Josh Bascoe ʼ25 was the star of the show with a career-high 30 points at the Bison senior game this past Sunday afternoon at Sojka Pavilion. He made 11-18 field goals, including five of eight being three-pointers. He also managed five assists and four steals. With this win, the Bison have achieved their fourth straight victory bringing their overall record to 15-14 and their Patriot League record of 11-5. The Orange and Blue ended with a 9-0 perfect record for their home conference schedule, clinched sole possession of second place and a top-four seed for the Patriot League Tournament.
The Bison played a great game shooting over 50% in both halves of the game, leaving them with a final shooting percentage of 56.9. They also went 14-25 at the three-point range and the starting players went 27 of 44 or 61.4%. The Orange and Blue even out-rebounded Army 39-25.
Avenging a tough 116-110 double overtime loss against Army from 15 days prior, the Bison managed a strong lead of 44-30 at halftime and continued to increase this lead to as many as 36 points in the second half. Bucknell also stole the show defensively, keeping Army at a 38.9 shooting percentage including five for 27 at three-point range.
The win was even more impressive because the Bison were missing Noah Williamson ʼ26, one of their key players who leads the Patriot League, due to an eye injury. However, the Orange and Blue persevered thanks to a successful game from several other players. Pip Ajayi ʼ25 started in Williamson’s place and scored nine points and managed four rebounds. Ruot Bijiek ʼ26, Achile Spadone ʼ26 and Josh Fulton ʼ26 also deserved special shoutouts for a well-played game.
The Bison kept the lead for all but 18 seconds. In just the first possession of the game, Ajayi secured the lead for the Bison with an alley-oop finish and soon the Orange and Blue brought the lead into double digits (12-1). Then, Brandon McCreesh ’27 scored a layup that brought the lead 16-6 and Boscoe added two more leaving the score at 20-7.
At the 8:20 mark, Army got within eight points of the Bison, but Bijiek scored a major three-pointer putting the Bison 10 points above Army, a lead that would last the rest of the game.
Only two minutes into the second half, Army snagged a layup to bring the score to 46-36 before the Bison had a 12-2 run. Then, later in the second half, the Orange and Blue managed a 17-0 run and led by as many as 36 points after two consecutive three-pointers from Brady Muller ʼ26. This left the score at 84-53.
While Army and the Bison came into the game with a tie for second place, this win secured the No. 2 spot for the Orange and Blue with only two games remaining. Follow along as the Bison finish the regular season at Holy Cross and then host the quarterfinal Patriot League game on March 6. Watch for ticket information to be announced this week.
