University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Published: January 30, 2003

Basketball

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Ohio 72, UB 66
Marshall 87, UB 77

UB dropped a 72-66 decision to a physical Ohio squad in Alumni Arena on Jan. 21. For the second game in a row, the Bulls had a difficult time stopping the opponent's big man as Ohio center Brandon Hunter scored a career-high 32 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to pace the Bobcats.

The game was tight throughout the first half, with Ohio holding a 32-28 halftime advantage. The Bobcats opened a 12-point lead with 8:10 remaining in the second half. But the Bulls refused to go away, mounting a 7-0 scoring run to cut the lead to five points with 6:11 left in the game. However, the versatile Hunter quieted the UB faithful by calmly draining a three-pointer on the next possession to give Ohio an eight-point advantage and help seal the contest for the Bobcats.

Buffalo was led by Turner Battle and Calvin Cage, who each scored 13 points. Battle added a game-high eight assists. Joe Veal also reached double-figures by scoring a career-high 12 points. Mark Bortz grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds.

On Saturday, UB couldn't overcome the early hot shooting of Marshall as it dropped an 87-77 decision to the Thundering Herd in the Cam Henderson Center.

Marshall rode the hot hand of Ronald Blackshear, who scored 19 of his game-high 26 points in the first half. The junior sharpshooter drained five three-pointers in the first 10 minutes of the game to help set the tone. As a team, Marshall shot 63 percent (17-27), including 58.3 percent (7-12) from three-point range in the first half. Despite the Herd's impressive shooting display, the Bulls hung tough for much of the first stanza. But a late Marshall run gave the Herd a 48-33 halftime advantage.

Marshall built its lead to 18 points early in the second half, but a resilient Bulls squad refused to go away and managed to cut the lead to seven points with 7:44 left. However, the Bulls would get no closer as Marshall's hot shooting continued, enabling the Herd to hang on for the 10-point victory.

UB (3-12, 0-7) got a standout performance from B.J. Walker, who scored a workmanlike 22 points and grabbed seven rebounds, both team-highs. Jason Bird broke out of a recent shooting slump by dropping a career-high 15 points, including three treys, and Battle scored 12 points and dished out seven assists.

The Bulls now have dropped nine straight games and are still in search of both their first conference and road victories of the season.

WOMEN'S

UB 61, Cornell 35
Toledo 71, UB 56
Miami (OH) 50, UB 45

UB head coach Cheryl Dozier's 70th career victory came in impressive fashion as the Bulls cruised to a 61-35 win over visiting Cornell on Jan. 20 in Alumni Arena. The 26-point win was the Bulls' largest margin of victory since a 73-47 win over Akron on Jan. 5, 2002. The 35 points are the fewest the Bulls have allowed since a 68-27 win over Oral Roberts during the 1997-98 season.

UB was led by junior Jessica Kochendorfer, who posted her fourth double-double of the year with 14 points and 10 rebounds, and sophomore Erin Lawrenson, who finished with 12 points on four three-pointers.

On Jan. 22, UB came out strong but could not stand up to Toledo's pressure in the second half, allowing the host Rockets to earn a come-from-behind 71-56 win in front of 2,391 fans in Savage Hall.

The Bulls led by as many as 10 points in the first half, but then hurt themselves with 17 second-half turnovers to suffer their third MAC loss of the season. UB was led by Lawrenson, who tied her career high with six three-pointers for a game-high 18 points.

On Saturday night, the Bulls came out on the losing end of a 50-45, hard-fought defensive battle with Miami University in front of 691 fans in Alumni Arena. Senior Kate McMeeken-Ruscoe scored a game-high 21 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the floor, but the RedHawks got balanced scoring from eight different players and outscored the Bulls by a 13-3 margin at the foul line to walk away with the win.

The loss drops the Bulls' record to 9-7 overall and 1-4 in the MAC.

UB will host Ohio at 7 p.m. Saturday in Alumni Arena.

Indoor Track and Field

Bulls place second at Cornell Meet

The men's and women's track-and-field teams placed second to host Cornell in a five-way meet Saturday afternoon in Ithaca. The UB men scored 159.50 points, just behind Cornell's 173. UB's women's squad scored 140 points to finish behind the Big Red's 269.50 total. Colgate, Ithaca and Binghamton rounded out the field in both competitions.

Two UB records were set in the meet and another was tied. Steve Esler won the five-event pentathlon with a total of 3,933 points to shatter the record of 3,584 he set earlier this season. Mark Hajnos and Carlos Williams completed the sweep for the Bulls, placing second and third, respectively. Hajnos tallied 3,573 points, while Williams finished with 3,504 points. Esler currently leads the MAC in the pentathlon and the mark was the seventh-highest ever scored in the league.

Biaunca McFarland broke her school record in the triple jump. McFarland won the event with a leap of 41-7 (12.67m) and provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships. McFarland also placed second in the 200-meter dash in 25.56, tied for second in the 60-meter dash in 7.89 and anchored the winning 4x400 relay team.

Joe Clark won two events on the day, taking the 200-meters in 22.30 and the 500-meters in 1:05.32. Erich Smithson won the 60-meter hurdles in 8.39. Todd Joki won the long jump at 23-3.50 (7.10m) and placed second to Smithson in the hurdles in 8.51.

The Bulls also placed the top four finishers in the 1,000-meters. Pete Zaccariello won the race in 2:32.2. He was followed by Doug Johnston in 2:36.38, Steve Strelick in 2:36.70 and Onile White in 2:38.49. UB's 4x800 relay team also was victorious in 8:05.51.

In the women's meet, Faith Thompson won the weight throw at 57-8.50 (17.59m). She also tied her own school record with a shot put toss of 44 10.75 (13.68m) to finish second in that event.

Other individual winners for the Bulls included Jenelle Callender in the 500-meters in 1:17.87 and Laura Olson in the pole vault at 11-5.75 (3.50m). UB's 4x400 (3:59.82) and 4x800 (9:51.56) relay teams also were victorious.

The squads will be back in action on Saturday at the Penn State Invitational.

Wrestling

Kent State 22, UB 9

UB lost the early momentum and never recovered in dropping a 22-9 MAC dual meet match to the visiting Kent State Golden Flashes on Saturday afternoon.

The Golden Flashes (11-2, 3-0 in the MAC) got several late takedowns to claim close matches. UB fell to 6-3 overall and 0-1 in the MAC with the loss.

Kent State captured victories in four of the first five matches and carried that momentum. The Golden Flashes got a 9-7 win by Jason Bake over UB's Dave Edwards to open the match at 149 pounds. Bake jumped to a 7-3 lead before Edwards began to rally, but could not make up the deficit.

Kent's Mike Tolar then broke a 2-2 tie with UB's Labe Black with a late takedown and two near-fall points to claim a 6-2 win. UB was in the same position in the next match, as underdog Tom Paladino had 14th-ranked Nick Nemeth in a 2-2 stalemate with under 15 seconds to go before Nemeth scored a takedown and two near-fall points to grab a 6-2 win and take the life out of the Bulls.

UB rallied to get as close as 12-6 after a 6-2 win by Gary Cooper and a 7-3 win by sophomore Kyle Cerminara, but Kent State clinched the victory with hard-fought wins at heavyweight and 125 pounds. The Bulls' other win came at 133 pounds, where junior Mike Trotta used a riding time point to post a 5-4 win over Drew Opfer.

The Bulls will host Mercyhurst at 1 p.m. on Sunday in Alumni Arena.

Football

Bartoszek shines in Rotary Gridiron Classic

Former UB football standout Chad Bartoszek played a vital role as Team USA defeated Team Florida, 20-17, Saturday afternoon in the Rotary Gridiron Classic at the Citrus Bowl.

The game, televised live on ESPN2, came down to the final minute, with Bartoszek playing a key role in the win. Bartoszek caught a 28-yard pass across the middle from Grand Valley State's Curt Anes to set up the 49-yard game-winning field goal by Cincinnati's Jonathan Ruffin with 13 seconds left.