The Bison men’s basketball team faced a series of mixed results this past week, beginning on Wednesday, Feb. 9 versus American and ending on Monday, Feb. 14 at Lehigh. In this three-game stretch, the Bison went 1-2, with a win and loss at home, and a loss on the road. The Orange and Blue’s record now sits at 6-21 on the season and 3-12 in Patriot League play.

The first of the three games came as a victory against American University. After facing a devastating overtime loss to Lafayette just a few days earlier, the Bison knew they needed to come out on top, and they did just that. While the Bison just edged the Eagles 68-66, it was their first-half performance that was critical. The Bison outscored American 39-28 in the first half, making up for the 38-29 deficit in the second half. It was ultimately an American-missed 3-pointer at the buzzer that granted the Bison victory.

The Bison returned to Sojka on Saturday, Feb. 12 to face-off against Holy Cross. Unfortunately, they did not receive the result they wanted, losing 78-72. It was the Crusader’s thirteen offensive rebounds to the Bison’s eight that played a huge factor in the result of the game. The Orange and Blue only trailed by six heading into halftime, but those six points are what separated them from the Crusaders for the remainder of the game. The Bison narrowed the Crusader lead within two points multiple times in the final minutes of the game, but this did not prove enough to secure a victory.

The Orange and Blue started the week at Lehigh on Monday, Feb. 14 in an important match-up against the Mountain Hawks, but could not quite find a victory. While the Bison led the Mountain Hawks 40-35 into halftime, it was Lehigh’s second-half performance that ultimately gave them the edge. The game was tied at 71, but a Lehigh run put them ahead 76-71. While the Bison put up six more points in the game, they could not stop the Mountain Hawks on offense, falling 86-77. The Lehigh victory can be accredited to a series of long-range three-pointers, with the Bison unable to respond.

Andrew Funk ’22 remained very optimistic when asked about this series of games. He acknowledged being “really proud of the way [the] team has battled throughout the season.”

“This past week or so [the team] played in a couple of very close games that could have gone either way,” he added, “so [they] just need to do a few things better on both ends of the court to come out with more wins.”

The Bison have three regular-season games remaining, with two slated in Sojka and one on the road at Army. You can catch the Orange and Blue taking the court back in Sojka on Saturday, Feb 19 at 4 p.m. in another close match-up with the Lafayette Leopards.