University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Published: January 22, 2004

Basketball

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Ohio 90, UB 76
Marshall 86, UB 74

Ohio used a 59-point second half to erase a 14-point UB lead and beat the visiting Bulls, 90-76, in the Convocation Center on Jan. 14. The Bulls had four players score in double-figures, led by Daniel Gilbert, who scored a career-high 16 points—including four three-pointers.

Ohio jumped out to a 25-16 advantage before the Bulls mounted a 14-0 scoring run to take a 30-24 lead with 3:34 left in the half. UB finished the half strong and led at the break, 40-31. The Bulls seemed to find the magic that enabled them to win five-straight games earlier in the season as they hounded Bobcat ball-handlers and forced 13 first-half turnovers.

Gilbert opened the second-half scoring with a three-pointer to extend the UB lead to 43-31. Four of the Bulls' first five buckets in the second half were three-pointers. The Bulls hit a season-high nine treys on the night. A free throw by Mark Bortz at the 11:30 mark, gave the Bulls a 14-point lead, their largest of the night.

However, Ohio went on a 12-0 run over the next three minutes to quickly cut the UB lead to two points. After a Gilbert trey momentarily stopped the bleeding, the Bobcats mounted a 10-0 run to take a 70-65 lead with 4:54 remaining. A layup by Mario Jordan cut the Ohio lead to 72-69 with 2:51 left in the game. However, the Bulls got no closer as Ohio outscored UB 18-7 down the stretch to pull away for the victory.

The key to the Bobcats' comeback was their ability to score inside. The Bulls, who dressed only nine players and were in foul trouble in the second half, couldn't stop the Bobcats' big men from gaining position and scoring from the low post. Ohio outscored UB 40-20, in the paint and outrebounded the Bulls, 35-29.

Along with Gilbert, Jordan and Turner Battle each scored 14 points and Bortz tallied 10 to reach double-figures in the scoring column. Jordan added a game-high seven rebounds. Roderick Middleton earned his first start of the season and notched seven points.

The road trip continued on Saturday at Marshall. The Bulls did the little things necessary to win its game against the Thundering Herd—17 offensive rebounds, 22 forced turnovers and 14 steals. However, it wasn't enough to stop a Marshall squad that shot 52 percent from the floor, including 50 percent from beyond the arc, in an 86-74 victory over the Bulls.

UB had five players score in double-figures, led by Yassin Idbihi, who tied a career-high with 17 points. Battle notched his first career double-double with 15 points and a career-high 10 rebounds. Jordan also notched 15 points but played only 21 minutes due to foul trouble. Jason Bird and Gilbert scored 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Back-to-back Bird three-pointers gave the Bulls a 14-9 lead with 14:13 left in the first half. However, UB shooters went cold over the next nine minutes, allowing the Thundering Herd to go on a 26-3 run and take a 35-17 advantage. The Bulls closed the half on a 14-6 run, capped by another Bird trey with one second remaining on the clock, to cut the lead to 41-31 at the break.

A Jordan three-pointer and an Idbihi layup following a Thundering Herd turnover quickly cut the Marshall lead to five points in the opening moments of the second half. The teams would trade buckets over the next four minutes before a Gilbert fast-break layup would cut the lead to 54-48 with 14:08 left in the game. Marshall then went on a 10-1 run and watched its lead balloon quickly to 64-49 with 11:58 remaining. The Bulls made one more run—a jumper by Battle would cut the Marshall advantage to six points with 2:51 left in the game.

However, the Bulls got no closer as the Thundering Herd converted its free throws down the stretch and pulled away for the 12-point victory.

The Bulls will travel to Northern Illinois for a game on Sunday.

WOMEN'S

UB 64, Cornell 60
UB 79, Marshall 60

It wasn't necessarily pretty, but UB answered every Cornell threat and in the end came away with a 64-60 win over the Big Red to snap a seven-game losing streak.

Senior Jessica Kochendorfer fell just shy of a triple-double with 11 points, 10 rebounds and a school-record nine blocked shots, and senior Kim Kilpela scored a team-high 17 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead the Bulls in the win.

UB jumped out to an early 20-5 lead, holding the Big Red to just five points in the first nine minutes of play. Cornell cut the lead to seven, 33-26, but Kilpela hit a jumper and a layup in the final minute of the half to increase the Bulls' advantage to double digits entering halftime, 37-26.

Cornell opened the second half with an 8-2 run and eventually got within three, 47-44, with 11:36 left on the clock. The Bulls, however, embarked on a 10-0 run to go up 13, 57-44, with 6:51 to play.

But the Big Red was not done. Cornell's Dani Aretino hit 1-of-2 free throws at the 1:28 mark to cut the margin to three once again, 61-58, and after the teams exchanged turnovers, Kochendorfer was fouled and hit both of her shots from the free throw line to put the Bulls ahead 63-58. CU's Tanya Karcic hit a jumper with 10.1 seconds on the clock, but the Big Red then fouled UB freshman Kelly Calderone, who made one free throw to make it a two-possession game, and time ran out on Cornell's attempted comeback.

The Bulls shot 51.0 percent from the floor in the game (26-for-51) and outrebounded the Big Red 36-31. Sophomore Brooke Meunier also reached double digits in scoring with 14 points, while junior Talia Merlino tied her career high with nine points. Calderone added eight points.

Kochendorfer's nine blocks, seven of them coming in the second half, set a school record and tied the Mid-American Conference record for blocks in a game. The previous school record was eight, set by Anne Trapper in the 1975-76 season and tied by Janet Lilley during the 1980-81 season. Kochendorfer now has 29 blocks on the year, and she needs 23 more to tie the school record for career blocks—159 held by Nicole Blakeslee, 1994-98.

On Saturday, UB (3-9, 1-2 MAC) picked up its first MAC victory of the season in impressive fashion, earning a 79-60 win over the visiting Marshall Thundering Herd in front of 1,309 fans in Alumni Arena. Kochendorfer posted her second consecutive double-double with game highs of 24 points and 13 rebounds, while Meunier added 20 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Junior Allison Bennett scored a career-high 17 points.

With the score tied at 23-23 with 4:30 to play in the first half, Meunier hit her third three-pointer of the half to start a 14-4 UB run that sent the Bulls to the locker room with a 10-point lead, 37-27. The Bulls shot 51.6 percent from the floor in the half (16-for-31) and 71.4 percent from three-point range (5-for-7), getting 16 points from Kochendorfer and 15 points from Meunier to take control of the game. Marshall shot just 33.3 percent from the floor (11-for-33) and 22.2 percent from three-point range (4-for-18) in the half.

The Bulls scored the first nine points in the second half to go up 46-27 with 16:28 remaining, and Meunier's fourth three-pointer of the game ended that 9-0 run. Marshall cut the lead to 10, 48-38, with 13:18 on the clock, but the Bulls' got a spark off the bench from Calderone, who scored all eight of her points in a snap of four minutes and 16 seconds from that point on, including a three-pointer, two free throws and a three-point play on a driving layup that put the Bulls up by 14, 61-47, with 8:40 to play. Marshall got within nine, 66-57, with 3:47 on the clock, but the Thundering Herd ended the game by shooting 1-for-11 from the floor, including 0-for-9 from three-point range, before time ran out.

Swimming

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UB 138, Niagara 52
Ball State 183, UB 60

UB scored a convincing victory on Jan. 15 with a 138-52 decision over Niagara University in the Alumni Arena Natatorium. It was the 23rd consecutive victory by the Bulls over the rival Purple Eagles in the all-time series.

Junior Jon Yarger led the way for the Bulls with two individual and one relay victory. Yarger started the meet as the first swimmer in the water (backstroke leg) as UB took the 400-yard medley relay in 3:37.91. He was followed in the foursome by junior Geoff Wells, freshman Aaron Moessinger and junior Aviv Oren. Individually, Yarger cruised to victories in the 200 individual medley (2:01.21) and 500 freestyle (4:51.29).

Freshman Ryan Cahill also won two individual races for the Bulls. He swept the sprint freestyle races taking the 50 in 21.98 and the 100 in 48.05. Moessinger and Wells also were individual victors for the Bulls. Moessinger took the 200 butterfly in 1:59.32, while Wells won the 200 breaststroke in 2:12.22.

Other first-place finishers for UB included sophomore Kevin Gatley in the 200 freestyle (1:48.37) and junior Jeff Hurst in the 200 backstroke in 1:59.58. Sophomore diver Patrick Lee won the one-meter competition with 274.95 points.

On Saturday, the Bulls dropped a MAC meet to Ball State, 183-60, at the Lewellen Aquatic Center. With the loss, the Bulls fell to 3-2 overall and 1-2 in league competition.

UB won just two events out of the 13 contested on Saturday. Lee captured the victory on the one-meter diving board with a total score of 302.17 points, bettering his season-best mark set against Niagara two days before by more than 27 points. Lee finished third on the three-meter board at 250.87 points.

The other victory by the Bulls came from junior Mark Sy. Sy, who had been named the MAC Swimmer and Scholar-Athlete of the Week earlier, captured the 200 butterfly in 1:55.98, beating out a pair of Ball State racers by three-quarters of a second. He also finished second in the 1000 freestyle in 9:50.52.

The Bulls will travel to rival St. Bonaventure for a non-league meet today.

WOMEN'S

UB 129, Niagara 68

UB defeated Niagara University, 129-68, Jan. 15 in the Alumni Arena Natatorium. The Bulls improve to 4-2 with the win, while Niagara is now 3-10 overall. The victory by the Bulls also was the 17th-consecutive win in the all-time series with the Purple Eagles.

Senior Abby Delia won two individual events and was part of UB's victorious 400-yard medley relay team. Delia swam the backstroke portion of the relay to open the meet and was followed by freshman Julie Marcotte, junior Janet Reynolds and sophomore Olga Wojcik. The foursome completed the distance in 4:04.41.

Individually, Delia won the 50 freestyle in 24.92 and the 200 backstroke in 2:06.70.

Senior Jolie Pun also was a winner in two individual events. Pun took the 1,000 freestyle in 10:49.47 and then, as a late entrant, won the 100 freestyle in 54.80. Reynolds took the 200 butterfly in 2:11.08. Other UB individual to pick up victories included freshman Frances Stephenson in the 200 freestyle (1:59.10), freshman Danielle Gervais in the 200 individual medley (2:13.68) and junior Tracy Hoover on the one-meter diving board (250.13 points).