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Yassin Idbihi of the men's basketball team recorded career highs of 17 points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots against Penn State in a 67-64 loss. At Rutgers on Nov. 25, he added seven points and pulled down five rebounds. In three games this season, the 6-10 freshman forward leads the Bulls with a .588 shooting percentage (10-of-17) and five blocks, while scoring 8.0 points per game.
Brooke Meunier of the women's basketball team scored a career-high 23 points while grabbing a career-best nine rebounds in a 69-65 loss at Colgate. Through two games this season, the sophomore guard leads the Bulls with 17.5 points per game and is tied for second with 5.5 rebounds per contest. She also is shooting 46.7 percent (14-of-30) from the field and has made seven of her nine free throw attempts.
Basketball
MEN'S
Rutgers 78, UB 53
Penn State 67, UB 64
Turnovers and poor shooting cost UB its second-straight game as the Bulls fell to Rutgers, 78-53, on Nov. 25 in the Louis Brown Athletic Center. UB shot 27.5 percent (19-69) from the floor and turned the ball over 21 times.
Rutgers' pressing defense gave the Bulls fits and its athletic big men were able to block 11 shots. The Bulls did play some effective defense itself, forcing 20 turnovers and blocking four shots.
Building on a 39-29 half-time lead, Rutgers opened the second half on an 8-3 scoring run. With the Scarlet Knights leading, 59-38, the Bulls mounted a 9-2 run to cut the lead to 61-47 with 6:37 left in the game. However, the Bulls could get no closer as Rutgers pulled away for the victory.
On Saturday night, the Bulls lost a hard-fought battle to Penn State, 67-64, in Alumni Arena. The Bulls were led by freshman Yassin Idbihi with 17 points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots—all team highs.
The first half was a back-and-forth affair, with both teams taking brief leads. Roderick Middleton drained a jumper to give the Bulls a 17-14 advantage with 8:57 left in the first half. However, UB could only muster two points over the next 4:54, allowing the Nittany Lions to take a 23-19 lead. Penn State led at halftime, 33-29.
Penn State opened the second half on a 9-0 run and took a 41-29 lead. The Lions were able to extend their lead to 13 points before the Bulls mounted a comeback. Ignited by a Daniel Gilbert three-pointer and capped by a Middleton trey, the Bulls went on a furious 18-4 run to take a 56-55 lead with 6:02 remaining. The lead briefly seesawed before a Marlon Smith jumper extended Penn State's lead to four points (62-58). A free throw followed by a jumper by Idbihi cut the Lions' lead to 62-61 with 2:19 left in the contest.
However, Penn State scored back-to-back buckets to take a 66-61 lead with just 10 seconds remaining. Gilbert drained his second three-pointer of the game with four seconds left to cut the lead to 66-64. After Robert Summers went 1-for-2 at the charity stripe to extend the lead to three, the Bulls were unable to get off a shot in the game's closing moments and lost by three points.
One encouraging aspect of the game was the play of Idbihi. The 6-10 forward was a spark off the bench and had several dominating moments at each end of the floor. "We've seen him do some of the things he did tonight," head coach Reggie Witherspoon said of Idbihi's play. "I figured that after he got his feet wet a little bit he would be a lot more productive—and tonight he was."
The loss drops the Bulls to 0-3 on the season. UB was to face Bowling Green in a conference clash last night in Alumni Arena, and will host Youngstown State on Saturday night. Tip off will be at 7 p.m.
WOMEN'S
Colgate 69, UB 65
UB battled back from an 18-point first-half deficit to go ahead by five midway through the second half, but the Bulls could not maintain the lead and suffered their second loss of the season at Colgate, 69-65, on Nov. 25. Sophomore Brooke Meunier posted career highs in both points (23) and rebounds (nine), and senior Jessica Kochendorfer recorded her first double-double of the season with 20 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Bulls' attack.
Colgate (3-0) quickly jumped out to a 24-6 lead with 10:45 to play in the first half. The Bulls put together a 17-5 run to cut their deficit to six, 29-23, with 4:29 showing on the clock, but a steal and layup, followed by a three-pointer, all by Allison Lipinski, put the Raiders back up by double digits, 34-23, with 3:17 left in the first half. UB closed the half with an 8-0 run, including six free throws and a wide open layup by Kochendorfer with 14.4 seconds on the clock, to go into halftime trailing by just three, 34-31.
Another three-pointer by Lipinski at the 16:11 mark of the second half put Colgate up by eight, 45-37, but the Bulls strung together an 8-0 run to tie the score at 45-45. Kochendorfer scored six of the eight points during the run, including the game-tying bucket on a fast-break layup following a pass from sophomore Hollie Cook. Lipinski knocked down another three-pointer for Colgate, but Meunier answered by converting a three-point play to tie the score at 48-48, and the Bulls then took their first lead of the game on a layup by freshman Kelly Calderone with 13:05 left to play. The Bulls held the lead for the next nine minutes until a three-pointer by Malissa Burke put Colgate back on top, 60-58, with 4:04 remaining, and a 10-0 run later gave the Raiders a 65-58 lead with three minutes to go. A three-pointer by junior Allison Bennett started a 7-1 UB run, with back-to-back buckets by junior Amy Kucheran and Meunier bringing the Bulls to within one, 66-65, with 1:17 to play.
However, UB was unable to make any final shots, and Colgate scored three points from the free throw line in the final minute to secure the win.
The Bulls (0-2) were off until yesterday, when they were to host Youngstown State in Alumni Arena on "Education Day." The Bulls will travel south to face Auburn on Sunday.
Wrestling
Bulls place seventh at Mat Town meet
UB placed seventh in a field of 11 teams at the Mat Town USA Invitational on Saturday. Seven Bulls placed within their respective weight classes, including second-place finishes by Ed Pawlak and Kyle Cerminara.
Cornell, ranked eighth nationally in the latest National Wrestling Coaches Association poll, won the tournament with 156.0 team points.
In the 174-pound weight class, Pawlak won three matches—including one by fall—to advance to the championship match. He then lost to Cornell's Tyler Baier by an 8-4 decision.
Cerminara, who wrestles in the 197-pound weight class, also won three straight matches to advance to the final. Matt Greenberg of Cornell then beat Cerminara, 5-4, to win the 197-pound championship.
The Bulls (3-0) will travel to Ohio this weekend for a pair of matches. UB will face Mid American Conference foe Kent State, as well as James Madison, on Sunday.
Soccer
WOMEN'S
Devon Russell named to Academic All-MAC Team
Senior Devon Russell was named to the 2003 Women's Soccer Academic All-Mid-American Conference team, as voted on by the faculty athletic representatives of the member institutions that sponsor women's soccer.
Russell, a defender, also earned All-MAC First Team recognition for the 2003 season. She started all 20 games and registered two goals and two assists. She was named the Mid-American Conference Player of the Week and Scholar Athlete of the Week on Sept. 3. A communication major, Russell has a 3.684 grade-point average.