Bison Men Fall One Shot Short at Lafayette, 81-79

Wednesday, January 28

Easton, Pa.

7 p.m.

Bucknell University

Lafayette

Photo by: Rick Smith

Bison Men Fall One Shot Short at Lafayette, 81-79

1/28/2026 9:40:00 PM | Men's Basketball

EASTON, Pa. – Pat Curtin had a good look at a 3-pointer from the left wing rim out just before the final buzzer, and Lafayette held off Bucknell 81-79 on Wednesday night at Kirby Sports Center. The Leopards overcame a 10-point deficit behind seven 3-pointers and 28 points from Caleb Williams, while Amon Dörries led five Bison in double figures with 16 points.

Dörries battled second-half foul trouble, but the Bison got a huge lift off the bench from Patrick O'Brien, who scored a career-high 13 points. Curtin finished with 15 points, Achile Spadone had his first career double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Jayden Williams finished with 13 points and six boards.

Bucknell led by two at the half and by three five minutes into the second when back-to-back buckets by Dörries ignited a 7-0 run that pushed the margin to 10 at 56-46. O'Brien later scored seven straight Bison points to offset a couple of Lafayette 3-pointers, but Williams shot the Leopards right back in the game.

Williams' 3-pointer with 5:36 left cut the margin to two, and his seventh bomb of the night at the 4:00 mark tied the game at 71-all. After two Bucknell misses, Mark Butler hit two free throws to give Lafayette its first lead since 2-0.

Curtin gave the Bison the lead back with a hard drive to the basket, plus a free throw, with 2:26 left, but Ryan Pettit's only four points of the game put the Leopards back in front for good. He made two free throws and then jumped a passing lane for a breakaway layup and a 77-74 lead with 1:48 left.

Aleksander Pachucki scored on a leaner in the lane, and then after a defensive stop, Pachucki's open 3-pointer from the top of the key went halfway down and popped out. Christian Humphrey-Rembert grabbed the rebound and one official called a traveling violation and another overruled him with a foul. Humphrey-Rembert made both free throws for a 79-76 lead with 26 seconds left.

Dörries split a pair at the line, and then Pettit left the door open by missing two with 16 seconds left. Curtin drew a foul while shooting a 3-pointer at the other end, and he made the final two free throws after missing the first. Caleb Williams made 1 of 2 at the line with 7.2 seconds left to make it 81-79, and then Curtin's pull-up three rimmed out, and Spadone's tip attempt came just after the buzzer.

Bucknell dropped its fourth straight and fell to 6-16 overall and 3-6 in the Patriot League, while Lafayette now has the same record. The two teams split the season series, with Bucknell winning 76-69 at Sojka Pavilion two weeks ago.

The Bison shot 46.2 percent from the field and went 7-for-19 from the arc and 24-for-32 from the foul line. Lafayette finished at 48.1 percent overall, 8-for-24 from deep, and 23-for-31 from the foul line.

Lafayette started the game 2-for-11 from the field and 0-for-8 from 3-point range, and Bucknell raced out to a 14-4 lead. Jayden Williams was the early catalyst with seven points, five rebounds, and two assists in the game's first eight minutes.

Bucknell cooled off against Lafayette's zone later in the half, going scoreless for a span of 4:28 while the Leopards scored eight straight points to tie the game at 22-22. Spadone answered with five straight points on an and-1 and a short jumper, and the Bison led for the final 5:10 of the half as the teams alternated buckets over that final stretch.

Bucknell returns home on Saturday to face Boston University at 2 p.m.