Men's Basketball Hosts Holy Cross Sunday on Senior Day

Sunday, February 22

Lewisburg, Pa.

12 p.m.

Bucknell University

Holy Cross

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Photo by: Steven Schoenfelder

Men's Basketball Hosts Holy Cross Sunday on Senior Day

2/20/2026 2:51:00 PM | Men's Basketball

GAME DIGEST
What: Holy Cross (9-19, 4-11 PL) at Bucknell (8-20, 5-10 PL)
When: Sunday, Feb. 22, 12 p.m.
Where: Sojka Pavilion
Watch: ESPN+
Listen: Eagle 107 and BucknellBison.com
Live Stats: BucknellBison.com
Happenings: Senior Day, Bucky's Birthday Party
COMPLETE GAME NOTES
TICKETS

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- Bucknell hosts Holy Cross in its final regular-season home game on Sunday afternoon. It will be Senior Day at Sojka Pavilion, as the Bison will honor Quin Berger, Ruot Bijiek, Josh Fulton, Brady Muller, and Achile Spadone along with senior manager Jack Parrott before the game. With only three games to go in the regular season, Sunday's game has significant Patriot League Tournament seeding implications. Bucknell comes into the game in a tie for eighth place with Army at 5-10, while Holy Cross is 10th at 4-11. The bottom four seeds have to play a first-round game in the 10-team tournament, and the 7 and 8 seeds get to host those games on Tuesday, March 3. The Bison are two games behind sixth-place Loyola with three to play and still have a chance to move out of the bottom four with a strong finish and some help. If the Crusaders win on Sunday, they will tie Bucknell in the standings and own the head-to-head tiebreaker. The Bison travel to Army on Wednesday, so this is an important week ahead for seeding purposes.

Bucknell will be looking to shed a four-game losing streak on Wednesday, with the four losses coming to top-four teams in Colgate, Navy, Boston University, and American. Holy Cross is also looking end a run of three straight losses. These two teams will be meeting for the first time since the league opener on Jan. 31.

The Bison will reconnect with some friendly faces on Sunday. Holy Cross head coach Dave Paulsen guided the Bison for seven seasons from 2008-15, winning two Patriot League titles (2011, 2013) on the way to a 134-94 record and three Patriot League Coach of the Year honors. Paulsen's .588 winning percentage is second-best in program history among coaches with 40 or more games, trailing only Hall-of-Famer Charlie Woollum (.590). Paulsen's associate head coach at Holy Cross is Bryson Johnson '13, who is the most prolific 3-point shooter in Bucknell history. Johnson played a key role on the 2011 and 2013 championship teams, and his 323 career 3-pointers are 29 more than any other player in team history. Johnson ranks 14th on Bucknell's all-time scoring list with 1,384 points, and he was one of three 1,000-point scorers in his class, along with Mike Muscala (1st, 2036) and Joe Willman (30th, 1162).

Over his last 10 games, Spadone is averaging 16.2 points and 7.6 rebounds per game. The Bison have been thin in the frontcourt without injured regulars Ruot Bijiek and Grgur Brcic, so Spadone has often been playing the 4 spot at 6'4", and he has now pulled down five or more rebounds in 12 straight games, including 11 at American and 10 at Lafayette. Spadone is averaging 7.1 rpg in Patriot League play to rank sixth in the league. Freshman Amon Dörries leads the Bison in scoring at 15.3 ppg, and in Patriot League play he averages 17.6 ppg. Dörries scored a Bucknell freshman-record 36 points in Bucknell's double-overtime win over Boston University on Jan. 31, and he now has seven 20-point games this season after going for 21 against American on Wednesday.

Bucknell's top two scorers in PL play are freshmen: Amon Dörries (17.6 ppg) and Pat Curtin (14.4 ppg). There are six freshmen who rank in the top 25 in the Patriot League in scoring (all games), and the Bison have two of them. Also of note, Holy Cross' Aidan Disu is making a late push for rookie honors with 20 or more points in each of his last four games. He is up to 10.8 ppg on the season.

Patriot League Freshman Scoring Leaders, 2025-26
1. Amon Dörries, Bucknell 15.3
2. Andrew Alekseyenko, Colgate 14.7
3. Emmett Adair, Loyola 13.8
4. Chance Gladden, Boston U. 13.6
5. Madden Collins, American 13.6
6. Pat Curtin, Bucknell 11.7

Holy Cross is looking to bounce back from a tough 86-83 loss to Lafayette on Wednesday. The Crusaders built an 18-point first-half lead before the Leopards stormed back with a 53-point second half. Tyler Boston leads the team in scoring at 13.7 ppg, followed by Joe Nugent (11.8), Gabe Warren (11.2), and Disu (10.8). Nugent is one of the league's top deep threats, as he shoots 40.7% from the arc to rank fourth in the Patriot League.

These two teams have met 17 times in the 35 Patriot League Tournaments, with Bucknell winning nine of the 17. That includes four times in the championship game. Bucknell defeated Holy Cross in the 2005 and 2006 title tilts, while the Crusaders topped the Bison in the final in 1993 and 2007. The Bison and Crusaders had never met until the formation of the Patriot League in 1990-91, but this will be the 87th meeting in 36 years. The two teams did not play during the 2020-21 season under the COVID-modified Patriot League schedule that placed them in different divisions. Bucknell leads the all-time series 51-35. The Bison are 27-13 against Holy Cross in Lewisburg and 20-7 at Sojka Pavilion. Bucknell is 19-19 vs. Holy Cross at the Hart Center, with one of the wins coming in the 2005 Patriot League championship game.

The Bison swept the season set a year ago. Both were high-scoring affairs, with the Bison winning 86-82 at Sojka Pavilion and 94-81 in Worcester. Holy Cross won this year's first matchup in a much-lower scoring affair, 65-58, back on New Year's Eve. In this year's first meeting at the Hart Center, the Bison rallied from 10 points down to take the lead in the second half, but the Crusaders made the last push. The Bison tallied two more total field goals and seven more shots from the arc, but they were outscored 20-2 from the free-throw line. Holy Cross went just 1-for-9 from downtown, with the lone make coming in the game's first two minutes, but the hosts built a 42-28 edge in points in the paint. Aleksander Pachucki went 5-for-9 from the arc and scored a career-high 17 points, while Declan Ryan and Gabe Warren scored 14 each for Holy Cross. Amon Dörries did not start due to illness and went just 1-for-4 in 17 minutes, while Holy Cross' Nugent was injured five minutes into the game and did not return.

Bucknell plays its last two regular season games on the road, at Army on Wednesday and Lehigh next Saturday. Note that the Army game is an 11 a.m. start at Christl Arena.