University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Published: January 29, 2004

Basketball

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UB 85, Northern Illinois 73

UB beat Northern Illinois, 85-73, in the Convocation Center on Sunday afternoon to snap its 19-game conference road losing streak. The Huskies, the preseason favorite to win the Mid American Conference crown, were 6-0 at home prior to Sunday's contest.

Northern Illinois (7-11, 2-6) jumped out to a 16-6 lead with 13:32 remaining in the first half. However, the complexion of the game changed over the next five minutes as the Bulls mounted a 21-6 scoring run to take a five-point lead. The Bulls built their lead to as many as nine points in the first half, before settling for a six-point halftime edge. A key to the Bulls' first-half lead was the play of Yassin Idbihi who had 12 points, five rebounds and three assists in the first 20 minutes. Calvin Cage was a spark off the bench as he scored seven points, including a three-pointer, in the first half.

The second half turned into the Roderick Middleton show as the sophomore guard scored all of his season-high 13 points in the second stanza. The Huskies pulled to within six at 60-54, but a Middleton jumper with 9:33 remaining extended the Bulls' lead to eight points and Northern Illinois would not threaten again.

It was the sixth win of the season for the Bulls who have already eclipsed their five win total of last season. The win also snapped the Bulls' six-game losing skid.

WOMEN'S

Holy Cross 71, UB 59
UB 57, Central Michigan 52
Ball State 73, UB 49

UB went 1-2 in a busy week. The Bulls fell to Holy Cross, 71-59, in Alumni Arena on Jan. 19, then knocked off MAC rival Central Michigan, 57-52, at home on Jan. 21. The Bulls then hit the road, dropping a 73-49 decision at Ball State. UB is 4-11 overall and 2-3 in the MAC prior to its Jan. 26 showdown at Northern Illinois.

After the loss to Holy Cross, the Bulls got back on the winning track against visiting Central Michigan.

The Bulls' largest lead of the game-and their only double-digit lead at 11 points-came at the 12:29 mark of the first half, 19-8, following a layup by freshman Belinda Gibb. Sophomore Brooke Meunier scored 10 of her 14 first-half points in the first six minutes of the game, including two three-pointers, to help the Bulls take the early lead. Central Michigan battled back with a 15-4 run to tie the score at 23-23 with 3:30 remaining in the half, but senior Jessica Kochendorfer scored seven straight points for a 7-0 UB run that got the Bulls out to a 30-23 lead with just over two minutes to play. Three free throws by the Chippewas in the final minute of the half sent the Bulls to the locker room up by a 30-26 margin.

An 8-2 Central Michigan run to open the second half, culminated by a three-pointer gave the Chippewas their first lead of the game, 34-32, with 15:12 left on the clock. Freshman Dina Atanas was fouled on a three-point attempt, and she hit two of her free throws to tie the game at 34-34. The score was tied three more times over the next five minutes of play before the Bulls went on an 8-0 run to go up 47-39 with just over five minutes remaining. Junior Allison Bennett hit a jumper at the end of the 8-0 run and made three layups after that for eight straight points that kept the Bulls' lead intact. A CMU three-pointer with 23 seconds left in the game got the Chippewas within three, 55-52, but junior Talia Merlino and Bennett each made one foul shot in the closing seconds to put the game out of reach.

A combination of poor shooting and late foul trouble spelled defeat for the Bulls at Ball State. UB dropped a 73-49 decision to the Cardinals, while shooting just 29.0 percent from the floor (18-for-62).

Swimming

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St. Bonaventure 150, UB 93

UB dropped a 150-93 decision to Western New York rival St. Bonaventure on Jan. 22 in the Reilly Center Pool. With the loss, UB is now 3-3 overall.

UB took just three events. Kevin Gatley scored a win in the 200 butterfly in 1:54.26, lowering his season-best by more than three seconds. Jeff Hurst took first place in the 200 backstroke in 1:58.11 with freshman teammate Luke Adams placing second in 1:59.34. Patrick Lee won the three-meter diving competition with a total score of 286.80 points. Lee also finished second on the one-meter board with 252.15 points.

UB will travels to Ypsilanti, Mich., to face defending MAC champion Eastern Michigan on Saturday.

WOMEN'S

UB 173, St. Bonaventure 127
Akron 152.5, UB 147.5

A big win over local rival St. Bonaventure and a heartbreaker road loss to Akron highlighted the UB women's swim week.

The Bulls took a 173-127 victory over the Bonnies in the Reilly Center Pool on Jan. 21. UB won nine of the 16 events as Jennefer Brankovsky and Jolie Pun took three and two individual victories, respectively.

Brankovsky, a junior, took the 200 freestyle in 1:56.71. She then won the 100 butterfly in 58.59 and finished the night with a 2:11.38 clocking to take the 200 individual medley. Pun, a senior, took both distance freestyle events. She gave the Bulls their first event victory in the 1,000 freestyle in 10:48.59 and later added the 500 freestyle (5:20.66) to the UB victory column.

The Bulls also took the top two spots in both the one- and three-meter diving competitions. Sophomore Ashlee Burton scored a first-place finish on the one-meter board with a season-best 255.23 points. Junior Tracy Hoover finished second to Burton at 238.73 points. Hoover and Burton reversed their order of finish in the three-meter event. Hoover scored a victory with a season-best 269.78 points while Burton scored 244.35 points to take second.

On Saturday, it came down to the final event, but UB was unable to capitalize as the visiting Bulls (5-3, 2-3 MAC) fell to Akron, 152.5-147.5, in Akron1s Ocasek Natatorium.

With the Bulls holding a slim four-point lead, 143.5-139.5, heading into the final event-the 400 yard freestyle relay-the meet would go to the team that won the event. Akron1s foursome (3:34.71) just touched out UB's foursome (3:35.91) to claim the 11 first-place points and take the meet. Akron also added two additional points for third place in the race for the final margin.

It was the second time this season that the outcome of a meet was not determined until the final event. UB dropped a 122-121 loss to Ohio on Nov. 8 after a furious rush in the final four events cut the lead from 35 points.

The Bulls will meet MAC opponents Eastern Michigan on Friday and Toledo on Saturday.

Indoor Track and Field

UB women second, men third at Cornell Challenge

Five first-place winners, as well as a pair of men's records, highlighted the men's and women's indoor track-and-field efforts at Saturday's Cornell Challenge.

The UB women placed second in the seven-team meet with 104.5 total points, behind the host Big Red's 228. Syracuse (89), Albany (69), Binghamton (35.5), Colgate (19) and Ithaca (13) followed in the standings. On the men's side, UB took third at 80 points as Cornell took the team championship with 214 points and Albany placed second at 94.5. Syracuse (71), Binghamton (43.5), Colgate (18) and Ithaca (16) rounded out the field.

The Bulls claimed three winners in the women's competition. Leading the UB scorers was pole vaulter Laura Olson with a height of 12-4.75. Sarah Vance won the shot put at 43-2.50 and Jen Jezorski was victorious in the 800-meter run in 2:17.21.

On the men's side, Erich Smithson won the 60-meter hurdles in 8.38. Bryan Weinstein also was victorious for the Bulls, earning a win in the 200-meters in 22.39.

Two men's school records were also set on Saturday. Pole vaulter Dan Simpson cleared 15-9 to place second overall. Simpson's height was an inch better than Jason Liddle1s 2001 mark of 15-8 and also qualified him for March's IC4A Championships. Reggie Rucker also scored a record with a 24-1 distance in the long jump, finishing in fourth place overall. Rucker bettered Kamau Halim's 2001 mark by three inches.

Wrestling

Bulls place second at New York State Championships

UB scored a second-place overall finish and put four individuals atop the victory stand as the New York State Collegiate Championships concluded Saturday at Nassau Community College. The Bulls scored 135.5 team points, second only to Army (178.5) in the meet that included 19 squads from throughout New York.

Four UB wrestlers won weight class titles on Saturday. At 141 pounds, Mike Trotta scored a 3-1 victory in the championship match against Cornell's Justin Lijo.

The Bulls' strength proved to be in the upper weight classes, with the squad taking titles in three of the top four groups. At 174 pounds, Ed Pawlak defeated Hanif Abdush-Shahid of host Nassau CC by a 12-2 margin. Kyle Cerminara scored a 3-2 win over Brockport's Mike Cuffie. In the heavyweight class, Greg Thomas picked up a 2-1 victory over Army's James Hollis.

UB's Patrick Lloyd also won his final match of the meet with a 4-3 win over Brockport's Dan Song, in the third-place match at 149 pounds.

The Bulls will host MAC rival Ohio University at 1 pm on Sunday.

Tennis

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Brown 7, UB 0

UB opened the spring 2004 season with a 7-0 loss at Brown University on Saturday afternoon. The Bulls are now 1-2 in dual meet competition for the 2003-04 fall and spring seasons.

In doubles play, the Bulls were swept in the three matches although the top two squads did put up strong fights. At number one, UB's Randy Rocchio and Nick Zieziula fell to Ben Brier and Nick Goldberg by a 9-7 margin. Second-seeded Josh Liederman and Mike Rockman were knocked off by Eric Thomas and Zack Pasanen, 8-6.

The number three team of Rangga Prayudha and Yules Hadisubroto was defeated by Phil Charm andRichard Moss, 8-3.

In the singles matches, Rockman, at number three, was able to win a set from Charm, but that was all the Bulls could muster. Rockman was defeated 6-4, 4-6, 4-6. The remainder of the matches all were won by the Bears in straight sets.

The Bulls head for another weekend in New England as they participate in the Harvard Invitational starting today.