University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Published: February 13, 2003

Basketball

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Northern Illinois 70, UB 61
Ohio 61, UB 49

UB dropped to 3-16 overall and 0-10 in the Mid-American Conference with a pair of losses to Northern Illinois and Ohio.

Northern Illinois, undefeated on the road in MAC play and arguably the hottest team in the conference, came in and handed the Bulls a 70-61 loss on Feb. 6 in Alumni Arena. The Bulls were cool from the perimeter, shooting only 37.9 percent from the floor. UB struggled from the three-point line, shooting only 3-of-20 from beyond the arc. However a tenacious defensive effort by the Bulls forced 17 Northern Illinois turnovers and kept UB in the contest until late in the game.

The Bulls were able to build a 14-11 lead at the 13:30 mark of the first half before hitting a dry spell. UB failed to score a point for nearly five minutes and the Huskies capitalized by going on a 7-0 run and taking a four-point lead. Northern Illinois held a 31-26 halftime advantage.

The Bulls battled back in the second half, with a Roderick Middleton layup tying the contest, 46-46, with 10:05 remaining. However, the tide turned at the 7:13 mark. Following two free throws by Mario Jordan to tie the game at 50-50, Marcus Smallwood scored on the ensuing Huskie possession and drew the foul. He missed the free throw, but Northern Illinois was able to gather the rebound and Todd Peterson drained a three-pointer to give the Huskies a five-point lead—a lead that they never would relinquish.

Although they lost the game, the Bulls did a nice job of taking care of the basketball. UB committed a season-low six turnovers. But it was an inability to hit a jump shot that inevitably did in the Bulls. Conversely,

Northern Illinois shot the ball well from the floor, shooting 53.7 percent (22-41) from the field and 58.8 percent (10-17) from beyond the arc.

"Where this one really bothers me is what they did to us on the glass." Head coach Reggie Witherspoon said referring to the Huskies 11-rebound advantage and 12 second-chance points. "That hasn't been happening."

UB was led by Turner Battle and Jason Bird, who each scored 13 points. Battle added five assists, four steals and, for the second consecutive game, did not turn the ball over. B.J. Walker scored 11 points and added a team-high six rebounds.

Against Ohio, it was a tough afternoon for the Bulls, who dropped a 61-49 decision in Athens on Saturday. It wasn't a pretty game as neither team shot the ball particularly well and combined for 48 fouls and 30 turnovers. But it was the Bobcats who won the free-throw battle and hit some key buckets late in the contest to pull away for the victory.

Ohio led the game from wire-to-wire, but the Bulls were close for much of the contest. In the first half, Ohio held the Bulls to only four points in the game's first eight minutes. However, the Bulls did an effective job on the defensive end to keep the Bobcats in their sights and trailed by only six points at halftime.

UB opened the second half with a Walker jumper to cut the lead to four. But the Bulls' shooting woes continued early in the second stanza, enabling the Bobcats to go on a 9-1 scoring run and take a 37-25 lead. Calvin Cage drained a three-pointer to cut the Ohio advantage to 37-30 with 13:46 remaining. However, the Bulls would get no closer as Ohio held on for the victory.

The key to Ohio's success was the play of Brandon Hunter, the MAC's leading rebounder who grabbed a game-high 20 rebounds to go along with his 16 points. He also went to the free throw line 20 times, but was only able to connect on eight. His strong play in the post kept UB's front court in foul trouble for much of the game.

"Our post players got into foul trouble early and as a result we started to play more and more tentatively," Witherspoon said.

Battle scored 11 points, marking the 10th straight time that the sophomore point guard has reached double-figures in the scoring column. Walker added 10 points and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.

WOMEN'S

Kent State 71, UB 56
Northern Illinois 76, UB 64

A pair of MAC losses dropped the Bulls to 11-9 overall and 3-7 in the league standings. UB fell to Kent State, 71-56, on the road on Feb. 5 to open the week. The Bulls then returned home on Sunday, dropping a 76-64 decision to Northern Illinois in Alumni Arena.

Kent State shot 11-of-22 from three-point range, including seven threes in the first half, to pull away from UB. The Bulls had a chance to escape with a win when they got within six with just over 10 minutes to go in the game, but Kent held them without a field goal for the next eight minutes and 39 seconds and ended the game with a 20-11 run.

The Golden Flashes jumped out to a 10-2 lead to open the game, but the Bulls matched their fast pace and handled their full-court pressure while rallying to take a four-point lead. A steal by freshman Hollie Cook and a layup by sophomore Allison Bennett gave the Bulls their first lead of the game, 23-21, at the 9:51 mark. A bucket by senior Rachel Martin at the 8:53 mark ended an 8-0 UB run and put the Bulls ahead, 25-21. Kent State responded with a 7-0 run of its own and later hit three consecutive three-pointers while ending the half with a 17-4 run to go to the locker room with a 38-29 lead. Two free throws by senior Kate McMeeken-Ruscoe were the only points the Bulls scored in the final four minutes and 40 seconds of the half.

Kent State started the second half with two threes, opening up a 14-point lead four minutes into the half, 47-33. The Bulls, however, refused to fold and battled back to get within six with 10:11 to play. Junior Jessica Kochendorfer blocked a shot on the defensive end of the floor and then took a pass from McMeeken-Ruscoe and hit a jumper to cut KSU's lead to 51-45. Kent State's Valerie Zona then capped a 10-2 Golden Flashes' run with a three-pointer at the 4:00 mark to give them their 14-point lead back, 61-47, and they led by as many as 17 points down the stretch. After Kochendorfer's bucket, the Bulls went without a field goal until Cook hit a three-pointer with 1:15 to play. Six of the Bulls' final 11 points in the game came from the free-throw line.

The Bulls were led by Kochendorfer with 14 points and Bennett with 13. UB shot 42.2 percent from the floor (19-for-45) in the game.

On Sunday, Northern Illinois shot 52.6 percent from three-point range (10-for-19) and got a game-high 26 points from junior Lindsay Secrest en route to a 76-64 win over the Bulls as UB committed 26 costly turnovers in the game. The Bulls were led by McMeeken-Ruscoe, who had her fourth 20-plus scoring performance of the year with 21 points, while the Huskies had four players finish in double digits in scoring.

The Bulls opened the scoring on a jumper by Kochendorfer, and led 6-3 early on, but the Huskies broke things open with a 17-0 run to take a 20-6 lead with 9:48 left in the half. NIU freshman Joi Scott had eight of her 14 points during that run, and junior Stephanie Smith came off the bench to score seven of her 13 points in the final six minutes and 15 seconds of the half, helping the Huskies take a 38-25 lead into the locker room.

UB began the second half by hitting seven of its first nine shots, but the Huskies hit three three-pointers in the opening eight minutes of the half to maintain their double-digit lead. After a three-pointer by Smith made the score 53-38 at the 12:49 mark, the Bulls threatened, thanks to an 11-2 run that got them within six, 55-49, with 7:24 on the clock. Bennett and junior Kim Kilpela each hit back-to-back buckets and a three-pointer by McMeeken-Ruscoe capped the run, but Northern Illinois kept control of the game with solid shooting, getting three three-pointers from Secrest down the stretch every time the Bulls seemed to make some headway. Secrest finished with six of NIU's 10 threes in the game, including four in the second half. Her 26 points tied her career high.

"We've had two straight games now where teams have hurt us from three-point range," said UB head coach Cheryl Dozier. "We knew they had good three-point shooters and I thought we left them a little too wide open at times. We've got to take care of the basketball too; we're not a bad team when we do. We shot over 50 percent, but we just don't give ourselves as many offensive opportunities as we allow our opponents."

In addition to McMeeken-Ruscoe, Kochendorfer and Kilpela finished in double digits for the Bulls with 13 points apiece. Kilpela also grabbed a team-high seven rebounds, while Cook finished the night with a game-high nine assists. The Bulls shot 51.9 percent from the floor (27-for-52), including 59.3 percent in the second half (16-for-27).

Wrestling

UB 33, Slippery Rock 9
Central Michigan 19, UB 12

UB split a pair of wrestling matches for the week and closed the home meet season in fine fashion on Feb. 4 by downing visiting Slippery Rock, 33-9, in a non-conference match in Alumni Arena. UB then dropped a tough 19-12 decision to MAC-rival and 16th-ranked Central Michigan. The Bulls now are 8-5 overall.

Against Slippery Rock, the Bulls dominated a match that featured a forfeit, a medical forfeit and a disqualification for stalling. UB jumped on top, 10-0, as freshman Mike Sebaaly scored a come-from-behind win at 125 pounds and junior Mike Trotta won by forfeit at 133 pounds.

After the Rock had narrowed the margin to 10-6, the Bulls, as they have done all season, put the match away from 157 to 197 pounds with five straight wins. Labe Black, at 157-pounds, scored an impressive, 9-0, win over Jason Cardillo, getting two near-falls and a reversal, before Tom Paladino scored a solid 9-4 win at 165 pounds.

At 174 pounds, UB senior Gary Cooper moved to 11-0 in dual meets this season with a medical forfeit victory when Justin Stamm could not continue in the second period. Cooper led 8-2 at the time. At 184 pounds, junior co-captain Garrett Bontempo dominated John Opfar, scoring his 100th career takedown early in the match and recording a pair of three-point near falls en route to a 17-3 win.

The Bulls' final win of the night belonged to sophomore Kyle Cerminara, who earned a stalling disqualification over Corey Hart, who was warned the maximum four times. Cerminara led the match, 5-0, when it was called.

On Friday, Central Michigan, ranked 16th in this week's National Wrestling Coaches Association poll, used a pair of key victories at 174 and 197 pounds to down the Bulls, 19-12, in a match at Rose Arena.

The match started at 149 pounds with No. 9-ranked Ty Morgan winning by decision over Ryan Bentley by an 8-2 score. However, Black got UB a huge win at 157 pounds when he upset 10th-ranked David Bolyard by a 6-4 score, getting a takedown with 10 seconds left in the match. Black improved to 9-3 in dual meets and 24-11 overall with the clutch win.

The Chippewas regained the lead when eighth-ranked Kevin Carr held off Paladino by a 4-1 score, before getting one of two victories that swayed the match. At 174 pounds, Mitch Hancock broke Cooper's 18-match winning streak with a 6-3 win to give Central a 9-3 lead in the dual. It was Cooper's first dual-meet loss of the season.

Bontempo got the Bulls to within 9-6 on the scoreboard with a solid 8-2 win over Alex Lammers to improve to 28-6 and 10-2 in dual meets. However, Central scored another upset when Brett Faustman handed Cerminara his first-ever loss against a MAC opponent. The match went to overtime, with neither competitor able to score in the first overtime before Faustman rode Cerminara out for the full 30 seconds to claim a 3-2 win that put the Chippewas up 12-6 in the match.

UB again rallied, as freshman heavyweight Tom Curl scored a 6-4 win over Bill Stouffer. However, the only other victory the Bulls could manage was a 9-2 decision by Trotta at 133 pounds. Trotta won his fourth straight dual match with the victory and improved to 26-11 on the season.

The Bulls are off for more than two weeks before wrapping up their regular season with matches against Northern Illinois and Eastern Michigan (at EMU) on Feb. 22 and a match at Ohio on Feb. 23 versus the Bobcats.

Indoor Track and Field

Men's and Women's teams win Class of '32 Invite

The men's and women's indoor track-and-field teams rolled to victories at Saturday's Class of '32 Invitational hosted by Colgate University. The UB women scored 198 points to easily outdistance second-place Ithaca (109.50) and third-place Colgate (106) in the nine-team meet. The UB men also recorded a wide margin of victory, scoring 176 points, with St. Lawrence (103.50) and Colgate (91) placing second and third, respectively, in the nine-team meet.

UB's Biaunca McFarland was the top performer for the women's team with three victories on the day. McFarland took the 55-meter dash in 7.31 seconds and the 200-meters in 25.82 on the track. In the field, she also took the top spot in the triple jump (41-0.25, 12.50m).

Faith Thompson won two events, finishing first in the shot put (42-2, 12.85m) and 20-pound weight throw (57-5.75, 17.52m). Laura Olson won the pole vault at 11-7 (3.53m) and Kate Kohout took the 1,000-meters in 3:03.48. Kohout also finished second to McFarland in the triple jump at 37-3 (11.35m). UB's 4x400-meter relay squad was victorious as well, turning in a 3:57.60 clocking.

On the men's side, sophomore Erich Smithson established a new school record in winning the 55-meter hurdles. Smithson won the race in 7.73 seconds, breaking the old mark of 7.91 seconds held since 1994 by Brad Barclay.

Other winners included Joe Clark in the 200-meters (22.13), Todd Joki in the long jump (22-7, 6.88m), Gary Asbach in the triple jump (45-0.50, 13.73m) and Byron McKinney in the shot put (53-10.50, 16.42m). Asbach also finished second to Joki in the long jump at 22-3.50 (6.88m).

Both squads return to Central New York on Saturday for the Cornell Kane Invitational in Ithaca.

Swimming

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Eastern Michigan 188, UB 55
UB 124, Miami 119

UB split a MAC double-dual meet Saturday afternoon in the Alumni Arena Natatorium in the Bulls' final regular-season competition. UB defeated Miami (Ohio), 124-119, but fell to conference leader Eastern Michigan, 188-55. Eastern Michigan also defeated Miami by a 178-65 score.

The Bulls (3-5 overall, 1-4 MAC) were able to secure several second-place spots behind Eastern Michigan swimmers to hold Miami off. UB picked up second-place finishes from Aviv Oren in the 50 freestyle and Mark Sy in the 1650 freestyle. Oren turned in a 21.88 in the 50 and Sy recorded a 16:04.18 in the 1650, both season-best times in their events. Freshman Patrick Lee also recorded a second-place finish in the three-meter diving with a score of 296.75, just behind Andrew Siebenick of Eastern Michigan, who posted a winning score of 297.55.

The Bulls now head into the postseason with the ECAC Championships in Pittsburgh, starting Feb. 27. UB will host the MAC Men's Championships March 6-8.

WOMEN'S

Eastern Michigan 226, UB 72
Miami 212, UB 85

UB dropped a pair of MAC meets to two of the top squads in the league on Saturday in the home finale for the senior class. UB was defeated in the double-dual meets by Eastern Michigan, 226-72 and Miami (Ohio), 212-85. Miami also picked up a 164-136 over Eastern Michigan.

UB sophomore Jennefer Brankovsky led the Bulls (4-7 overall, 2-6 MAC), posting UB's lone victory on the day. Brankovsky won the 200 freestyle in a season-best 1:55.09 to edge out Miami's Jackie Hiltman by eight-tenths of a second. Brankovsky also registered two second-place finishes, also in season's-best performances, with a 58.22 finish in the 100 butterfly and 2:08.33 clocking in the 200 individual medley.

The meet marked the final home appearance for UB seniors Lisa Boettrich, Melissa Schafer, Trina Sinclair and Stacey Zimmerman.

UB's regular season will conclude at Saturday's meet at Cornell. The Bulls will travel to Bowling Green, Ohio for the MAC Championships starting Feb. 27.

Tennis

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Cornell 5, UB 2
UB 5, Villanova 2
UB 6, Bucknell 1
St. John's 5, UB 2

UB split four matches at the Cornell Duals over the weekend.

UB (5-4 on the season) opened the weekend with a 5-2 loss to host Cornell. UB picked up the match's doubles contest, worth two points in the scoring, as the duo of Nick Zieziula and Randy Rocchio survived a tiebreaker. Zieziula and Rocchio opened with a 6-3 win over Abedin Sham and Sunil Iyer in the first set, but dropped the second set, 6-4, to force the tiebreaker. UB's pair outlasted the Cornell duo win the tiebreaker, 12-10.

The Bulls then went on to win a pair of matches on Saturday, 5-2 over Villanova and 6-1 against Bucknell. In the Villanova match, UB's singles players took all five victories, including Zieziula rallying from two game-points to defeat Ricardo Baraldi at number four, 2-6, 7-5, 6-0. Against Bucknell, the UB doubles duo of Zieziula and Rohan Raikar rolled past Aaron Saperstein and Don Whaley, 6-2, 6-1, to earn two points. UB then won four of the five singles matches.

On Sunday, Zieziula and Rocchio defeated Morgan Baner and Boris Chiporukha, 6-2, 6-0, for UB's lone win against the Red Storm.

The Bulls next are in action on Wednesday, when they host Rochester.