Men’s Basketball took on a two-game week over Thanksgiving break, falling both times. The Bison traveled to College Park, Md. to take on the Maryland Terrapins, then headed to Wilkes-Barre, Pa. to host the Siena Saints.
Facing their second power five opponent of the season, the Orange and Blue kept pace early on, but the fast-paced style of the Terrapins eventually allowed Maryland to run away even before the first half was over, with a 51-28 advantage after the break.
The second half was a much cleaner game for the Bison in terms of turnovers, improving after struggling to take care of the basketball in the first half. The Bison scored 39 points in the second half, a strong increase after 28 in the first.
Ruot Bijiek ’26 led the way for the Bison, tying his career-high with 20 points on 6-of-14 shooting from the field and 4-of-8 shooting from three to go along with four rebounds and two assists.
Josh Bascoe ’25 was the only other Bison in double figures, finishing with 10 points along with six rebounds and five assists.
Bucknell shot 43.4 percent from the field as a team and 37.5 percent from three-point range, but turnovers put them out of contention early. The Bison coughed up the ball 20 times, leading to 22 points off those turnovers for the Terrapins.
The Orange and Blue lost by a final score of 91-67.
Bucknell then faced off against the 3-4 Siena Saints, hoping to bounce back at Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza on Saturday, Nov. 10, but couldn’t find any offensive rhythm.
The Bison have been stellar defensively to begin the season. They defended well against the Saints, but the three-point shot was the deciding factor for this game.
Bucknell went just 3-of-22 from the three-point line compared to Siena’s 8-of-17 shooting from beyond the arc.
Noah Williamson ’26 was held to six points after dominating on the interior to begin his junior campaign.
Bascoe led the way with 15 points and eight rebounds, with Achile Spadone ’26 hitting double figures as well with 10 points of his own.
The Bison dominated the paint battle 36-14, but the inability to hit outside shots cost them a winnable game with a score of 71-58.
The Orange and Blue look to bounce back as they face Radford away at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 8.
