Bison Men Stun American 60-59 on Spadone's 3-Point Buzzer-Beater

Wednesday, February 4

Washington, D.C.

7 p.m.

Bucknell University

8-16,5-6Patriot

American

13-11,6-5Patriot

Bucknell

American

Bison Men Stun American 60-59 on Spadone's 3-Point Buzzer-Beater

2/4/2026 9:24:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Achile Spadone banked in a deep 3-pointer at the buzzer to lift Bucknell to a stunning 60-59 win over American on Wednesday night at Bender Arena. Spadone grabbed the rebound off a missed free throw, raced the ball up the court, and let fly the game-winning shot to send the Bison to their second straight win heading into a pair of home games later in the week.

The Bison trailed 59-56 after Geoff Sprouse's fourth 3-pointer of the second half broke a tie with 1:35 to play. Bucknell had a shot blocked and turned the ball over on its next two possessions but never allowed another point. After Julen Iturbe missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 24 seconds left, Amon Dörries split a pair at the line after grabbing an offensive rebound. Kade Sebastian missed another front end with 4.7 left, setting up Spadone's heroics.

BINGO!!!! Achile Spadone calls bank and calls game! #rayBucknell #Team131 #SCTop10 #PLTop3 @ESPN | @PatriotLeague pic.twitter.com/FVl9VlUKBA
— Bucknell MBasketball (@Bucknell_MBB) February 5, 2026

Spadone's short jumper in the lane tied the game at 56, and he finished with nine points, a career-high 11 rebounds, and three assists while sparking a terrific defensive effort. The Bison limited the Eagles to 34.5 percent shooting on the night.

Dörries, fresh off a 36-point game in Saturday's double-overtime win over Boston University, scored 21 in this one, including Bucknell's first 10 points of the game. Fellow freshman Pat Curtin scored all 12 of his points in the second half after picking up three fouls in the first.

Bucknell won its second straight game and improved to 5-6 in Patriot League play, while the Eagles dropped their third in a row -- the last two coming at the buzzer -- to fall to 6-5.

It was a defensive battle throughout, and the Bison hung around despite American hitting 12 of its 20 field goals from beyond the arc. The Eagles also collected 16 offensive rebounds to Bucknell's six, but they were only able to parlay that into an 11-10 edge in second-chance points.

American led 29-24 at the half and ran its lead up to eight on a Sprouse 3-pointer. The Bison shot right back with a 7-0 run on a Dörries layup, a short bank shot from Spadone, and a corner 3-pointer from Quin Berger. Curtin scored 10 straight Bucknell points in one stretch, and his trey at the 7:51 mark snapped a 43-all tie.

Iturbe hit a 3-pointer and a layup on consecutive possessions to swing the lead back in American's favor, but critical points from Dörries, Curtin, and Spadone kept the Bison within arms reach down the stretch.

Bucknell shot 43.2 percent from the field, 7-for-20 from the arc, and 15-for-17 from the foul line against the Patriot League's second-ranked defensive team. Jayden Williams tallied eight points and five assists, and Berger scored seven key points off the bench.

Sprouse led American with 12 points, all on threes. Sebastian scored 11 and Greg Jones had 10 points and eight rebounds.

There were eight lead changes and four ties in a closely contested first half that was dominated by the defenses. Dörries scored Bucknell's first 10 points of the night and had 14 of the team's 24 points in the opening stanza.

Williams and Aleksander Pachucki hit back-to-back 3-pointers midway through the first half as part of a 7-0 run that gave the Bison an 18-15 lead. But they made only one field goal in the final nine minutes of the half as American went on an 11-2 run to surge ahead.

After winning on the road in league play for the first time this season, Bucknell will next play at home twice in a 48-hour span against the top two teams in the Patriot League standings. The Bison host Colgate on Saturday at 5 p.m. and Navy on Monday at 6 p.m.