The Siena Saints and the Bucknell Bison meet Sunday in college basketball action from Sojka Pavilion. Siena is 1-4 so far this year and coming off their first win over Harvard. As for Bucknell, they’re 1-5. The Bison fell to Rider on Wednesday in their last outing. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Siena had some issues over their first four games of the year, losing each. The Saints fell to St. Bonaventure 75-47 in their opener, then lost to Delaware 83-63 in game two. After that came defeats by Yale 82-54 and Georgetown 83-65.
Siena finally got into the win column in game five against Harvard. The Saints posted a 46-44 edge in the second half to edge the Crimson 72-69. Nick Hopkins was the top team scorer with 16 points, three assists and one rebound.
Over on the Bucknell side, they lost their first two games versus NC State and Pennsylvania before getting a victory in game three over Rider 81-74. After that came two more losses to Illinois State (OT) and Mercer.
Bucknell’s rematch with Rider on Wednesday didn’t go as well as the first time. The Bison were up 44-39 at halftime but got outscored 46-35 from there in an 85-79 loss. Xander Rice led the team with 24 points, eight rebounds and two assists.
The Bison are 3-8 ATS in their last 11 after a straight-up loss and the over is 5-1 in their last six at home. The over is 10-2 in Bucknell’s last 12 overall.
Meanwhile, the Saints are 0-4 ATS in their last four road games and 1-6 ATS in their last seven overall. Siena is 1-4 ATS in their last five Sunday games.
PICK: I’m going to try Siena in this one. There’s not a lot to like here, though. The Saints had scored 65 or fewer points across each of their first four games, but put up a good effort against Harvard last time up. Siena shot 53.3 percent from the floor with 10-of-20 made 3-pointers.
As for Bucknell, they stuck around versus Rider for most of the game but came up short. I like this one to be a similar outcome, with Siena powering out a late cover. Should be a pretty competitive matchup overall.