Bison Host Midshipmen Sunday in PL Tourney Semifinal Clash

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- After gutting out a tight contest with eighth-seeded Loyola on Thursday -- and enduring an NCAA-record ninth overtime game of the season in the process -- the Bucknell men's basketball squad continues its postseason trek on Sunday afternoon when fifth-seeded Navy visits Sojka Pavilion for a Patriot League Tournament semifinal clash. The Bison and Midshipmen tip off at noon on CBS Sports Network, and tickets are on sale now.

First Team All-Patriot Leaguers Noah Williamson (21 points, 10 rebounds) and Josh Bascoe (20 points, eight rebounds, six assists) led the way in Thursday's 76-72 overtime win over Loyola. The Bison got out to a great start in front of an electric crowd, but the Greyhounds got back in it with some red-hot 3-point shooting. After surviving a last-second miss at the end of regulation, Bucknell received key buckets from Elvin Edmonds IV and Achile Spadone in overtime, and Williamson iced it at the foul line to send the Bison into the semifinals for the 26th time in the 35-year history of the Patriot League.

In order to reach the PL final for the 14th time, Bucknell will have to get past a similarly hot Navy squad. The Midshipmen have won four straight and six of their last seven, and they also have a First Team All-Patriot League guard in Austin Benigni, who scored 30 points in Navy's 86-78 quarterfinal win at Boston University. Bucknell swept the two regular-season meetings with Navy, but the Midshipmen have played some very good basketball since the Bison beat them fairly handily in Annapolis on Feb. 1.

Sunday's winner advances to the Patriot League title game on Wednesday night. No. 2 American hosts No. 3 Colgate in the other semifinal, and the winners will meet for the title at the home of the higher-seeded team.

GAME DIGEST
What: #5 Navy (14-18, 10-8 PL) at #1 Bucknell (18-14, 13-5 PL)
Where: Sojka Pavilion, Lewisburg, Pa.
When: Sunday, March 9, 12 p.m.
TV: CBS Sports Network
Local Radio: Eagle 107
Internet Audio: BucknellBison.com
Live Stats: BucknellBison.com
COMPLETE GAME NOTES | BUY TICKETS

With a Win over Navy, Bucknell Would ...

... advance to the Patriot League championship game and play the American/Colgate winner on Wednesday at Sojka Pavilion.
... make its 14th Patriot League championship game appearance and first since 2019.
... win its eighth straight game and 11th in the last 12.
... win eight straight games for the first time since 2017-18.
... have an eight-game winning streak and an eight-game losing streak in the same season for the first time in team history.
... win its 11th straight home game, the longest streak since winning 12 straight at Sojka Pavilion in 2018-19.
... defeat the Midshipmen for the fifth straight time and third time this season.
... improve 48-28 all-time in the Patriot League Tournament (6-3 vs. Navy).

Headlines

Bucknell made a mad dash to a regular-season co-championship and the Patriot League Tournament's No. 1 seed with a late-season hot streak, and the Bison have now won seven straight and 10 of its last 11 after gutting out a 76-72 overtime win over Loyola in the quarterfinals on Thursday.
Navy is just as hot. After starting the month of February with three straight losses, the Midshipmen have won four in a row and six of their last seven. The fifth-seeded Mids went on the road and ousted Boston University 86-78 in the quarterfinals on Thursday, handing their Terriers their first home loss against a PL foe all season. Navy had eclipsed the 80-point mark only four times all season before hitting for 80+ in three of the last four games.
Bucknell has now won at least a share of the Patriot League regular-season title for the 14th time, and this will be its 10th tournament as the No. 1 seed.
Bucknell and American finished tied atop the league standings at 13-5. The Bison and Eagles split their regular-season meetings, and working down the standings, the tiebreaker was decided based on the teams' records against the four teams tied for third place at 10-8. Bucknell went 5-3 against that group, while American went 4-4.
Bucknell has now earned nine of the last 14 Patriot League regular-season titles.

PATRIOT LEAGUE REGULAR-SEASON CHAMPIONSHIPS
2010-11   Bucknell
2011-12   Bucknell
2012-13   Bucknell
2013-14   Boston University
2014-15   Bucknell
2015-16   Bucknell
2016-17   Bucknell
2017-18   Bucknell
2018-19   Bucknell/Colgate
2019-20   Colgate
2020-21   Not Awarded
2021-22   Colgate
2022-23   Colgate
2023-24   Colgate
2024-25   Bucknell/American

Bucknell made history on Thursday when it played its NCAA-record ninth overtime game of the season. The Bison have played nine OT games and 12 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) played eight in a season.
Earlier this week, junior center Noah Williamson earned Patriot League Player of the Year honors, head coach John Griffin III was named Patriot League Coach of the Year, and senior guard Josh Bascoe joined Williamson on the All-PL First Team. Williamson was also named to the PL All-Defensive Team.
Williamson and Bascoe are in the midst of outstanding seasons, and their inclusion on the All-Patriot League First Team means that Bucknell has now claimed a First Team honoree in 27 of the league's 35 years of existence. Williamson is Bucknell's ninth Patriot League Player of the Year, with Zach Thomas the most recent in 2018.
Williamson and Bascoe validated their selections with huge games against Loyola in the PL Quarterfinals on Thursday. Williamson recorded his 10th double-double of the season with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Bascoe played 43 minutes and tallied 20 points, a career-high tying eight rebounds, and six assists.
Griffin is Bucknell's 10th Patriot League Coach of the Year selection. The 2008 Bucknell graduate is in his second year as head coach, and in those two seasons the Bison finished tied for second and tied for first in the league standings.
Williamson was also a preseason All-Patriot League selection and is averaging a team-high 17.4 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 10 double-doubles, he has 13 20-point games, and he averaged 20.2 ppg in conference play.
Bucknell will be going up against an experienced Navy team, which returned all five starters and nine lettermen from last season. The Mids returned 80% of their points from 2024-25.
The Bison will have to contend with the Patriot League's leading scorer in Austin Benigni (18.6 ppg). The First Team All-Patriot League selection scored 30 points against Boston University on Thursday. Sophomore Jordan Pennick has come alive in recent weeks as a second scoring option. He has reached double figures in nine straight games and recently went for 23 and 22 in back-to-back games against Holy Cross and American.
Navy features the league's top two rebounders in Aidan Kehoe (9.3 rpg) and Donovan Draper (8.1). The Midshipmen average a league-high 11.3 offensive boards per game, so the Bison will need to be sharp on the glass after conceding 12 offensive rebounds to Loyola last time out.
Benigni (231) and Williamson (220) rank sixth and 11th, respectively, in the nation in free-throw attempts.

How to Get the Game

The Bucknell-Navy game will be televised on CBS Sports Network. Jason Knapp and Mo Cassara will call the action, and they will be joined by sideline reporter Keiana Martin.
"Voice of the Bison" Doug Birdsong and former Bucknell assistant coach Terry Conrad 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

Playing in its NCAA-record ninth overtime game of the season, top-seeded Bucknell won its Patriot League Tournament Quarterfinal matchup 76-72 over eighth-seeded Loyola on Wednesday night at Sojka Pavilion. Noah Williamson achieved game-highs with 21 points and 10 rebounds, his 10th double-double of the season, and clinched the game with a free throw with nine seconds remaining in OT. Fellow All-Patriot League First Team member Josh Bascoe added 20 points, eight rebounds, and six assists.
This was the second meeting in eight days between the Bison and Greyhounds, and in both contests the home team sprinted out of the gates only to see the visitors rally. Last week in Baltimore, Loyola jumped out to a 22-7 lead, but Bucknell came back to win 70-67 thanks to two big defensive stops in the final 30 seconds.
This time it was Bucknell's turn for a hot start in front of an electric crowd at Sojka Pavilion. The Bison led 11-0 after only 2:07, and they led by as many as 17 at 29-12 after Williamson's lefty finish in the lane. But suddenly Loyola got hot from downtown, hitting six 3-pointers in seven attempts as part of a 22-6 run.
Achile Spadone and Bascoe both hit go-ahead 3-pointers in the final three minutes, the latter giving Bucknell a 67-65 lead with 1:51 to go. The Bison couldn't finish a couple of chances to stretch the margin to four, and then Jordan Stiemke scored on a put-back with 40 seconds left to tie the game at 67. After an exchange of misses, Bucknell had the NCAA overtime record all to itself.
Spadone was Bucknell's catalyst in overtime. He grabbed two offensive rebounds in one possession to start the session, which led to an Elvin Edmonds layup. Braeden Speed tied the game at 70 with a 3-pointer, then Bascoe was fouled on a drive and converted both free throws. After Stiemke was off the mark on a three, Spadone scored on a drive to make it a two-possession game.
Speed's free throws made it 74-72, and after Williamson split a pair at the foul line, Loyola's Stiemke missed a heavily contested three and Williamson made the clinching free throw with nine seconds to go.

Bucknell vs. Navy Series Notes

This is the 93rd all-time meeting between Bucknell and Navy, with the Bison hanging on to a slim 48-44 lead in a rivalry that dates back to 1920.
The series has been marked by long stretches of dominance by both sides. Navy won the first 10 meetings between 1920-50; the Midshipmen had an 11-2 stretch in the late-90s/early-2000s; and they were riding a nine-game winning streak until Bucknell's current four-game run. That recent Navy run came right on the heels of Bucknell's 19-1 stretch from 2011-19. The Bison also won 11 of 13 from 2003-08, culminating with current head coach John Griffin's half-court buzzer-beater in an 87-86 triple-overtime thriller in the 2008 Patriot League Tournament quarterfinals.
As conference rivals, Bucknell leads 44-32, with the home team winning most of the time. Since Navy joined the league, Bucknell is 29-8 against the Mids at home but is only 15-24 against Navy in Alumni Hall.
Bucknell is 5-3 all-time against Navy in the Patriot League Tournament, including the Midshipmen's 76-75 win in the 1997 championship game. Navy won the first three postseason clashes, but the Bison have won the last five, including a 70-65 decision in the 2017 semifinal round.

Bucknell vs. Navy in Patriot League Tournament
1997 Championship   Navy 76-75
1998 Semifinals   Navy 80-61
2001 Semifinals   Navy 88-64
2007 Quarterfinals   Bucknell 62-43
2008 Quarterfinals   Bucknell 87-86 (3OT)
2012 Quarterfinals   Bucknell 87-63
2013 Quarterfinals   Bucknell 58-42
2017 Semifinals   Bucknell 70-65

In this year's first meeting at Sojka Pavilion, Josh Bascoe and Noah Williamson scored 29 of their combined 43 points in the second half, leading the Bison to a 73-69 victory. The Bison turned a 39-27 second-half deficit into a 58-51 lead thanks to a 31-12 run over 12 minutes of game time. Williamson finished with a game-high 25 points and eight rebounds. Several of his nine made field goals came on nifty drives to the basket, including two straight in the final five minutes, and his dunk with 50 seconds remaining off of a great feed from Bascoe gave the Bison a 72-67 lead. Austin Benigni, who led Navy with 23 points, had just hit a 3-pointer and finished a 3-point play to get the Midshipmen within three.
In the rematch at Alumni Hall on Feb. 1, Williamson piled up 29 points and 12 rebounds, and Bucknell parlayed a monster first half into an 85-75 win. Williamson notched his eighth double-double by halftime, and Elvin Edmonds IV scored all 14 of his points in a sensational first half. Edmonds splashed a 3-pointer on the game's first possession, setting the tone for Bucknell's best 20 minutes of the season. The Bison shot a whopping 75 percent (21-28) from the field and went 5-for-7 from the 3-point arc on the way to a 51-26 halftime lead. Things got a bit nervy in a disjointed second half that was littered with fouls at both ends. The Bison couldn't keep the hot shooting going, starting the second half 4-for-17 as Navy crept closer. Benigni was held to one point in the first half before scoring 20 in the second. He tallied 13 of his team's 16 points in one stretch, and his layup at the 2:03 mark made it a seven-point game at 72-65, but the Bison were able to close it out. In the final two minutes, Williamson scored twice on breakaways to beat the press, and Bucknell went 9-for-12 at the foul line to finish it off.

Facts & Figures

Bucknell's 76.9 ppg in Patriot League play were its most since 2017-18, when the Bison averaged 79.9 ppg.
Josh Bascoe earned his first Patriot League Player of the Week honor on Feb. 24 after scoring a career-high 30 points against Army. 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 is averaging 15.8 ppg, and he continues to lead the league in assists at 4.5 apg.
Bascoe played more than 40 minutes in a game for the eighth time this season on Thursday, and he is closing in on the Bucknell record for minutes played in a season. Jack Forrest set the record last season with 1,190, and Bascoe needs only 19 more minutes to eclipse that total.
Bucknell has picked up the pace offensively over the last 15 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 15 games since then:

Scoring Average 80.5
FG% .522
3FG% .429
ASST/TO 226/167

The first Army game on Feb. 8 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 ranks third in the Patriot League in 3-point percentage (.434) thanks to a recent hot streak. McCreesh has hit at least one trey in 14 of the last 17 games and is 22-for-41 from the arc in that stretch.
Williamson has been on a tear from the 3-point arc, going 16-for-29 over his last 12 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.
Williamson is the first Bison to average at least 20 ppg in league play since Zach Thomas tallied exactly 20.0 ppg in 2017-18.
Also heating up from downtown is Elvin Edmonds IV, who went 4-for-5 at Army and is 18-for-31 in his last 11 games. In Patriot League play, Edmonds shot 60.7% from the field, 53.2% from the arc, and 80.0% from the foul line. That 3FG% led the league, and his FG% was third in the conference behind only a pair of centers in AJ Allenspach of Army and Jeff Woodward of Colgate.
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 51-for-75 (.680) since then.
Williamson's 10 double-doubles are the most in the Patriot League and 36th-most in the nation.

Patriot League Success

Bucknell is 340-177 (.658) all-time in Patriot League regular-season games, the best record of any league team. This is the 28th time in 35 years that the Bison finished with a PL record of .500 or better.
Bucknell won three straight Patriot League regular-season titles from 2011-13, becoming the first team in league history to accomplish that feat. The Bison had won five in a row and eight of the previous nine before finishing T-6th in 2019-20.
Bucknell is making its 10th Patriot League Tournament appearances as the No. 1 seed to go along with seven as the No. 2 seed.
Bucknell won Patriot League Tournament titles in 2005, 2006, 2011, 2013, 2017 and 2018. The Bison have made it to the semifinals 25 times and to the championship game 13 times in the league's first 34 years.
The Bison are the only team to go unbeaten in league play in a season (14-0 in 2006).

Home Cooking

Since Sojka Pavilion debuted in 2003, the Bison are 225-88 (.719) overall and 164-47 (.777) against Patriot League foes.
Bucknell won a record 15 home games in 2016-17, and then it matched that figure a year later.
The Bison are 12-3 at home this season, including a perfect 10-0 mark against Patriot League foes.

Bison Host Midshipmen Sunday in PL Tourney Semifinal Clash

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Pip Ajayi

Josh Bascoe

Elvin Edmonds IV

Jack Forrest

Brandon McCreesh

Achile Spadone

Noah Williamson

Bison Host Midshipmen Sunday in PL Tourney Semifinal Clash

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Pip Ajayi

Josh Bascoe

Elvin Edmonds IV

Jack Forrest

Brandon McCreesh

Achile Spadone

Noah Williamson

Related Videos