University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Published: January 16, 2003

Basketball

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Marshall 69, UB 63
Akron 89, UB 71

Despite outrebounding Marshall and committing a season-low eight turnovers, UB couldn't stave off a late scoring run by the Thundering Herd and fell to Marshall, 69-63, in Alumni Arena on Jan. 8, snapping the team's three-game home winning streak.

It was an even contest for much of the first half, with both teams taking leads, but not control of the game. Marshall led at the half, 39-34.

A highly spirited Bulls squad opened the second stanza on a 6-0 scoring run, capped off by a Roderick Middleton layup, to regain a one-point advantage. The Bulls built their lead to four points with 12:02 remaining, but the offense then stalled. Marshall capitalized on UB's cold shooting and mounted an 18-5 scoring run. The final blow was a three-pointer by Ronny Dawn, with the shot clock winding down, to give the Herd a 64-55 advantage with 1:31 remaining.

The Bulls cut the lead to five points, but could get no closer.

Daniel Gilbert had a solid all-around performance for the Bulls. The sophomore forward scored 12 points and added six rebounds and six assists, both career-highs. For the second-straight game, Turner Battle led UB in scoring with 13 points. The Bulls shot 41.1 percent (23-56) from the floor, but were ice cold from beyond the arc, shooting just 2-for-18.

UB traveled to Akron on Saturday afternoon, where a sluggish first half cost the Bulls as they fell to the high-scoring Zips, 89-71, in the James A. Rhodes Arena. It was the fifth-straight loss for the Bulls and kept them winless on the road this season.

With the score tied at six early in the contest, Akron went on a 23-3 scoring run and took a commanding 29-9 lead. During that span, the Bulls couldn't hit a shot, going 10 minutes without scoring a field goal. Akron took a 36-20 halftime lead. It was the lowest scoring output in a half by the Bulls this season.

UB (3-9, 0-3) came out in the second half looking like a different team. The spark was provided by Battle, who scored 12 of his team-high 18 points in the second stanza. The Bulls cut the lead to 10 points early in the second half, but were unable to get any closer as they traded buckets with Akron down the stretch.

After a poor shooting performance in the first half, the Bulls did a much better job of attacking the basket in the second half, scoring a season-high 51 points on 51.6 percent shooting. However, the Zips were equally hot, scoring 53 points on 57.7 percent shooting.

The Bulls couldn't contain Akron's Derrick Tarver, the MAC's second-leading scorer, who dropped a game-high 31 points, including five three-pointers.

Along with Battle, three other Bulls finished the game in double-figures in the scoring column. Gilbert reached double-figures for the second-straight game with 13 points, while Middleton and B.J. Walker each chipped in with 11 points.

WOMEN'S

Marshall 62, UB 59 (OT)
Ball State 62, UB 47

Sophomore Erin Lawrenson hit a three-pointer with 28.3 seconds remaining in regulation to force overtime for the second time this season, but UB came out on the losing end of a 62-59 final score in its Mid-American Conference opener on Jan. 8 at Marshall.

The Bulls held Marshall to a 28.4 shooting percentage in the game (19-for-67), but hurt themselves with 23 turnovers and by giving up 19 offensive rebounds. The Thundering Herd scored 24 points off turnovers and 14 second-chance points en route to the win.

The Bulls held a slim lead through the first 10 minutes of the game before the Thundering Herd hit four consecutive three-pointers during a 16-5 run to take its largest lead of the half, 24-17, with 4:53 on the clock. Marshall led by five at halftime, 26-21, and began the second half with two more three-pointers—after a free throw by Buffalo freshman Hollie Cook—to give the Thundering Herd a 10-point lead, 32-22, with 16:11 to play in regulation.

Marshall entered the game with just 20 three-pointers in its first 10 games of the season, but shot 6-for-11 from behind the arc in the win.

Trailing by 10, the Bulls went on a 14-3 run to get back in the game. Lawrenson engineered the run by scoring 10 of the Bulls' 14 points, converting a three-point play to end the run and putting the Bulls up by one, 36-35, with 9:56 left. The Thundering Herd led by as many as six points down the stretch, but the Bulls refused to give up and scored the final six points in regulation while holding Marshall without a point in the final four minutes to force overtime. After a layup by Sikeeta Shepard-Hall gave Marshall a 51-47 lead with 4:07 to play, senior Kate McMeeken-Ruscoe brought UB to within three with a layup and a free throw. Lawrenson then drained a three-pointer with 28.3 seconds remaining to tie the score at 51-51.

The Thundering Herd threw the ball away on its next possession, and McMeeken-Ruscoe got off a baseline jumper that failed to fall as time expired.

UB never led in overtime as Marshall began the extra period with two quick buckets in the opening minute to go up by four, 55-51. The Thundering Herd made 5-of-8 free throws in overtime to secure the win.

Lawrenson finished the night with a career-high 20 points on 6-of-10 shooting, including four three-pointers. McMeeken-Ruscoe also finished in double figures for the Bulls with 16 points.

On Saturday, the visiting Ball State Cardinals closed the game with a 15-2 run over the final eight minutes of regulation to turn a two-point game into a 15-point victory over the Bulls before 1,038 fans in Alumni Arena.

Lawrenson posted a career-high 10 rebounds for the Bulls, but UB (7-5 overall, 0-2 MAC) again hurt itself by giving up 12 offensive rebounds in the game that the Cardinals converted into 17 second-chance points.

Ball State led for the majority of the first half, but never by more than six points. The Cardinals were up by six, 28-22, with 3:24 to go before the Bulls got buckets from McMeeken-Ruscoe, freshman Brooke Meunier and Lawrenson to tie the score at 28-28 going into halftime.

The Bulls scored 24 of their 28 points in the first half in the paint, and shot 46.4 percent from the floor (13-for-28), compared to Ball State's 38.7 percent (12-for-31).

A jumper by McMeeken-Ruscoe at the 18:10 mark of the second half gave the Bulls their first lead of the game, 34-32, but the Cardinals tied the score at 37-37 and then took the lead for good on a three-pointer by Julie Just at the 13:09 mark to go ahead 40-37. The Bulls hung in and trailed by no more than four points for the next seven minutes, but a three-pointer by BSU's Dana Collins with just under six minutes to play put the Cardinals up by seven, 52-45, and seemed to put things out of reach for the Bulls. UB scored just one basket in the final eight minutes of the game, a jumper by McMeeken-Ruscoe with 1:11 on the clock.

"Second-chance points are what are hurting us," said UB head coach Cheryl Dozier. "We've got to do a better job with keeping our opponents off the offensive glass. This was anybody's game except for about a five-minute span in the second half that made the difference."

McMeeken-Ruscoe and junior Jessica Kochendorfer both finished with a team-high 10 points for the Bulls.

The Bulls will return home to host Cornell in their final non-conference game of the season at 7 p.m. on Monday in Alumni Arena.

Wrestling

UB 44, American 3
Clarion 20, UB 17

UB posted four falls in a strong performance to down visiting American University, 44-3, in a non-conference match on Jan. 9 in Alumni Arena.

UB got falls from junior Mike Trotta, sophomore Dave Edwards, sophomore Tom Paladino and senior Gary Cooper.

Trotta downed AU's Eric Levine at 2:50 after scoring three takedowns and a pair of near-falls to give UB a 10-0 match lead. After a solid 9-4 win by sophomore Cliff Smith at 141 pounds, Edwards caught Aviv Bercovicz in a headlock, which he rolled into a fall with 30 seconds left in the first period.

Sophomore Labe Black recorded his ninth dual meet fall (tied for 12th all-time) by downing Eric Fantegrossi at the 1:31 mark to extend UB's lead to 25-0. At 165 pounds, Paladino improved to 5-2 in dual meets this year with a solid 9-3 win, getting two escapes and a takedown in the third period.

Cooper kept his dual meet mark unblemished with a fall at the 1:17 mark. It was his 99th career win and the 12th dual meet fall of his career, tying him for seventh all-time. Senior Garrett Bontempo raised his mark to 20-5 on the year with a workmanlike 19-5 win over Kyle Mason. Bontempo recorded eight takedowns in the match to move his team-leading total to 28 on the year in dual meets.

American's only win came at heavyweight, where the Eagles' Jared Hyman outlasted UB freshman Tom Curl by a 5-1 count.

On Saturday, the Bulls dropped a heartbreaking 20-17 decision to Clarion University in Waldo Tippin Gymnasium. The Golden Eagles got a pin and a major decision in the final two matches to rally past UB, 20-17. Both teams are 6-2 after the match and had been receiving consideration in this week's Intermat Top 25 poll.

The Bulls were hurt dearly by an ankle injury that kept returning NCAA qualifier Kyle Cerminara out of the lineup. The Bulls led, 17-10, going into the final two weight classes, before two nationally ranked Clarion wrestlers pulled the match out for the hosts.

Seventh-ranked Eric Mausser pinned UB's Harold Sherrell at 2:44 to pull the Golden Eagles within a point before 10th-ranked John Testa scored an 11-3 win over Curl at heavyweight.

The win wiped out a lead built by five straight wins by UB from 149 to 184 pounds. Edwards started the UB run with a 6-2 win to improve to 14-3 on the year. Black shutout Jeremy Reitz, 2-0, at 157 pounds, before Paladino posted an 8-6 win over Chris Horning.

At 174 pounds, Cooper made history with a 19-5 win over Dave Gardner. Cooper's win moved him to 8-0 in dual meets this year and was his 100th career victory, joining all-time win leader Josh States (102 victories) as the only two UB wrestlers to record 100 victories.

The Bulls next will see action at the New York State Collegiates, which UB will host tomorrow and Saturday in Alumni Arena.

Indoor track and field

UB women set three school records at Black Squirrel meet

The women's track-and-field team set three school records and the men scored a pair of victories at Saturday's Black Squirrel Classic at Kent State University. There was no team scoring in the meet.

In the women's meet, all three school records were broken by the existing recordholders. Biaunca McFarland extended her record in the triple jump with a leap of 41-3 (12.57m) to finish second overall behind an unattached entrant and better her previous mark by nearly a foot. Faith Thompson finished third in the shot put with a toss of 44-10.75 (13.68m), increasing her existing record by two and a half inches. Pole vaulter Laura Olson bettered her record by a half-inch to become the only UB woman to reach the 12-foot (3.66m) mark. Thompson finished second in the 20-pound weight throw with a toss of 56-10 (17.32m) while McFarland also took fourth in the 200-meter dash in 25.59.

UB's lone victory in the women's competition was turned in by the distance medley relay squad, which finished in 12:06.30.

Pauletta Dickerson finished second in the 300-meter hurdles in 46.64. Christina Keck earned a fourth-place finish in the 400-meter dash in 57.58. In the men's meet, sprinter Joe Clark picked up a victory in the 400-meter dash in 47.76. Erich Smithson won the 300-meter hurdles in 38.83 and placed third in the 60-meter hurdles in 8.36.

Second-place finishes were earned by Doug Johnston in the 800-meters (1:54.43), Steve Esler in the high jump (6-3.25/1.91m) and both the 4x400 (3:19.10) and distance medley relay (10:14.63) teams.

Both teams will return to action Jan. 25 at the Cornell Quad meet in Ithaca.

Tennis

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Rocchio, Zieziula reach quarterfinals of Milwaukee Classic for second year

UB sent three players to the prestigious Milwaukee Tennis Classic Jan. 7-9, where they posted strong results throughout the competition. Sophomores Randy Rocchio, Nick Zieziula and Josh Liederman saw action in the 64-player men's singles draw, while Rocchio and Zieziula combined in the 32-team doubles competition, where they reached the quarterfinals for the second consecutive season.

Rocchio and Zieziula opened doubles play with an 8-4 victory over Jon Roszak of Columbia and Erik Zipp of Bryant College. UB's top team then moved into the round of 16, defeating the sixth-seeded squad in the competition, Ohio State's Conor Casey and Brenton Contini, by an 8-3 margin. The duo then was defeated in the quarterfinal round by Northern Illinois' Aaron Forsberg and Erick Martinez.

In the open doubles competition, several individuals from different colleges were paired with one another while other teams competed with their regular partners. This was the case for the Bulls as Liederman paired with Toledo's Zach Barden, but the duo dropped an 8-2 decision to Ben Davis of Wisconsin-Green Bay and Marko Despot of Wichita State.

Zieziula also registered a singles victory in the tournament with a 6-3, 7-6 win over Michigan's Vinny Gossain. He then moved into the round of 32 where he faced the tournament's second seed, freshman Rajeev Ram of Illinois. Ram has won ATP Futures Circuit events in singles and doubles, was a boys' finalist at Wimbledon in 2002 and played in the main draw of the U.S. Open men's doubles the past two years. Zieziula's hopes for a singles title were dashed by Ram when he dropped a 6-0, 6-0 decision.

Also in singles play, Liederman was defeated by Davis, 6-1, 6-1, and Rocchio fell to Toledo's Ross Wilson, 6-3, 6-2, in the first round. Both players moved to the consolation round, where Rocchio defeated Alec Smyczek, 7-6, 6-1. Rocchio was eliminated in his third-round match by Western Michigan's Mike Findling, 3-6, 7-6, 6-4. Liederman was defeated in his first-round consolation match, 6-0, 6-1, by Alex Bucewicz of Memphis.

The full squad will return to the courts Feb. 1 and 2 at the St. Bonaventure Duals.