Men's Basketball Starts Busy Road Stretch at Loyola Saturday; Note Time Change to 2 p.m.

Saturday, January 24

Baltimore, Md,

2 p.m.

Bucknell University

Loyola

Photo by: Jon Hertzler

Men's Basketball Starts Busy Road Stretch at Loyola Saturday; Note Time Change to 2 p.m.

1/23/2026 11:06:00 AM | Men's Basketball

GAME DIGEST
What: Bucknell (6-14, 3-4 PL) at Loyola (6-14, 2-5 PL)
When: Saturday, Jan. 24, 2 p.m.
Where: Reitz Arena, Baltimore, Md.
Watch: ESPN+
Listen: Eagle 107 and BucknellBison.com
Live Stats: LoyolaGreyhounds.com
TICKETS
COMPLETE GAME NOTES

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- Bucknell was beaten on a last-second shot for the second time this season on Wednesday, and now the Bison will look to bounce back on Saturday at Loyola. Note that the start time has been moved up to 2 p.m. due to the forecast of a winter storm starting later in the evening. There is no change to the media coverage, with the game streaming live on ESPN+ along with the local radio broadcast on Eagle 107.

Bucknell enters the weekend in a three-way tie for fifth place in the Patriot League along with Boston University and Holy Cross. Navy has sole possession of first place at 5-1, with American and Colgate one game back. The Bison and Greyhounds will be squaring off for the second time in 14 days. The two teams met on Jan. 10 at Sojka Pavilion, with Bucknell overcoming an early 13-point deficit to win 70-67. Freshman Pat Curtin scored 25 points in that game, and he matched that career best with 25 in Wednesday's tough overtime loss to Army. Curtin joined the starting lineup at the onset of Patriot League play, and against PL foes he is averaging 17.3 ppg, seventh-best in the league.

Curtin is an Ellicott City native who will be returning to his home area on Saturday. He averaged 29.8 ppg for Glenelg Country School last season and was named Baltimore Sun Metro Player of the Year, MIAA A Conference Player of the Year, and Howard County Times Player of the Year. Fellow freshman Amon Dörries leads the team in scoring over the full season at 12.8 ppg. The 6'11" center from Germany has been a starter since day one — he scored 20 points against Delaware in his collegiate debut — and is shooting 50.5% from the field and 79.7% from the foul line.

While the two freshmen have been carrying much of the scoring load of late, the Bison received significant scoring production from Achile Spadone and Jayden Williams in Wednesday's game against Army. Williams scored a career-high 17 points, and Spadone tallied 18 to go along with a career-high nine rebounds. With two key frontcourt men out with injuries, Spadone has helped fill the void on the glass. He has recorded at least eight rebounds in each of the last four games.

Loyola comes in at 2-5 in Patriot League play. The Greyhounds are 6-14 overall but are 4-4 at home. Since falling at Bucknell two weeks ago, Loyola dropped close games to Colgate and Lehigh and routed Boston University 74-57. Loyola has played the last two-plus games without top scorer Jacob Theodosiou (15.1 ppg), who played six minutes against Colgate before missing the next two. Others have picked up the slack, however, and the Greyhounds have averaged 78.3 ppg in his absence. Braeden Speed (14.1 ppg) has hit the 20-point mark in two of his last three games. Emmett Adair scored 17 points against Boston University and averages 12.0 ppg on the season. Loyola head coach Josh Loeffler is in his second season at the helm. He was previously the head coach at Johns Hopkins, and his first season there was the senior year for current Bucknell assistant coach Jesse Flannery, who was an outstanding guard for the Blue Jays.

The Bison and Greyhounds have met 33 times previously. Bucknell leads 26-7 in the series, including six straight wins, and a 20-5 mark since Loyola joined the Patriot League in 2013-14. Bucknell is 11-4 all-time at Loyola's Reitz Arena and 15-3 at home (2-0 in Davis Gym, 13-3 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 has swept the last two season series, and the Bison also prevailed in last year's Patriot League Tournament quarterfinals. In that postseason encounter, the top-seeded Bucknell played its NCAA-record ninth overtime game of the season and prevailed 76-72 over No. 8 seed Loyola. Noah Williamson led the way with 21 points and 10 rebounds, and Josh Bascoe added 20 points, eight rebounds, and six assists. The Bison jumped out to a 29-12 lead, but Loyola got hot from downtown and got right back into the game with a 22-6 run. Jacob Theosodiou paced Loyola with 17 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists.

In this year's first meeting in Lewisburg, Curtin and Dörries combined to score 44 of their team's 70 points, leading Bucknell to a 70-67 win. Curtin scored a career-high 25 points, 17 coming in the second half, while Dörries added 19 points, six rebounds, four assists, two steals, and two blocks in over 38 minutes. On a night when Curtin went 10-for-17 from the field and blew past his previous personal best of 14 points, it was his defensive play that helped seal the win. The Bison were clinging to a two-point lead in the final seconds, and as Curtin closely guarded Braeden Speed near the right sideline, the Loyola point guard extended his off arm and Curtin drew the offensive foul with 2.4 seconds left. The Bison withstood an early offensive barrage from the Greyhounds, who raced out to a 17-4 lead in the game's first seven minutes.

After the Loyola game, the Bison will turn right back around and face Lafayette on Monday night in the Patriot League Game of the Week on CBS Sports Network. The 7 p.m. contest will be the back half of a hoops doubleheader, with the Bucknell-Lafayette women's game set to tip at 4:30 p.m. The Bison men turned back Lafayette 76-69 at Sojka Pavilion on Jan. 14 behind 17 points from Curtin.