Bison Host Terriers Saturday Afternoon at Sojka

Saturday, January 31

Lewisburg, Pa.

2 p.m.

Bucknell University

Boston University

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Photo by: Jon Hertzler

1/29/2026 6:27:00 PM | Men's Basketball

GAME DIGEST
What: Boston University (8-14, 3-6 PL) at Bucknell (6-16, 3-6 PL)
When: Saturday, Jan. 31, 2 p.m.
Where: Sojka Pavilion
Watch: ESPN+
Listen: Eagle 107 and BucknellBison.com
Live Stats: BucknellBison.com
Happenings: Scout Day and Teacher Appreciation Day
COMPLETE GAME NOTES
TICKETS

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- The Bucknell men's basketball team looks to bounce back from a run of close losses when Boston University comes to Sojka Pavilion on Saturday for the first of two meetings between the teams. The Bison and Terriers will square off again in Boston in two weeks. Bucknell has dropped four straight since starting Patriot League play 3-2. The last three losses have been by a combined 10 points, with all three decided in the final seconds. The Bison lost to Army 87-84 on Jan. 21 on Jackson Firman's buzzer-beater 3-pointer at the end of overtime. Bucknell's potential game-tying 3-pointer was off the mark with two seconds remaining in a 67-62 loss at Loyola last Saturday. And then on Wednesday, Bucknell fell at Lafayette 81-79 when Pat Curtin's 3-point try rimmed out at the buzzer.

The Bison and Terriers are two of the five teams tied for sixth place in the Patriot League at 3-6. Navy continues to set the pace at 8-1, with Colgate (7-2) and American (6-3) close behind. After Saturday's game against Boston University, Bucknell will then face those top three teams in succession, all in a span of five days.

Saturday's game will feature a battle of young German centers, as Bucknell's 6'11" freshman Amon Dörries (Potsdam) goes up against Boston University's 7'0" sophomore Ben Defty (Berlin). Both players have spent time with Germany's age-group national teams at international tournaments. Dörries leads the Bison in scoring at 13.5 ppg, and in Patriot League play he averages 14.8 ppg while shooting 55.3% from the field. He tallied a career-high 26 points at Loyola last Saturday and earned his second PL Rookie of the Week honor on Monday. Defty scores at a 14.4 ppg clip and is second in the league and fifth in Division I in field-goal percentage at 68.4%. Defty also had a 26-point game earlier this month against Lehigh, and he had 19 points on 8-for-10 shooting against league-leading Navy on Wednesday.

Bucknell has another high-scoring freshman in Pat Curtin, who was averaging 17.3 ppg in Patriot League play, including a pair of 25-points games, heading into last Saturday's game at Loyola, but he left the game with an injury just 2:27 into the contest and did not return. Curtin came back on Wednesday and had 15 points against Lafayette. He is now averaging a team-high 15.1 ppg in Patriot League games, or 17.0 if you discard the two-minute stint at Loyola.

Dörries has moved into ninth place in Bucknell history in points by a freshman with 297. He now has one more than Mike Muscala, who went on to become Bucknell's all-time leading scorer.

Most Points, Freshman Season
1.  Gerald Purnell   1974-75   467
2.  Bob Barry 1976-77   441
3.  Al Leslie 1977-78   367
4.  Bryan Cohen 2008-09   353
5.  Nana Foulland 2014-15   346
6.  Chris McNaughton 2003-04   334
7.  Kevin Bettencourt 2002-03   321
8.  Mike Bright 1989-90   314
9.  Amon Dörries 2025-26   297
10. Mike Muscala 2009-10   296

There are six freshmen who rank in the top 25 in the Patriot League in scoring, and three of them will be on the floor on Saturday.

Patriot League Freshman Scoring Leaders, 2025-26
1. Andrew Alekseyenko, Colgate   14.4
2. Amon Dörries, Bucknell 13.5
3. Madden Collins, American 13.4
4. Chance Gladden, Boston U. 12.8
5. Emmett Adair, Loyola 11.4
6. Pat Curtin, Bucknell 11.3

The Bison have been playing without as many as five scholarship players for the bulk of the season, and that number grew to six when Curtin left the Loyola game in the opening minutes. Bucknell has now lost 72 man-games due to injury this season. Boston University has also been bitten by the injury bug, with season-ending injuries to All-Patriot Leaguer Kyrone Alexander, starting forward Otto Landrum, key veterans Matai Baptiste and Ethan Okwuosa, and freshman Andrew Bhesania. The Terriers have been using seven players in games over the last several weeks.

Boston University is coming off back-to-back close losses to the league's top two teams in Navy (58-50) and Colgate (80-79 OT). The Terriers jumped out to a 14-0 lead in Annapolis on Wednesday before the Midshipmen rallied. The Terriers feature one of the league's premier 3-point shooters in Michael McNair, who leads the PL with 69 made threes and ranks second in the PL and sixth nationally in percentage at 45.7%. The Bison have struggled to defend the 3-point line this season, and now they face a team that leads the league and ranks 21st nationally at 38.0%.

Bucknell and Boston University have met 29 times previously in men's basketball, and the Bison have a 16-13 lead in the series. Bucknell is 8-6 at home against the Terriers, 7-7 on the road, and 1-0 at neutral sites. In games played in Boston, Bucknell is 2-1 at Agganis Arena and 5-6 at Case Gym. The two teams met for the first time at the 2005 Cable Car Classic at Santa Clara. The Bison won that one 63-57 behind 20 points from Chris McNaughton and 15 from Charles Lee.

The Bison and Terriers split the two meetings last season, with the home team winning each time. Boston University won 85-82 in overtime at Case Gym, and then Bucknell prevailed 76-60 at Sojka Pavilion. In last season's first meeting in Boston, the Terriers rallied to win 85-82 in overtime, despite 26 points from Noah Williamson. Bucknell started the day 11-for-13 from the field and led by as many as 11 points in the first half. The Bison shot 60.4% in regulation but only 1-for-4 in overtime. Kyrone Alexander led the Terriers with 16 points.

In the rematch in Lewisburg, the backcourt of Josh Bascoe (17 points), Elvin Edmonds IV (13), and Jayden Williams (11) combined to make eight three-pointers, driving the offense in a 16-point victory. Bascoe handed out four assists in addition to his game-high 17 points. He accounted for Bucknell's first 11 points, scoring or assisting on all of its baskets, as the Bison sprinted out to a 21-6 lead.

Bucknell next travels south to play American in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday night. It will be the first of two meetings this season between the Bison and Eagles.