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Cliff Smith of the wrestling team won the 133-pound title at the UB Open with three victories in his weight class. In the final, Smith scored an 8-6 comeback victory over Tim Haas of Penn State. The junior also picked up a pair of wins, including a technical fall (16-1) over Indiana's Pat Barth at Saturday's Buckeye Duals to raise his season record to 20-8.
Brooke Meunier of the women's basketball team scored 13 second-half points on 6-of-12 shooting in UB's lone game of the week at 13th-ranked Colorado. At the beginning of the second half, Meunier scored the Bulls' first eight points to give the UB offense a spark against the Buffaloes. The sophomore is third on the team with a 10.8 points per game average, which ranks 21st in the MAC.
Basketball
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Fairleigh Dickinson 79, UB 64
Toledo 88, UB 83
UB had its five-game winning streak snapped with a 79-64 loss to Fairleigh Dickinson in Teaneck, N.J., on Dec. 22.
Fairleigh Dickinson started the game on a 9-0 run, aided by three-consecutive three-pointers. A layup by Yassin Idbihi cut the Knights' lead to 9-6. However, that was as close as the Bulls would get as UB struggled to make shots and had 14 first-half turnovers.
Brian Andre was a bright spot for the Bulls in the first half as the freshman forward rattled off six-straight points to establish a new career high. A pair of Mario Jordan free throws cut the lead to 25-16 with 3:40 left in the half. However, the Bulls wouldn't score again in the opening stanza and allowed the Knights to take a 35-16 lead at halftime. Fairleigh Dickinson played stellar defense in the first half, blocking nine shots and making seven steals.
Fairleigh Dickinson extended its lead to 54-29 with 10:26 remaining in the game. The Bulls tried to mount a comeback, going on a 16-2 scoring run to cut the lead to 56-45 with 5:48 left in the contest. A key component to the Bulls' comeback effort was the play of Marcus Henderson. The freshman guard pestered the Fairleigh Dickinson guards—forcing them to turn the ball over—and scored the first two points of his collegiate career. However, it was all for naught as the Bulls would get no closer than 11 points.
UB was led by Turner Battle, who scored 16 points—all in the second half. The junior point guard was whistled for two early fouls, forcing him to sit the bench for much of the first stanza. Calvin Cage also reached double-figures with 12 points. Mark Bortz, Battle and Jordan all finished with a game-high eight rebounds as the Bulls won the battle of the glass, 36-34.
The Bulls returned to Mid-American Conference play on Saturday night against Toledo. UB had five players score in double figures—led by Jordan, who notched a career-high 22 points. However, it wasn't enough, as the Bulls fell to a high-powered Rocket squad, 88-83.
UB (5-5, 1-1 MAC) started off the game strong, jumping out to an 18-9 lead. The Bulls' starting backcourt of Battle and Jason Bird combined to score 11 of UB's first 16 points. A three-pointer by Justin Ingram gave Toledo a 31-30 lead with 5:06 left in the first half.
The three-pointer was Toledo's weapon of choice in the first half as the Rockets knocked down seven first-half treys. Toledo (8-2, 2-0 MAC) extended its lead to 37-31 with 4:04 left in the half. However, UB went on a 7-0 scoring run to take a 38-37 lead with 2:11 left in the first stanza. A layup by Jordan extended the UB lead to three points late in the first half, but Toledo was able to score five quick points to capture a 44-43 halftime lead.
After Toledo's Keith Triplett hit a jumper to open the scoring in the second half, the Bulls rattled off 10 unanswered points to take a 53-46 advantage. However, the Rockets answered with an 8-0 run of their own to recapture a one-point lead, 54-53, with 14:13 left in the game. Seemingly undaunted, the Bulls answered right back with an 18-8 run that was capped by back-to-back three-pointers by Jordan, giving UB a 71-62 lead with 8:10 remaining. But the Rockets proved to have too many weapons and were able to chip away at the UB lead. Toledo took the lead for good (74-73) on a jumper by Sammy Villegas at the 5:51 mark.
Along with Jordan, Battle with 15 points and Bird, Cage and Bortz—all with 11 points apiece—reached double figures. It marked the third time this season that the Bulls have had five players reach double-figures in the scoring column.
The Rockets outrebounded Buffalo, 43-33, and were especially effective on the offensive glass, grabbing 17 offensive boards.
The Bulls will host MAC rival Western Michigan at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
WOMEN'S
Colorado 98, UB 47
UB suffered a 98-47 loss to the 13th-ranked Colorado Buffaloes on Saturday in Boulder. Colorado shot 49.3 percent from the floor in the game (33-for-67) and knocked down 16 three-pointers to improve to 11-1 on the season. The Bulls (1-7) were led by sophomore Brooke Meunier with 13 points, all in the second half, while senior Jessica Kochendorfer fell just short of a double-double with nine points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
The Buffaloes opened the game with a three-pointer by Kate Fagan and quickly jumped out to a 21-2 lead with 11:49 left in the first half following a 14-0 run. Colorado shot 50.0 percent from the floor in the first half (14-for-28), including 41.2 percent from three-point range (7-of-17), while the Bulls struggled to hit just 5-of-26 field goal attempts (19.2 percent) in the half. Fagan hit four of CU's seven three-pointers for 12 points in the first half, and the Buffaloes took a 28-point lead into the locker room at halftime, 42-14.
UB's offense got a spark in the second half from Meunier, who went 4-for-4 from the floor in the first four minutes for Buffalo's first eight points. Meunier was 6-for-9 from the floor in the second half and 6-for-12 for the game. Freshman Dina Atanas, who joined the Bulls on Dec. 19, was impressive in her collegiate debut, hitting 4-of-6 shots from the floor in the second half for all eight of her points.
UB shot 52.0 percent in the second half (13-for-25), while Colorado shot 48.7 percent (19-for-39). CU's biggest lead of the game was the 51-point final margin, and the 98 points are a season high for the Buffaloes.
"Colorado's the 13th-ranked team in the country and the highest-ranked team we've ever faced in school history," said head coach Cheryl Dozier. "We play these types of games because it's big-time college basketball in a big-time arena with a big-time atmosphere, and we'll take a lot out of this entering the conference season this week."
Wrestling
Lehigh 32, UB 6
UB 25, Eastern Illinois 14
Indiana 27, UB 8
Four UB wrestlers earned championships within their respective weight classes at the first annual UB Open held on Dec. 29 in Alumni Arena. No team scores were kept for the event.
Mark McKnight won the title at 125 pounds by winning three consecutive matches, including an 8-3 decision over unattached wrestler Caleb Metcalf in the final. In the 133-pound weight class, Cliff Smith also won three matches on his way to the championship. In the final, Smith scored an 8-6 comeback victory over Tim Haas of Penn State. Ed Pawlak won the 174-pound title with four wins. He defeated Cleveland State's Derek Pace with a 9-1 decision in the final. At 197 pounds, Kyle Cerminara posted four straight wins on his way to the championship. In the final, he defeated Joe Phillips of Cleveland State with a 15-5 decision.
The Bulls suffered their first losses of the season against outstanding competition on Saturday at the Buckeye Duals at Ohio State University.
The Bulls defeated Eastern Illinois, 25-14, but dropped a 32-6 decision to No. 3 Lehigh and also lost to Indiana, 27-8, to fall to 9-2 overall. Lehigh was the only team to go unbeaten in the event, while the host Buckeyes went 2-1. Cerminara, Mike Trotta and Smith each won a pair of matches for the Bulls.
UB fell to national powerhouse Lehigh by a 32-6 score to open the day. Lehigh jumped to a 19-0 lead by winning the first four matches before Cerminara defeated Matt Cassidy by a 4-3 score at 197 pounds. The only other winner for the Bulls was Trotta, who defeated Taylor Graham by an 8-1 score.
UB posted a 25-14 win over Eastern Illinois in the second match of the day, rebounding from an early 10-0 deficit. The Bulls got things going when Cerminara posted a 13-6 win over Jim Kassner after a forfeit was awarded at 184 pounds to UB's Garrett Hicks. The Bulls, trailing 14-9 after the heavyweight bout, took the final four matches to win 25-14. At 125 pounds, freshman McKnight claimed a 13-5 win, Smith won by forfeit at 133 pounds, Trotta claimed a 10-5 win at 141 pounds and freshman Patrick Lloyd closed the match with an 11-5 win at 149 pounds.
In the final match of the day, the Hoosiers of Indiana beat the Bulls, 27-8, although six matches were decided by four points or less. The only winners for UB were junior Nick Rausenberg at 165 pounds and Smith at 133 pounds. Rausenberg beat Nathan McMillian, 5-0, while Smith scored a technical fall (16-1) win over Pat Barth. Cerminara suffered a fall at the hands of Pat DeGain, the same wrestler who eliminated him from the NCAA Championships as a freshman, while Trotta lost 6-2 to No. 6 Coyte Cooper.
Two of UB's top wrestlers—McKnight at 125 pounds and Pawlak at 174 pounds—had tough days against nationally ranked competition. McKnight dropped a 3-2 decision to No. 14 Mario Stuart of Lehigh. Pawlak, meanwhile, dropped a 6-2 decision to No. 1 Brad Dillon of Lehigh and also lost to nationally ranked Brady Richardson of Indiana by a narrow 3-2 decision.
Individually, Cerminara improved to 24-3 overall on the day while Trotta is now 21-12 on the season with his two wins.
The Bulls will host Clarion at 7 p.m. on Saturday in Alumni Arena.