Bucknell Outlasts Men's Basketball in 2OT See-Saw Affair, 103-97

Saturday, January 31

Lewisburg, PA

2 PM

Boston University

8-15,3-7Patriot

103

Bucknell

7-16,4-6Patriot

OT 1

OT 2

Boston U.

Bucknell

103

Bucknell Outlasts Men's Basketball in 2OT See-Saw Affair, 103-97

January 31, 2026 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Coach Jones Postgame

LEWISBURG, Pa. – Competing in a tightly-contested matchup that featured 17 lead changes and 13 ties, the Boston University men's basketball team came up just short in a 103-97 double-overtime loss at Bucknell.

Down by as many as 12 points, the Terriers (8-15, 3-7 PL) made defensive stops at the end of regulation and first overtime to stay alive, but the Bison (7-16, 4-6 PL) were able to create just enough distance with a 3-pointer on three consecutive possessions in the second overtime to improve to 5-4 at Sojka Pavilion.

Freshman Chance Gladden tallied a personal-best 34 points by shooting 17-for-18 at the line, while classmate Sam Hughes went 5-for-10 in 3-point territory on his way to 22 points. Junior Michael McNair totaled 19 points, and sophomore Ben Defty compiled 10 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and three blocks before fouling out with 3:31 left in the first OT. As a team, the Terriers finished their fourth overtime matchup in six contests shooting 45.6 FG% and 35.5 3FG% with 24 free throws off 29 attempts.

For the Bison, Amon Dorries went a perfect 10-for-10 at the line and added four 3-pointers to lead all players with 36 points. Pat Curtin earned a double-double off 22 points and 10 rebounds, while Achile Spadone earned 24 points. The Bison went a combined 11-for-15 (.733) from the field during the 10 extra minutes of time to end the contest at 51.6 FG% and 50.0 3FG%.

DOWN THE STRETCH

After Curtin hit a turnaround jumper to give Bucknell at 60-51 lead at 8:22 in the second half, McNair scored from behind the arc to spark a 12-0 run capped by Gladden's free throw with 4:50 left in regulation.
Curtin eventually tied the contest, 65-65, on a free throw at 2:08, and Dorries later responded to Defty's layup by driving to the hoop with 32 seconds left to put the game at 67-67.
After Gladden helped drain the clock and just missed on a jumper from outside the paint, the Bison missed a deep and rushed 3-point attempt to send the game to OT.
Neither squad led by more than two in the first OT as they continued to exchange blows.
Gladden grabbed a 79-77 lead with two free throws at the line and 1:58 remaining, but Bucknell hit a jumper and capitalized off a defensive block with a hook shot to pull back ahead, 81-79, at 57 seconds.
McNair tied the game on a successful drive to the hoop with 28 seconds left and helped the defense earn a stop on the Bison's final possession to head to 2OT.
After Dorries opened with two free throws, Gladden and McNair scored back-to-back buckets for an 85-83 lead at 3:42.
The Bison though retook the lead for good with a 3-pointer on three consecutive possession as part of an 11-2 run capped by Curtin's jumper at 1:17.
BU cut the deficit to 98-94 on sophomore Azmar Abdullah's 3-pointer with 44 seconds left, but the Bison were able to seal the win by draining five free throws and forcing the Terriers to miss their last three field goal attempts.

THE SETUP

The teams started off slow, combining for three field goals off 11 attempts with Gladden hitting a 3-pointer for 5-4 lead at 15:51.
They went back-and-forth with BU grabbing its final lead of the half, 14-13, on Defty's layup set up by Abdullah at 10:16.
Bucknell responded with a 13-4 run that included three 3-pointers, including Spadone's trey at 4:52 for 26-18 lead.
McNair followed freshman Dante Tisinger Jr.'s jumper with a long-range bucket from behind the arc to cut the deficit to 30-28, but Dorries scored on a layup on the Bison's final possession to enter the locker room ahead, 32-28.
Spadone scored on a 3-pointer at 17:25 to extend the lead to 41-32 and Dorries netted one of his own for a 55-43 advantage at 11:10.
Hughes quickly struck back from behind the arc, but Dorries scored another trey to keep the 12-point lead (58-46) with 10:37 remaining.

GAME NOTES

Reaching 20+ points for the sixth time, Gladden delivered BU's 41st all-time 34+ point performance in 117 seasons and the most points by a Terrier since Max Mahoney ('20) totaled 38 in overtime at Binghamton on Dec. 7, 2019. Gladden was four points away from tying John Holland ('11) for the most by a freshman in program history.
Gladden was also just two free throws away from tying BU Hall of Famer Johnny Nunziato's ('54) program-record 19 free throws made against UConn during the 1953-54 campaign.
Defty claimed his sixth double-double of the season and dished out his second most amount of assists after recording six against Brown back in November.
Reaching 20+ points for the third time, Hughes drained five 3-pointers for the third time this season after accomplishing the feat at New Hampshire and Northeastern.
McNair scored at least 19 points for the ninth time this season and at least 18 points for the 12th time.
BU and Bucknell battled to a 2OT contest for the first time in the series after previously competing in OT in 2008 and 2025.
The Terriers last reached 2OT in 2025 in a 93-91 home win over Colgate.
Bucknell became the first opponent to reach 100+ points since Michigan claimed an 111-84 home victory on Jan. 3, 1994. The Terriers were just three points away from having both squads reach 100+ in the same contest for the first time since Assumption pulled out an 109-107 3OT home decision on March 1, 1976.

UP NEXT

The BU men and women will compete in a Turnpike Trophy doubleheader at Holy Cross Monday (Feb. 2) with the men tipping off at 7 p.m. on CBS Sports Network. The women will face off at 4:30 p.m.
Both home teams won last season with BU posting a 69-59 victory thanks to a 15-5 advantage in made free throws.
The Crusaders responded with 72-52 victory by shooting 55.3 FG% and holding the Terriers to 35.1 FG%.
BU currently leads, 6-1, against the Crusaders in the Turnpike Trophy all-sports competition.