BETHLEHEM — Freshman Amon Dorries (28) and Pat Curtin (22) combined for 50 points, but Patriot League scoring leader Nasir Whitlock had 32 for Lehigh to send the Mountain Hawks to an 89-79 win over Bucknell in the regular-season finale for both teams on Saturday at Stabler Arena. Despite the loss, the Bison secured the No. 8 seed for next week’s Patriot League Tournament and will host Army on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Sojka Pavilion. 

Both teams shot better than 50 percent in this high-scoring affair, which was just a two-point game with seven minutes to play before Whitlock led a late push for the Mountain Hawks. Lehigh will be seeded no lower than third and can move up to the No. 2 spot if Colgate loses at first-place Navy later in the day.

Lehigh led 47-40 at halftime and upped that margin to nine after back-to-back 3-pointers from Andrew Urosevic and Whitlock midway through the second half. Dorries kept the Bison in it, however. He had a 3-point play, a drive for a thunderous dunk, and another layup to spark a 9-2 run and make it a two-point game at 68-66 with 7:08 left.

Joshua Ingram followed with a layup, and then two straight Bucknell turnovers led to Whitlock buckets, and the margin quickly ballooned back to eight. The two teams traded points over the final three minutes, but Lehigh finished it off at the foul line, where it went 18-for-19 on the day.

Achile Spadone finished with 13 points, eight rebounds, three assists, and three steals, and Aleksander Pachucki also hit double figures with 11 points. The Bison shot 50.8 percent from the field and went 9-for-21 from the arc and 6-for-8 from the foul line.

Dorries recorded his fourth straight 20-point game and 10th of the season.

In addition to Whitlock’s 32 points and seven assists, Hank Alvey scored 22 and Ingram had 11 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists. Lehigh shot 58.8 percent from the field, including an 11-for-21 showing from the 3-point arc.