Bison Men Rally in Second Half for 72-65 Win over Lehigh

NOTE: The next Bucknell Basketball luncheon will be held on Tuesday at noon at the Bull Run Tap House in Lewisburg. Join coaches John Griffin and Trevor Woodruff and players from the men's and women's teams as they discuss the start of Patriot League play and the upcoming games against Navy.

LEWISBURG, Pa. – Senior Ruot Bijiek set career highs with 20 points and 10 rebounds, and all five Bucknell starters scored in double figures in a come-from-behind 72-65 win over Lehigh on Saturday evening at Sojka Pavilion. The Bison trailed by as many as 13 points in the first half and by eight at halftime, but they outscored the Mountain Hawks 44-29 in the second half to level their Patriot League record at 1-1.

Six of Bijiek's 10 rebounds came at the offensive end, where he had several key put-backs in the second half to lead the comeback. Freshman Pat Curtin had a big night in his second career start, tallying 14 points, four assists, and five steals. Bucknell came up with 14 thefts in the game and forced a season-high 21 turnovers.

Jayden Williams tallied 12 points and five assists, Achile Spadone finished with 10 points, seven rebounds, and three steals, and Amon Dörries pocketed 11 points, including a huge fadeaway baseline jumper with 41 seconds remaining that stretched a three-point margin up to five.

Williams was terrific in the second half, and his 3-pointer at the 6:29 mark gave Bucknell a 60-56 advantage and a cushion it would ultimately never yield, although there were tense moments to come. The Bison missed two breakaway layups off steals with that four-point lead, and Hank Alvey, who had a monster game with 26 points and nine rebounds, knocked down a 3-pointer to cut the margin back to one with 5:26 to go. That would be Lehigh's last field goal of the game.

Curtin and Bijiek both made a pair of free throws to push one-point leads up to three, and then with just over two minutes to go Bijiek ripped down an offensive rebound in traffic and stuck it back for a 66-63 lead. Lehigh turned the ball over twice while down three, and Dörries made them pay with a tough fading jumper to make it 68-63.

Spadone was called for his fifth foul while diving to the floor for a loose ball, and Edouard Benoit made both free throws with 30 seconds left. Williams broke the full-court press and made two clutch free throws in a 1-and-1 situation with 25 ticks remaining, and Bijiek finished off his first career 20-point game with two more charity tosses. The Bison finished 17-for-18 from the foul line.

The Bison shot 36.9 percent for the game and went 7-for-22 from 3-point range. Lehigh finished at 46.8 percent, but just 40.0 percent in the second half, and the Mountain Hawks struggled at the 3-point arc (4-16).

Bucknell outrebounded Lehigh 35-33, including a 13-4 edge on the offensive glass that led to a 17-9 margin in second-chance points.

In addition to Alvey's career-high-tying 26 points, Benoit and Nasir Whitlock tallied 11 points each, and Joshua Ingram finished with 10. Whitlock came into the game leading the Patriot League in scoring at 19.5 points per game, but the Bison held him to 3-for-11 shooting with six turnovers.

Lehigh led 17-16 eight minutes into the contest before embarking on a 15-3 run. Whitlock's 3-pointer with 6:10 left in the half gave the Mountain Hawks their largest lead at 32-19. Bucknell made some headway late in the half, pulling within six after three free throws from Bijiek. The Bison had a final possession to get even closer, but a turnover led to a Caleb Thomas layup just before the horn, and Lehigh led 36-28 at the break.

Pachucki hits a big three and its a 12-0 run to get the Bison in the lead!https://t.co/9tjQdKhrTE @espn | @PatriotLeague pic.twitter.com/QYX5ORPC7m
— Bucknell MBasketball (@Bucknell_MBB) January 3, 2026

The Bison used a 12-0 run to regain the lead in the early stages of the second half. Williams fed Grgur Brcic for a dunk, Bijiek tied it at 45 with a tip-in, and then Williams and Aleksander Pachucki hit back-to-back 3-pointers for a 51-45 lead. Bucknell got two more stops but couldn't build on that run. Three straight misses with an illegal screen call thrown in allowed Lehigh to surge back ahead. The Mountain Hawks led 55-51 after an Ingram 3-pointer, but Curtin answered with a big triple of his own and the Bison won it with key plays in the closing minutes.

Bucknell returns to action on Wednesday at Navy at 7 p.m. The Midshipmen, who were picked as the preseason favorite in the Patriot League, are off to a 2-0 start in league play after downing Holy Cross on Saturday.

Bison Men Rally in Second Half for 72-65 Win over Lehigh

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Team Stats

Ruot Bijiek

Pat Curtin

Jayden Williams

Amon Dörries

Players Mentioned

Ruot Bijiek

Grgur Brcic

Pat Curtin

Aleksander Pachucki

Achile Spadone

Jayden Williams

Bison Men Rally in Second Half for 72-65 Win over Lehigh

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Team Stats

Game Leaders

Ruot Bijiek

Pat Curtin

Jayden Williams

Amon Dörries

Players Mentioned

Ruot Bijiek

Grgur Brcic

Pat Curtin

Aleksander Pachucki

Achile Spadone

Jayden Williams

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