Wednesday, January 14
Lewisburg, Pa.
7:30 p.m.
Bucknell University
vs
Lafayette
Photo by: Jon Hertzler
Men's Basketball Caps off Hoops Twin Bill with Home Date vs. Lafayette Wednesday
1/13/2026 5:14:00 PM | Men's Basketball
GAME DIGEST
What:Â Lafayette (4-13, 1-3 PL) at Bucknell (5-12, 2-2 PL)
When:Â Wednesday, Jan. 14, 7:30 p.m.Â
Where:Â Sojka Pavilion, Lewisburg, Pa.
Watch:Â ESPN+
Listen: Eagle 107 and BucknellBison.com
Live Stats:Â BucknellBison.com
TICKETS
COMPLETE GAME NOTES
LEWISBURG, Pa. -- The Bucknell men's basketball squad has alternated wins and losses throughout the first two weeks of Patriot League play, and now the Bison look to build a winning streak when longtime in-state rival Lafayette comes to Sojka Pavilion on Wednesday night. This will be the back half of a hoops doubleheader, with the Bucknell-Lafayette women's game slated to tip off at 5 p.m., and it will be Community Night, sponsored by Members 1st Federal Credit Union.
It has been a sad week for the Bison basketball family, as the news broke early Tuesday morning that Hall-of-Famer Bill Courtney '92 passed away. Courtney had been an assistant coach at Temple this season after serving as the interim head coach at Miami a year ago. He enjoyed a long and successful coaching career that included a six-year stint as head coach at Cornell. Bill was also credited with leading the recruiting efforts at George Mason when the Patriots made their improbable run to the Final Four in 2006. At Bucknell, Bill was a two-time First Team All-Patriot League selection who scored 1,499 career points, including a single-season record 619 as a junior.Â
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The Bison are 2-0 at home and 0-2 on the road to start the Patriot League slate. Bucknell has won 13 straight regular-season home games against Patriot League opponents dating back to an overtime loss to Lehigh on Feb. 12, 2024. Defense has been a significant determining factor for the Bison this season. In the team's five wins, Bucknell is allowing 60.4 ppg and opponents are shooting 39.4% from the field and 28.8% from the 3-point arc. In the 12 losses, foes are averaging 82.3 ppg while shooting 51.0% overall and 43.0% from deep. The difficult non-league schedule certainly impacts those figures, but the same holds true in the early stages of Patriot League play, as opponents score 66.0 ppg (42.1 FG%, 33.9 3FG%) in the two wins and 70.5 ppg (47.5 FG%, 34.4 3FG%) in the two losses. Â
Bucknell held off Loyola 70-67 on Saturday, with the freshman duo of Patrick Curtin (25) and Amon Dörries (19) combining for 44 points. Curtin earned Patriot League Rookie of the Week honors on Monday following that career-best performance. He went 10-for-17 from the field and scored 17 of his 25 points in the second half. Curtin also made the game's biggest defensive play when he drew an offensive foul with 2.4 seconds left and the Bison leading by two points. In Patriot League play, Curtin is tied for ninth in the league in scoring (15.3 ppg) and first in steals (2.5 spg). Curtin's 25 points were the most by a Bucknell freshman since Gordon Mboya tallied 27 in an 80-73 win over Harvard at the Music City Invitational in Nashville on Dec. 29, 1993.Â
Dörries has begun to heat back up after a December dry spell. Over his last three games, the freshman from Germany is averaging 15.0 ppg while shooting 55.9% (19-34) from the field and 60.0% (3-5) from 3-point range. He has also blocked five shots in the last two games. Senior Ruot Bijiek was in the midst of his best stretch of the season when he took a hard fall on the first possession of the second half against Loyola on Saturday and did not return. Bijiek enjoyed one of the best games of his career against Lehigh on Jan. 3. He was the catalyst in the rally from 13 points down against the Mountain Hawks, matching his career high with 20 points — his most ever in a Patriot League game — while setting a new personal best with 10 rebounds. Six of those boards came on the offensive end of the floor, four of which resulted in put-back buckets. Bijiek led the Bison once again with 16 points and six rebounds at Navy last Wednesday, and he had seven points and five rebounds in the first half against Loyola before the injury.Â
If recent history is any indication, extra basketball could be in store on Wednesday, as six of the last nine Bucknell-Lafayette games have gone to overtime. That includes all three games in the 2021-22 season as well as one of the two regular-season meetings in each of the last three years. Bucknell set an NCAA record with nine overtime games last season, but the Bison have yet to play one in 2025-26.
Bucknell will see an old friend on Wednesday, as former Bison standout Cameron Ayers '14 is in his fourth year as a member of the Lafayette coaching staff. Ayers was the 2014 Patriot League Player of the Year and was a key member of Bucknell's 2011 and 2013 PL championship squads. He is Bucknell's No. 10 all-time scorer with 1,526 career points.Â
Lafayette is 1-3 to start Patriot League play, with the win coming on the road at Loyola, 79-64, on Jan. 3. The Leopards have dropped PL games to Colgate (85-77), Boston University (83-67), and Navy (76-50), the three teams projected to finish in the top three in the preseason poll.Â
Lafayette features one of the league's top scorers in sophomore guard Caleb Williams (16.2 ppg), who is tied for second in the league with 48 made 3-pointers. Andrew Phillips (14.1) and Mark Butler (10.2) also score in double figures, and Butler has the best assist-to-turnover ratio in the league (3.4). Freshman center Shareef Jackson averaged 9.6 ppg while shooting 55.6% from the field. Jackson attended Roman Catholic High School in Philadelphia, which was once coached by current Bison assistant Matt Griffin. Â Â
Bucknell and Lafayette have met 181 times previously, making the Leopards Bucknell's second most-played opponent (the Bison have played Lehigh 189 times). Since the series began in 1915, Lafayette leads 95-86. Since the start of Patriot League play in 1990-91, however, Bucknell has won 57 of 80 meetings. Lafayette won 33 of the first 37 meetings and led the series 60-14 at one point.
The Bison and Leopards have met in a conference championship game four times, with Bucknell winning three of those. The Bison defeated Lafayette 71-65 in the 1989 East Coast Conference final in Towson, Md., and they also won Patriot League championship games in Sojka Pavilion in 2011 (72-57) and 2013 (64-56). Lafayette claimed the 1999 Patriot League title with a 67-63 win over the Bison in Easton.
The Bison swept the season series a year ago and has won three straight head-to-head matchups. The first meeting between the two last season ended with a Bison win in overtime, 65-62 in Lewisburg. Josh Bascoe led the Bison with 23 points, hitting 5-10 from 3FG, while Noah Williamson tacked on 16 points with eight rebounds. In the rematch in Easton, Bucknell won 75-69 behind 24 points from Williamson and a then-career-high 14 off the bench from Brandon McCreesh. The Bison led 64-47 with 7:24 to play but had to hold on down the stretch after a 15-3 Leopards surge got them back in it. 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.
Next up, Bucknell heads to Hamilton, N.Y., to face Colgate on Saturday afternoon. The Bison will be looking to snap a 10-game losing skid at Cotterell Court that dates back to 2018. The Raiders are 3-1 in Patriot League action and will travel to Loyola on Wednesday before hosting the Bison.Â
What:Â Lafayette (4-13, 1-3 PL) at Bucknell (5-12, 2-2 PL)
When:Â Wednesday, Jan. 14, 7:30 p.m.Â
Where:Â Sojka Pavilion, Lewisburg, Pa.
Watch:Â ESPN+
Listen: Eagle 107 and BucknellBison.com
Live Stats:Â BucknellBison.com
TICKETS
COMPLETE GAME NOTES
LEWISBURG, Pa. -- The Bucknell men's basketball squad has alternated wins and losses throughout the first two weeks of Patriot League play, and now the Bison look to build a winning streak when longtime in-state rival Lafayette comes to Sojka Pavilion on Wednesday night. This will be the back half of a hoops doubleheader, with the Bucknell-Lafayette women's game slated to tip off at 5 p.m., and it will be Community Night, sponsored by Members 1st Federal Credit Union.
It has been a sad week for the Bison basketball family, as the news broke early Tuesday morning that Hall-of-Famer Bill Courtney '92 passed away. Courtney had been an assistant coach at Temple this season after serving as the interim head coach at Miami a year ago. He enjoyed a long and successful coaching career that included a six-year stint as head coach at Cornell. Bill was also credited with leading the recruiting efforts at George Mason when the Patriots made their improbable run to the Final Four in 2006. At Bucknell, Bill was a two-time First Team All-Patriot League selection who scored 1,499 career points, including a single-season record 619 as a junior.Â
Â
We're devastated to learn of the passing of Bucknell Athletics Hall-of-Famer and a Bison hoops legend Bill Courtney '92. Our deepest condolences to Bill's family and the Temple basketball program. https://t.co/a8LoveFkvA pic.twitter.com/rcwnjadMho
— Bucknell MBasketball (@Bucknell_MBB) January 13, 2026
The Bison are 2-0 at home and 0-2 on the road to start the Patriot League slate. Bucknell has won 13 straight regular-season home games against Patriot League opponents dating back to an overtime loss to Lehigh on Feb. 12, 2024. Defense has been a significant determining factor for the Bison this season. In the team's five wins, Bucknell is allowing 60.4 ppg and opponents are shooting 39.4% from the field and 28.8% from the 3-point arc. In the 12 losses, foes are averaging 82.3 ppg while shooting 51.0% overall and 43.0% from deep. The difficult non-league schedule certainly impacts those figures, but the same holds true in the early stages of Patriot League play, as opponents score 66.0 ppg (42.1 FG%, 33.9 3FG%) in the two wins and 70.5 ppg (47.5 FG%, 34.4 3FG%) in the two losses. Â
Bucknell held off Loyola 70-67 on Saturday, with the freshman duo of Patrick Curtin (25) and Amon Dörries (19) combining for 44 points. Curtin earned Patriot League Rookie of the Week honors on Monday following that career-best performance. He went 10-for-17 from the field and scored 17 of his 25 points in the second half. Curtin also made the game's biggest defensive play when he drew an offensive foul with 2.4 seconds left and the Bison leading by two points. In Patriot League play, Curtin is tied for ninth in the league in scoring (15.3 ppg) and first in steals (2.5 spg). Curtin's 25 points were the most by a Bucknell freshman since Gordon Mboya tallied 27 in an 80-73 win over Harvard at the Music City Invitational in Nashville on Dec. 29, 1993.Â
Dörries has begun to heat back up after a December dry spell. Over his last three games, the freshman from Germany is averaging 15.0 ppg while shooting 55.9% (19-34) from the field and 60.0% (3-5) from 3-point range. He has also blocked five shots in the last two games. Senior Ruot Bijiek was in the midst of his best stretch of the season when he took a hard fall on the first possession of the second half against Loyola on Saturday and did not return. Bijiek enjoyed one of the best games of his career against Lehigh on Jan. 3. He was the catalyst in the rally from 13 points down against the Mountain Hawks, matching his career high with 20 points — his most ever in a Patriot League game — while setting a new personal best with 10 rebounds. Six of those boards came on the offensive end of the floor, four of which resulted in put-back buckets. Bijiek led the Bison once again with 16 points and six rebounds at Navy last Wednesday, and he had seven points and five rebounds in the first half against Loyola before the injury.Â
If recent history is any indication, extra basketball could be in store on Wednesday, as six of the last nine Bucknell-Lafayette games have gone to overtime. That includes all three games in the 2021-22 season as well as one of the two regular-season meetings in each of the last three years. Bucknell set an NCAA record with nine overtime games last season, but the Bison have yet to play one in 2025-26.
Bucknell will see an old friend on Wednesday, as former Bison standout Cameron Ayers '14 is in his fourth year as a member of the Lafayette coaching staff. Ayers was the 2014 Patriot League Player of the Year and was a key member of Bucknell's 2011 and 2013 PL championship squads. He is Bucknell's No. 10 all-time scorer with 1,526 career points.Â
Lafayette is 1-3 to start Patriot League play, with the win coming on the road at Loyola, 79-64, on Jan. 3. The Leopards have dropped PL games to Colgate (85-77), Boston University (83-67), and Navy (76-50), the three teams projected to finish in the top three in the preseason poll.Â
Lafayette features one of the league's top scorers in sophomore guard Caleb Williams (16.2 ppg), who is tied for second in the league with 48 made 3-pointers. Andrew Phillips (14.1) and Mark Butler (10.2) also score in double figures, and Butler has the best assist-to-turnover ratio in the league (3.4). Freshman center Shareef Jackson averaged 9.6 ppg while shooting 55.6% from the field. Jackson attended Roman Catholic High School in Philadelphia, which was once coached by current Bison assistant Matt Griffin. Â Â
Bucknell and Lafayette have met 181 times previously, making the Leopards Bucknell's second most-played opponent (the Bison have played Lehigh 189 times). Since the series began in 1915, Lafayette leads 95-86. Since the start of Patriot League play in 1990-91, however, Bucknell has won 57 of 80 meetings. Lafayette won 33 of the first 37 meetings and led the series 60-14 at one point.
The Bison and Leopards have met in a conference championship game four times, with Bucknell winning three of those. The Bison defeated Lafayette 71-65 in the 1989 East Coast Conference final in Towson, Md., and they also won Patriot League championship games in Sojka Pavilion in 2011 (72-57) and 2013 (64-56). Lafayette claimed the 1999 Patriot League title with a 67-63 win over the Bison in Easton.
The Bison swept the season series a year ago and has won three straight head-to-head matchups. The first meeting between the two last season ended with a Bison win in overtime, 65-62 in Lewisburg. Josh Bascoe led the Bison with 23 points, hitting 5-10 from 3FG, while Noah Williamson tacked on 16 points with eight rebounds. In the rematch in Easton, Bucknell won 75-69 behind 24 points from Williamson and a then-career-high 14 off the bench from Brandon McCreesh. The Bison led 64-47 with 7:24 to play but had to hold on down the stretch after a 15-3 Leopards surge got them back in it. 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.
Next up, Bucknell heads to Hamilton, N.Y., to face Colgate on Saturday afternoon. The Bison will be looking to snap a 10-game losing skid at Cotterell Court that dates back to 2018. The Raiders are 3-1 in Patriot League action and will travel to Loyola on Wednesday before hosting the Bison.Â
Players Mentioned
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