Men's Basketball Starts Busy February Stretch Wednesday at American

Wednesday, February 4

Washington, D.C.

7 p.m.

Bucknell University

American

Photo by: Jon Lambert

Men's Basketball Starts Busy February Stretch Wednesday at American

2/3/2026 1:04:00 PM | Men's Basketball

GAME DIGEST
What: Bucknell (7-16, 4-6 PL) at American (13-10, 6-4 PL)
When: Wednesday, Feb. 4, 7 p.m.
Where: Bender Arena, Washington, D.C.
Watch: ESPN+
Listen: Eagle 107 and BucknellBison.com
Live Stats: AUEagles.com
COMPLETE GAME NOTES
TICKETS

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- After winning a wild double-overtime affair with Boston University on Saturday, Bucknell now faces a tough stretch with games against the top three teams in the Patriot League standings, all in a span of five days. The gauntlet starts on Wednesday against defending PL champion American in Washington, D.C. The Bison will then host Colgate and Navy on Saturday and Monday.

Bucknell entered Saturday's game on a four-game slide, the last three of which were decided in the final few seconds. But the Bison picked up a much-needed home win by outlasting the Terriers in a 50-minute thriller. Both teams were shorthanded — Bucknell had only eight scholarship players available and Boston University seven — but the shotmaking in the overtime periods was sensational. The game was tied at 67 at the end of regulation and ended up at 103-97. The Bison went 11-for-15 from the field in the extra time, including 3-pointers on three straight possessions to surge ahead in the second OT. The star of the game was Bison center Amon Dörries, who shattered the Bucknell freshman scoring record with 36 points and earned his second straight Patriot League Rookie of the Week honor on Monday. Dörries hit the game-tying shot with 32 seconds left in regulation, and then poured in 15 more in the overtime periods. That rookie scoring mark had stood for 48 years, since Al Leslie tallied 31 against Rider in 1978. The 36 points are eight-most by a freshman in all of Division I basketball this season.

Single-Game Points by a Freshman, Division I, 2025-26
1. Keaton Wagler, Illinois vs. Purdue   46
2. AJ Dybantsa, BYU vs. Utah 43
3. Kingston Flemings, Houston vs. Texas Tech 42
   Jordan Ellerbe, FGCU vs. Kennesaw St. 42
5. Ace Glass III, Washington St. vs. Arizona St. 40
6. Nigel James Jr., Marquette vs. Providence 38
7. Sash Gavalyugov, Santa Clara vs. Loyola Marymount 37
8. Amon Dörries, Bucknell vs. Boston U. 36
Ebuka Okorie, Stanford vs. North Carolina 36
   Leroy Blyden Jr., Toledo vs. Western Michigan 36

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 the Jan. 24 game at Loyola, but he left the game with an injury just 2:27 into the contest and did not return. Curtin came right back and had 15 points against Lafayette and 22 with 10 rebounds against Boston University. He is now averaging 15.8 ppg in Patriot League games, or 17.3 if you discard the two-minute stint at Loyola. 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 Wednesday.

Patriot League Freshman Scoring Leaders, 2025-26
1. Andrew Alekseyenko, Colgate   14.7
2. Amon Dörries, Bucknell 14.5
3. Chance Gladden, Boston U. 13.8
4. Madden Collins, American 13.3
5. Emmett Adair, Loyola 12.3
6. Pat Curtin, Bucknell 11.9

Bucknell committed only eight turnovers against Boston University, its fourth straight game with 10 or fewer and its ninth in a row with an even or positive assist-to-turnover ratio. The Bison will have to take care of the ball on Wednesday against an American team that leads the Patriot League in opponent turnovers (13.9) and steals (8.1) per game. The Eagles allow only 71.7 ppg, the second-best mark in the league behind Navy. Freshman Madden Collins has come off the bench in every game this season, but he is American's leading scorer at 13.3 ppg. Collins has five 20-point games this season, with a high of 26 against Holy Cross. Greg Jones, the Preseason Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year, also chips in 12.3 ppg, and Julen Iturbe scores 10.1 ppg.

American had won three in a row over Navy, Army, and Colgate, but since then the Eagles have dropped back-to-back games to Loyola and Lafayette. Most recently, they fell 67-65 to Lafayette on Caleb Williams' layup at the buzzer. There are some connections between the two teams. AU sophomore Shane O'Reilly is the younger brother of former Bison sharpshooter Matt O'Reilly. American's Eric Reynolds and Bucknell's Jayden Williams, both sophomores, were classmates at Blair Academy. Bison senior Brady Muller was also a teammate at Blair. American's Matt Mayock and Bucknell's Quin Berger were teammates at Westtown School and played for coach Seth Berger, Quin's father.

Bucknell has an overall 49-31 lead in an all-time series with American that includes some historic dates. The very first meeting on Jan. 14, 1939 also happened to be the first game ever played in Davis Gym (AU won 38-33). Coincidentally, American was also the opponent for the very last game ever played in Davis Gym on Jan. 11, 2003 (a 63-52 Bison win). Two nights later, the Bison debuted in Sojka Pavilion.

As Patriot League rivals, Bucknell leads 34-19, including victories in the 2005 and 2006 PL Tournament semifinals and the 2020 and 2024 quarterfinals. Bucknell has won 28 of 37 series meetings in Lewisburg, including 20 out of 24 at Sojka Pavilion, but the Bison are just 13-15 at Bender Arena.

Bucknell and American split two games last season, with the home team winning both, and they ultimately tied for first place in the Patriot League regular-season standings at 13-5 (the Bison won the tiebreaker and earned the No. 1 seed for the PL Tournament). The Eagles won 68-58 in D.C., and then the Bison prevailed 71-49 in Lewisburg. In the game at Bender Arena, Noah Williamson recorded 23 points and 11 rebounds, but low-post counterpart Matt Rogers scored 20, including the go-ahead bucket with 1:50 remaining, and American came from behind to beat Bucknell 68-58. The Bison led by 11 points at the half, ceded the lead for the first time just inside six minutes to play, and then after Williamson scored with 2:13 to go to give them a 58-57 edge, American finished the game on an 11-0 run. In the rematch at Sojka Pavilion, Williamson tallied 18 points and 12 rebounds, and the Bison pulled within one game of first-place American, which saw its seven-game winning streak come to an end. Josh Bascoe added 14 points and seven assists, and Achile Spadone scored 11. The Bison shot 60.0% from the field while holding the Eagles to 34.8% shooting. Bucknell outscored American 40-18 in the paint and outrebounded the Eagles 27-21. Matt Mayock led AU with 10 points.

After the game in D.C., Bucknell will be home for two games in a span of just over 48 hours, as second-place Colgate visits Sojka Pavilion on Saturday at 5 p.m., followed by a CBS Sports Network-televised game against first-place Navy on Monday at 6 p.m. The Bison will be looking for seasons splits after falling on the road against the Raiders and Midshipmen earlier in the season.