Bison Men Right Back at it Thursday at No. 1 Seed Navy in PL Quarterfinals

Thursday, March 5

Annapolis, Md.

7 p.m.

Bucknell University

Navy (PL Quarterfinals)

Bison Men Right Back at it Thursday at No. 1 Seed Navy in PL Quarterfinals

3/4/2026 1:39:00 PM | Men's Basketball

GAME DIGEST
What: #8 Bucknell (10-22, 6-12 PL) at #1 Navy (25-6, 17-1 PL) in Patriot League Tournament Quarterfinals
When: Thursday, March 5, 7 p.m.
Where: Alumni Hall, Annapolis, Md.
Watch: ESPN+
Listen: Eagle 107 and BucknellBison.com
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
COMPLETE GAME NOTES
TICKETS

** NOTE: Bucknell fans planning to attend Thursday's Patriot League Tournament quarterfinal game at Navy should pay special attention to the U.S. Naval Academy's increased Force Protection measures. Access to Alumni Hall is only available via shuttle buses running from the pressbox side of Navy-Marine Corps Stadium starting at 5 p.m. REAL ID or a United States passport will be required for entry. Bucknell will be running a fan bus to the game. Seats are available on a first-come, first-served basis by contacting Todd Newcomb. The bus will depart at 2 p.m. from the loading dock area behind Sojka Pavilion, and will return home immediately following the game. Bus tickets are $30 per person, payable by cash or check (made out to Bucknell) when you board. Game tickets must be purchased through the Naval Academy for Thursday's contest. If you have questions, you can contact the Navy Ticket Office at 800-US4-NAVY or tickets@usna.edu. **

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- Bucknell advanced to the Patriot League Tournament quarterfinal round with a 65-55 home win over Army on Tuesday, and now the Bison hit the road to face No. 1 seed and 2026 PL juggernaut Navy. The Midshipmen have won 13 straight games and captured the regular-season title by six games. Thursday's game can be seen on ESPN+ with Matt Sabados and former Navy standout Mike Heary on the call from Alumni Hall.

This was only the fourth time that the Bison played in the first round of a 10-team tournament, and they are now 3-1 in those games. In 2020, Bucknell went on to win its quarterfinal game as well. Playing as the 7 seed that year, the Bison upset No. 2 American in the quarters before dropping a tight three-point decision at No. 3 Boston University in the semis.

Navy went 17-1 in Patriot League play, and 13 of those 17 wins were decided by at least eight points. Two of those one-sided wins came against Bucknell, as Navy won 76-55 in Annapolis on Jan. 7 and 76-60 in Lewisburg on Feb. 9. The first matchup was just a one-point game at the half before Navy blew it open with a 20-3 run to start the second half.

Freshman Pat Curtin will be returning to his home state after leading the Bison with 24 points and nine rebounds in Tuesday's win over Army. Curtin is an Ellicott City, Md., native who averaged 29.8 ppg for Glenelg Country School last season and was named Baltimore Sun Metro Player of the Year, MIAA A Conference Player of the Year, and Howard County Times Player of the Year. This year he is Bucknell's No. 2 scorer at 12.9 ppg, and his big night on Tuesday was his fifth 20-point game of the season.

Senior Achile Spadone and freshmen Amon Dörries and Curtin have carried most of the scoring load in recent weeks. Those three combined for 56 of the team's 63 points last week against Holy Cross, they tallied 60 of the 75 at Army last Wednesday, they had 63 of 79 at Lehigh last Saturday, and they accounted for 60 of the 65 against Army on Tuesday. In Patriot League play, the trio accounted for 66.8% of the team's points.

Dörries, who was named to the All-Patriot League Second Team and the PL All-Rookie Team on Monday, has 10 20-point games on the season, including four in a row to end the regular season, and is averaging 21.2 ppg over his last 12 games. He earned a league-high six Patriot League Rookie of the Week awards this season, including the last two. Bucknell had not had a Rookie of the Week since 2020-21, but the Bison earned the award seven times this season. Curtin was honored on Jan. 12 along with Dörries' six citations. Kevin Bettencourt holds the Bucknell record and a share of the Patriot League record with nine Rookie of the Week nods in 2002-03.

Over his last 14 games, Spadone is averaging 16.8 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. The Bison have been very 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 16 straight games, including 11 at American and 10 against Lafayette and Holy Cross. Spadone averaged 7.3 rpg in Patriot League play to rank fourth in the league. On Wednesday, he was named to the Academic All-Patriot League Team.

The Bison will be returning to the site of one of their most memorable postseason games. Exactly 18 years ago — March 5, 2008 — then-senior John Griffin banked in a half-court shot to beat second-seeded Navy 87-86 in triple overtime in the Patriot League Tournament quarterfinals. The Navy coach at the time was Billy Lange, whose son Matt Lange is now a sophomore on the Bison squad.

Navy's only Patriot League loss was a 65-51 verdict at American on Jan. 12, and the Midshipmen have not lost since then. They closed the regular season with 13 straight wins, including an 85-69 rout of Colgate in the regular-season finale last Saturday. Navy is led by Patriot League Player of the Year Austin Benigni and First Team All-PL center Austin Kehoe. Benigni is second in the league in scoring at 18.1 ppg, he shoots a league-best 45.7% from the 3-point arc, and he has a knack for getting to the foul line, where he shoots 88.2%. Kehoe is still No. 1 in the nation in field-goal percentage at 73.6% — no other Division I player is above 70% — and his 18 double-doubles are second-most in the nation.

Navy shoots 47.7% from the field as a team in support of the Patriot League's top-ranked defense. The Midshipmen allow only 63.3 ppg, the fifth-best figure in the nation. They also rank eighth nationally in 3-point percentage defense (.291) and 15th in fewest fouls per game (14.6).

This is the 96th all-time meeting between Bucknell and Navy, with the Bison hanging on to a slim 48-47 lead in a rivalry that dates back to 1920. As conference rivals, Bucknell leads 44-35, with the home team winning most of the time. Since Navy joined the league, Bucknell is 29-10 against the Mids at home but is only 15-25 against Navy in Alumni Hall. Bucknell is 5-4 all-time against Navy in the Patriot League Tournament, including the Midshipmen's 76-75 win in the 1997 championship game. Navy won the first three postseason clashes, the Bison won the next five, and then Navy prevailed in last year's semifinal round.

Bucknell vs. Navy in Patriot League Tournament
1997 Championship   Navy 76-75
1998 Semifinals Navy 80-61
2001 Semifinals Navy 88-64
2007 Quarterfinals   Bucknell 62-43
2008 Quarterfinals   Bucknell 87-86 (3OT)
2012 Quarterfinals Bucknell 87-63
2013 Quarterfinal Bucknell 58-42
2017 Semifinals    Bucknell 70-65
2025 Semifinals Navy 83-77

In this season's first meeting at Alumni Hall on Jan. 7, Jordan Pennick hit seven 3-pointers and scored 23 points to lift Navy to a 76-55 win. Ruot Bijiek tallied 16 points and six rebounds for the Bison, who trailed by just one point at halftime before the Midshipmen blew it open with a 20-3 run to start the second half. In the rematch on Feb. 9 at Sojka Pavilion, Kehoe recorded 26 points and 12 rebounds to lead Navy to a 76-60 win. Spadone led the Bison with 14 points, five rebounds, and five steals, but the hosts could not overcome a 6-for-32 showing from 3-point range and a 45-28 rebounding disparity.

The Bucknell-Navy winner will advance to the semifinals and face the winner of No. 4 Boston University and No. 5 American on Sunday. If the Bison are able to upset Navy, they would reach the semifinals for the 26th time in the 36-year history of the Patriot League.