LEWISBURG — Bucknell freshmen Pat Curtin and Amon Dorries combined to score 44 of their team’s 70 points, leading the men’s basketball team to a 70-67 win over Loyola Maryland on Saturday evening at Sojka Pavilion.

Curtin scored a career-high 25 points, 17 coming in the second half, while Dörries added 19 points, six rebounds, four assists, two steals, and two blocks in over 38 minutes of game action. The Bison improved to 2-2 in Patriot League play, 5-12 overall, while the Greyhounds slipped to 5-12 overall and 1-3 in conference play.

On a night when Curtin went 10 for 17 from the field and blew past his previous personal best of 14 points, it was his defensive play that helped seal the win. The Bison were clinging to a two-point lead in the final seconds, and as Curtin closely guarded Braeden Speed near the right sideline, the Loyola point guard extended his off arm and Curtin drew the offensive foul with 2.4 seconds left.

Aleksander Pachucki, who hit a key 3-pointer and grabbed four critical offensive rebounds in the second half, went 1 for 2 from the foul line, and a 70-foot heave at the buzzer came up short as time expired.

The Bison withstood an early offensive barrage from the Greyhounds, who raced out to a 17-4 lead in the game’s first seven minutes. Bucknell responded with a 19-6 run to tie the score at 23, and the game went to the half tied at 28. Bucknell opened the second half with a quick 14-4 run, taking a 42-32 lead on Pachucki’s corner three-ball off a kick-out pass from Dorries.

The lead for the Bison would reach as high to 11 at 59-48 after Curtin’s 3-pointer off another assist from Dorries with 8:58 to go. Bucknell had a hard time shaking the Greyhounds, however, as the visitors remained engaged thanks to strong long-range shooting.

Jacob Theodosiou and Sebastien Emenalo both hit threes to cut into double-digit deficits, and Loyola pulled within two at 63-61 at the 3:10 mark thanks to two free throws from Speed.

Bucknell point guard Jayden Williams did not make a field goal for the game’s first 37 minutes, but he made two crucial shots down the stretch. Williams canned a 3-pointer from the top of the key to push the lead back to five, and then after Speed split a pair at the foul line, Williams drove from the left flank and finished through contact just before the shot clock expired.

Jordan Stiemke hit Loyola’s 14th 3-pointer of the game with 59 seconds left to make it 69-65, and then after the Bison turned it over on a long cross-court pass, Speed scored in the lane to make it 69-67 with 38 seconds left. After a timeout, Williams’ 3-pointer was off the mark, and two Bison converged on the long rebound in the corner but couldn’t prevent it from touching the baseline. Loyola had a chance to tie or take the lead but never got a shot off thanks to Curtin’s defensive play.