University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Published: December 5, 2002

Basketball

MEN'S

Detroit 66, UB 65
UB 57, Rhode Island 48

The Bulls split two games last week, with a tough one-point loss at Detroit on Nov. 27 followed by an impressive home victory over Rhode Island on Saturday to even their record at 2-2.

UB tried its best to snap Detroit's 29-game, non-conference home winning streak, but came up just one point short, 66-65, at Calihan Hall to open the week.

In the first half, the Bulls' front court was the story as 11 of UB's first 13 field goals were scored by front-court players. However, it was Detroit's front court that won the rebounding edge, 21-9, in the first stanza.

The Titans opened a 10-point lead, their largest of the game, with 5:39 remaining in the first half. However, the Bulls battled back to quickly cut Detroit's lead to 38-36 at the half.

After the Titans opened a seven-point lead early in the second half, the Bulls once again refused to fold and the cut the lead to two. However, trailing by 54-53 with 9:18 left on the clock, the Bulls went ice cold and didn't score for five and a half minutes. But they continued to play relentless defense and still found themselves only down by five points with 52 seconds left.

Following a Willie Green layup, Davis Lawrence knocked down a three-pointer to cut the lead to four points with 34 seconds remaining. After the teams exchanged two free throws, Middleton hit an off-balance three-pointer to cut Detroit's lead to one with just over one second remaining. However, the Bulls were unable to steal the inbound pass and the Titans eked out the one-point win.

The Bulls once again played stellar defense and got a balanced scoring attack in a 57-48 victory over Rhode Island in Alumni Arena on Saturday night.

The Bulls (2-2) knocked down their first four shots from the floor, including three-pointers by Gilbert and Jason Bird, to help open a 12-1 lead, a lead that they would never relinquish. Rhode Island cut the lead to two points midway through the first half, but the Bulls quickly answered by going on a 10-2 run to regain a 10-point advantage. UB took a 27-19 lead into the locker room at halftime.

In the second half, the Bulls had an answer for every Rhode Island run as the Rams got no closer than six points.

The Bulls will host Niagara University at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.

WOMEN'S

UB 65, Colgate 46

UB cruised to a 19-point win, 65-46, over the Colgate Raiders in the home opener on Nov. 26 in Alumni Arena. Three players finished in double figures, and the Bulls scored 24 of their 37 second-half points in the paint en route to taking control of the game and increasing their 28-25 halftime lead.

The Bulls opened the scoring at the 18:59 mark when sophomore Allison Bennett made two free throws after being fouled, but the first half quickly turned into a see-saw battle with 10 lead changes and the score being tied on seven different occasions. Junior Jessica Kochendorfer's jumper with 1:04 left in the half sent the Bulls to the locker room with a slim 28-25 edge, but they came out on fire in the second half to pull away and put the game out of reach.

UB opened the second half with a 13-6 run and extended its lead to double digits, 41-31, with 12:54 on the clock when freshman Hollie Cook stripped the ball from Colgate's Emily Damuth and went in for an uncontested layup. Cook put in another strong all-around performance with nine points, four rebounds, seven assists and five steals in 29 minutes of play.

After a layup by freshman Trisha Hedges put the Bulls ahead 43-31, the Raiders threatened to get back in the game with a three-pointer by Allison Lipinski and a jumper by Malissa Lagzdins to cut Buffalo's lead to seven, 43-36, with 10:57 remaining in the game. The Bulls, however, embarked on an 18-4 run over the next 7:42 to quiet Colgate's comeback attempt. The Bulls held Colgate scoreless for a span of four minutes, and the Raiders' four points during the run all came from the foul line.

Buffalo led by as many as 22 points down the stretch.

The Bulls (2-0) will travel to Durham, N.C., to take on Saint Joseph's in the opening round of the Duke Classic tomorrow. They will face either Duke, the No. 1 team in the country, or Howard in the final round on Sunday.

Wrestling

Bulls finish seventh at Mat Town Tourney

UB participated in the prestigious Mat Town USA Tournament on Saturday, finishing seven out of 10 teams with 73.5 points.

Purdue won the event with 167.5 points.

The Bulls' top finisher on the day was senior Gary Cooper. Cooper rebounded from a loss in the 174-pound semifinals by claiming a pair of matches to earn third place. After losing to No. 1 ranked Ryan Lange of Purdue in the semifinals, Cooper bounced back to defeat Ohio's Ed Willis, 8-4, before pinning Lock Haven's Eric O'Connor at 2:49 to take third place.

Earning fourth-place finishes were Garrett Bontempo and Kyle Cerminara. Freshman Mark Budd finished sixth.

Bontempo lost to Nebraska's B.J. Padden in the semifinals by a narrow 10-6 score before working his way through the wrestlebacks for a fourth-place finish. Bontempo scored a fall over Lock Haven's Dan Riggs (1:02) before losing to Purdue's Ben Wissel by a 4-3 score in the third/fourth place match.

Cerminara, meanwhile, was a few points from being in the 197-pound finals. He dropped a 5-3 decision to No. 2-ranked Jon Bush of Purdue in the semifinals, but rebounded with an 8-5 win over Ohio's Joel Weimer. He lost, however, 3-2 to Penn State's Ryan Cummins in the third/fourth place match.

Budd battled through an extremely competitive 125-pound class for sixth place after losing his first match of the day. He then reeled off two victories, including one over teammate Mike Sebaaly in wrestlebacks, before losing to Pittsburgh's Jordan Sianni, 6-0.

The Bulls next compete at the Beast of the East Collegiate Tournament on Dec. 20 at the University of Delaware.