of the way.

Bucknell vs. Army Series Notes

The Bison hold a 63-24 lead in a series that dates back to 1929.
The Bison are 36-6 all-time at home against Army.
Army won the first 10 series showdowns, nine of them coming prior to 1966.
As Patriot League rivals, Bucknell has won 62 of 76 meetings.
In Patriot League Tournament action, Bucknell is 8-2 against Army. Eight of those 10 postseason meetings have come in the quarterfinals.
Bucknell has swept the last two season series and have won four straight head-to-head matchups.
Bucknell won 66-56 in last season's game at West Point. Ian Motta scored a season-high 17 points off the bench to lead the Bison. Jack Forrest added 14 points, Ruot Bijiek had 11, and Elvin Edmonds IV notched 10 assists. Abe Johnson and Ryan Curry tallied 14 points each for Army. The Bison built a 16-point lead in the first half and withstood an Army run in each half, ultimately leading the game for 36:40.
In the rematch at Sojka Pavilion, Bucknell rode an 11-0 run in each half and its best defensive performance in 12 years to a 54-41 victory. Josh Bascoe scored 11 points and Motta had 10 to lead a big day for the bench unit. Noah Williamson recorded 10 points and seven rebounds, and it was his 3-pointer-steal-layup combo that sparked Bucknell's decisive run in the latter stages of the second half. Bucknell's defense carried the day, as the Bison limited the Black Knights to 28.6% shooting, including a 4-for-20 mark from the 3-point arc. Two of those treys came from deep reserves in the final two minutes, including a 40-footer at the buzzer from Griff Lamb. Army had only 33 points with two minutes to go, as Bucknell nearly posted a sub-40 defensive effort for the first time since a 66-38 win over Binghamton in 2010-11. The 41 points allowed was Bucknell's best since a 75-41 win over Holy Cross in 2011-12, and the Bison kept an opponent under 50 points for the first time since a 65-43 win over Monmouth in 2018-19.

Facts & Figures

Brandon McCreesh now ranks fourth in the Patriot League in 3-point percentage (.448) thanks to a recent hot streak. McCreesh has hit at least one trey in nine straight games and is 15-for-23 from the arc in that stretch.
The Bison lead the Patriot League in free-throw attempts (20.7) and made free throws (13.7) per game, even though they rank eighth in free-throw percentage (.663). Noah Williamson's 173 free-throw attempts are 10th-most in the nation.
Bucknell also leads the PL in opponent turnovers (12.6) per game and opponent field-goal percentage (.433)
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 35-for-51 (.686) since then, including 33-for-47 (.702) over his last 17 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 seven straight games.
Williamson's nine double-doubles are the most in the Patriot League and 18th-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 20.2
2. Ryan Kalkbrenner, Creighton 19.2
3. Noah Williamson, Bucknell 16.5
4. Hunter Dickinson, Kansas 16.3
5. Bent Leuchten, UC Irvine 15.7
6. Vladislav Goldin, Michigan 15.6

Who's Got Next?

Bucknell returns home on Wednesday to face Boston University at Sojka Pavilion. The Terriers came from behind to defeat the Bison 85-82 in overtime at Case Gym on Jan. 25.

Bison Men Visit Army Saturday in Battle of Second-Place Teams

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Players Mentioned

Pip Ajayi

Josh Bascoe

Ruot Bijiek

Elvin Edmonds IV

Jack Forrest

Josh Fulton

Brandon McCreesh

Ian Motta

Achile Spadone

Noah Williamson

Bison Men Visit Army Saturday in Battle of Second-Place Teams

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Next Event

Players Mentioned

Pip Ajayi

Josh Bascoe

Ruot Bijiek

Elvin Edmonds IV

Jack Forrest

Josh Fulton

Brandon McCreesh

Ian Motta

Achile Spadone

Noah Williamson

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