LEWISBURG- Behind a season-high 16 three-pointers, the Bucknell men’s basketball team defeated Holy Cross 86-82 in a shootout on Wednesday night at Sojka Pavilion. All eight Bison players who took the court scored at least six points, seven of which made a shot from beyond the arc. Bucknell also received a season-high 26 points from its bench and only committed five turnovers while improving to 3-2 in Patriot League play.

Josh Bascoe, who led Bucknell with 17 points, Ruot Bijiek (14), Jayden Williams (11), and Brandon McCreesh (9) all made three triples. Williamson (12 points) and Edmonds (10) gave the Bison five players in double figures. And Caleb Kenney scored a game-high 23 points as all five Holy Cross starters scored in double figures.

Holy Cross took a 63-61 lead on a Kenney put-back with 11:05 to go in the second half, but Bucknell responded with ten straight on the other end to surge in front for good. Elvin Edmonds IV kick-started the run with a three and Bascoe assisted on fast-break layups by Achile Spadone and Williamson before punctuating the run with a three of his own, forcing a timeout by the Crusaders with nine minutes to go.

Edmonds finished a drive with a lefty layup to make it 77-69, but Holy Cross kept converting chunk plays to stay in the game. Max Green, the talented freshman who tallied 14 points, five rebounds, and seven assists on the night, converted a four-point play to cut the deficit in half with just over three minutes remaining.

Bijiek followed with one of the biggest shots of the night, a three-pointer from the top of the key to extend the lead right back to seven. After two Holy Cross misses, the Crusaders put Williamson on the line, who swished both free throws with 1:43 left.

Holy Cross still wasn’t done even down by nine with 90 seconds to go. Joe Nugent canned a deep 3-pointer, and after a missed front end of a 1-and-1, Kenney finished in the lane and added a free throw to make it 82-79 with 45 seconds still to play.

The Bison caught a break with 16 seconds left when Bascoe was fouled on a 3-point attempt just before the shot clock expired. He made 2 of 3 for an 84-79 lead, but then Green splashed another 3-pointer with nine seconds left. Bucknell inbounded to Bijiek, who made it a two-possession game with two clutch free throws.

One game after finishing 2-for-19 from the arc in Saturday’s loss at American, Bucknell went 16-for-34 in this one. After a slow start where Holy Cross jumped out to a 20-9 lead, the Bison stayed engaged thanks to their three-point shooting.

Over a nine-minute stretch in the first half, all nine of Bucknell’s field goals came from beyond the arc. Williams finally ended that streak with a drive to the basket, and Pip Ajayi and Bascoe followed with layups to cap a 15-3 run and give the Bison a 36-31 lead.

Holy Cross rallied to tie the game at 40-40 at the half, but the Bison shot 57.7 percent in the second half and led for the final 10 minutes. Bucknell shot 46.8 percent overall, its best mark since its win over NJIT back in November. Those 16 three-pointers were the team’s most since hitting 21 against Lebanon Valley in the 2022-23 season opener.

Bucknell also took good care of the ball, committing a season-low five turnovers with 18 assists on 29 made field goals. Holy Cross had 17 assists with only seven miscues, and both teams grabbed 32 rebounds.

Colgate moved into sole possession of first place in the Patriot League at 4-1 after winning at Navy on Wednesday. Bucknell, Army, American, and Boston University are all one game back at 3-2, with four more teams sitting at 2-3.

Navy is one of those 2-3 squads, and the Midshipmen will visit Sojka Pavilion for Bucknell’s Alumni Day game on Saturday at 4 p.m.