University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Published: February 6, 2003

Basketball

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Miami (OH) 57, UB 55

Turner Battle's three-pointer at the final buzzer rimmed out, allowing Miami to sneak away with a 57-55 victory in Millett Hall on Saturday afternoon. UB played solid basketball all afternoon and built a 15-point lead with 15:58 remaining. However, the Bulls couldn't stave off a late Miami run and dropped their 10th-straight game of the season.

UB (3-14, 0-8) played a well-executed game from the opening tip. The Bulls were able to effectively work the ball inside to their post players and score easy buckets. It was tightly contested for much of the first half. A late 9-0 scoring run by the Bulls, capped off by a three-pointer by Jason Bird in the half's closing seconds, gave the Bulls a 33-25 advantage at the break.

The Bulls continued to shoot the ball well in the opening stages of the second stanza as they mounted a 10-3 run and opened a 15-point advantage. However, ignited by a Danny Horace dunk and capped by back-to-back Juby Johnson treys, Miami went on a 15-2 run to pull within two, 45-43, at the 7:51 mark. A Roderick Middleton jumper with 6:50 remaining, extended the UB lead back to five points. But back-to-back Miami three-pointers gave the RedHawks their first lead since the first half. It was a lead Miami wouldn't relinquish. After Horace missed the front end of a one-and-one with eight seconds remaining, the Bulls collected the rebound and put the ball in the hands of Battle. The sophomore point guard dribbled the length of the floor but missed a three-pointer in the waning moments.

UB will host Northern Illinois today and travel to Ohio on Saturday.

WOMEN'S

UB 48, Akron 45 (OT)
UB 72, Ohio 59

Junior Jessica Kochendorfer scored a career-high 28 points and UB did what it had to do to win, pulling out a 48-45 win in overtime at Akron on Jan. 28. UB scored the last four points in regulation, including two free throws by sophomore Allison Bennett with 36.8 seconds remaining, and then outscored Akron by an 8-5 margin in the extra period to escape with the win.

Both teams struggled offensively in the first half after senior Kate McMeeken-Ruscoe opened the scoring with a three-pointer at the 19:36 mark. Kochendorfer scored all 12 of Buffalo's remaining points in the half, but the Zips took a 16-15 lead into the locker room, thanks to a three-pointer by Lindsay Hemmelgarn with 35 seconds left and two free throws by Cassandra Martin who was fouled on a shot at the buzzer. The Bulls shot 7-of-24 from the field in the first half (29.2 percent) and the Zips were 5-of-24 (20.8 percent).

Trailing 22-21 in the second half, the Bulls went on a 9-0 run to open an eight-point lead, their largest of the game, 30-22 with 13:26 remaining. Hemmelgarn then ended an 11-2 run by the Zips with another three-pointer to give Akron a 33-32 lead at the 7:56 mark, but Kochendorfer responded with a bucket on Buffalo's next possession and the game remained tight to the final buzzer. Akron led by four, 40-36, with 2:17 on the clock before Kochendorfer cut the lead to two with a jumper with 1:55 to play. Kochendorfer then grabbed the rebound of a missed layup by Hemmelgarn on Akron's next possession, and Bennett was sent to the free-throw line with 36.8 seconds to play when she was fouled in the lane. After Bennett tied the score at 40-40, the teams exchanged turnovers in the final seconds and neither team got another shot off before time expired.

The Bulls won the tip in overtime and Kochendorfer opened the scoring with a jumper just 17 seconds into OT to give Buffalo an early advantage. Junior Kim Kilpela scored UB's next two buckets, her only four points in the game, to keep the Bulls on top. Akron cut the Bulls' lead to one on two separate occasions but never took the lead in overtime. Kochendorfer and freshman Hollie Cook both hit one of two free-throw attempts in the waning seconds to secure the Bulls' win.

The Bulls continued their winning ways on Saturday, holding on to a 23-point halftime lead to earn its third Mid-American Conference win of the season, 72-59, over the visiting Ohio Bobcats in front of 890 fans in Alumni Arena.

The Bulls dominated the Bobcats offensively, shooting 60.4 percent from the floor in the game (29-for-48) and scoring 42 of their 72 points in the paint.

The Bulls (11-7, 3-4 MAC) were on the road at Kent State last night (results were unavailable at press time), but they will return to Alumni Arena for a three-game homestand, beginning with a televised game against Northern Illinois at 4 p.m. on Sunday.

Wrestling

UB 31, Mercyhurst 12

UB rallied from an early deficit to win the final six matches and claim a 31-12 win over visiting Mercyhurst on Sunday in Alumni Arena. The Bulls got a pair of major decisions and two pins to rebound from the deficit. UB improved to 7-3 in dual matches.

UB started out sluggishly, losing three of the first four matches. The only winner for the Bulls was junior Mike Trotta, who scored an impressive 17-4 win over Mike Shumac at 133 pounds.

Mercyhurst took a 12-4 lead when Jake Squire scored a fall at 5:41 over UB freshman Kiel Illg before the Bulls rallied in the upper weights.

Sophomore Labe Black started the Bulls' rally with a strong, 12-3, victory at 157 pounds, getting a three-point near fall in the second period to turn the match in his direction. At 165 pounds, sophomore Tom Paladino continued to wrestle well, posting a 14-6 win with five takedowns and a reversal. Paladino's win squared the match at 12-12.

It was all UB from there, as senior Gary Cooper scored his 17th straight victory with a pin at 1:47 over Jared Snyder. Junior Garrett Bontempo kept the momentum going with a solid, 12-3, win over Ben McAvinew. At 197 pounds, Kyle Cerminara scored a 3-2 decision over Justin Mautz, who placed fifth at the Division II National Championships last season.

The Bulls finished the meet in style as heavyweight Tom Curl pinned Angelo Caponi at 4:27 to close the match.

Indoor Track and Field

UB women set five school records at Penn State meet

The men's and women's indoor track-and-field teams put on some strong showings against top national competition at the Penn State National Open, which completed competition on Saturday.

The women's team set five new school records in the two-day meet, including a pair by senior sprint specialist Jenelle Callender. Callender broke the 60-meter dash record with a clocking of 7.75 seconds to finish 16th overall, bettering the time of 7.84 set by Charisse Everett last season. Callender also broke Udo Okeke's mark in the 400-meters with a time of 56.83 to place 10th, slicing nearly a half-second off the old record.

Other record-setters for the Bulls included Laura Olson in the pole vault, Faith Thompson in the 20-pound weight throw and Biaunca McFarland in the triple jump.

For the UB men, Joe Clark and Byron McKinney picked up fourth-place finishes. Clark turned in a 48.21 clocking in the 400-meter dash while McKinney had a top shot-put toss of 54-7.25 (16.64m).

The squads will be in action on Saturday at the Colgate Class of '32 Invitational.

Swimming

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Toledo 134, UB 97

UB dropped a 134-97 decision to MAC rival Toledo on Jan. 31. With the loss, UB slips to 2-4 overall and 0-3 in MAC competition. The Bulls won five events in the meet, with freshman Patrick Lee and sophomore Mark Sy posting double-victories. Sophomore Aviv Oren also won for the Bulls.

Lee swept the diving competitions as the Bulls finished one-two in both events. Lee won the one-meter event with a six-dive total of 263.40 points and followed with a win on the three-meter board with a total of 252.60 points for his six dives. Junior Mark Taravella finished second to Lee on both boards with totals of 228.15 on the one-meter and 166.45 on the three-meter. Sy took the 200 butterfly in 1:56.27, as well as the 400 individual medley in 4:09.05. Oren won the 200 breaststroke for the Bulls in 2:13.40. He also finished third in the 50 freestyle in 22.44.

The Bulls will close the regular season at 1 p.m. on Saturday when they host conference powerhouses Eastern Michigan and Miami (Ohio) in the Alumni Arena Natatorium.

WOMEN'S

Toledo 173, UB 121
UB 186, Marshall 94

UB split a MAC double-dual meet Saturday afternoon in Toledo, defeating Marshall, 186-94, but falling to the host Rockets 173-121. UB is now 4-5 overall and 2-4 in the MAC.

Freshman Ashlee Burton narrowly won the one-meter diving competition. Burton posted a 235.70 score for six dives to defeat Toledo's Bobbi James (235.45) by a quarter of a point. James won the three-meter competition at 246.70 with UB's Tracy Hoover placing third at 234.20 and Burton finishing fourth at 229.05.

Junior Heather Rochette won the 400 individual medley in 4:43.43. The Bulls also posted a relay victory as the foursome of Jennefer Brankovsky, Trina Sinclair, Jolie Pun and Melissa Schafer touched the wall in 8:02.10.

The Bulls will return home at 11 a.m. on Saturday to host MAC rivals Eastern Michigan and Miami (Ohio) for a double-dual meet.

Tennis

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Binghamton 5, UB 2
UB 7, Rochester 0
UB 7, Niagara 0

The Bulls began the spring 2003 campaign with a 2-1 mark over the weekend at the St. Bonaventure 5-1 Duals. UB opened the meet with a 5-2 loss to Binghamton but rallied to take a 7-0 shutout over Rochester to complete the first day. UB (3-2) then shut out Niagara, 7-0, in its lone match on Sunday.

The format of the matches is one doubles match, counting two points, followed by five singles matches, worth a point apiece. In the opener against Binghamton, UB picked up singles wins from Rannga Prahudha at number four and Randy Rocchio at number five.

In the nightcap, the doubles duo of Nick Zieziula and Rohan Raikar defeated Rochester's Brian Shenker and Ariel Almog, 6-1, 6-1, to open the match.

UB then swept all five singles matches, including a pair that went to 10-point tiebreakers. At number one, Fery Kasiman defeated Anash Reddy, 7-5, 6-2. Josh Liederman scored a tiebreaker win, defeating Colin Ryan at number two, 6-4, 4-6, 10-5.

Against Niagara, the Bulls picked up the match's doubles point as Joe Popielarczyk and Raikar defeated Mike Kelly and Jonathan Bozanich, 6-4, 2-6 and 10-3 in the tiebreaker.

UB then went on to sweep the singles matches, led by Zieziula's 6-0, 6-0 victory over Kris Hrisovulos at number four.