The Bison men’s basketball team faced off at home against the Marist Red Foxes last Saturday, Nov. 26 and lost in overtime with a final score of 60-54. 

Marist took the lead early on, capitalizing on their chances while Bucknell did not find the net in the opening minutes. Slow to get started, the Bison had four turnovers and two misses during their first six offensive possessions.  However, they later found their footing and continued to compete until the final buzzer. 

Xander Rice ’23 scored back-to-back three-pointers to tie it up at 10-10. The offensive momentum bounced back and forth between the two teams for the remainder of the half, and the second quarter ended with a score of 24-21 in the Red Foxes’ favor. 

Marist’s offense surged following the halftime break, hitting five out of six shots in a row to increase their lead to 35-27. However, the Bison men battled back and showed resilience.  

With less than five minutes remaining, Ian Motta ’25 hit a three-pointer to put the Bison in the lead (49-48) for the first time during the match. The Red Foxes retaliated with a three-pointer with just 2:37 left in regulation, but Alex Timmerman ’23 and Andre Screen ’24 each scored a free throw to tie it up just before the clock ran out.  

In overtime, Marist found the net early and kept the Bison at bay. With 1:44 left in the overtime, the scoreboard showed the Red Foxes’ lead of 58-52. 

The Bison had some scoring opportunities but couldn’t manage to take the lead. Marist ultimately scored two more points with 14 seconds left to bring the final score to 60-54 in favor of the visitors. 

This loss signaled the end of the Bison’s two-game win streak. Prior to this game, Bucknell was the sixth-best team nationally ranked in terms of field-goal percentage (53.5 percent), but only managed to hit 33.9 percent against Marist. 

Despite these statistics, many individuals had good showings. Rice led the Bison with 16 points, also contributing seven rebounds and six assists. Timmerman had a good showing, putting up 12 points and a career record of 13 rebounds. Elvin Edmonds IV ’25 and Motta each contributed eight points as well.  

The Orange and Blue have games against St. Francis and NJIT on Nov. 3o and Dec. 3, respectively. Both will be competed away and can be streamed on ESPN+.