University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Published: February 5, 2004

Basketball

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UB 89, Akron 83
UB 84, Ball State 75

Turner Battle scored a career-high 26 points and Mark Bortz added 20 points and 10 rebounds to pace UB to an 89-83 win over Mid American Conference foe Akron in Alumni Arena on Jan. 28. As a team, the Bulls shot a sizzling 63.0 percent from the floor-the third-best, single-game shooting performance in school history.

Both teams lit it up in the first half, with the Bulls shooting 67.9 percent (19-28) and the Zips shooting 64.3 percent (18-28) from the field. Akron was red-hot from beyond the arc as well in the first half, shooting 9-for-11 on three-point attempts. UB answered with five treys of its own. The Bulls took a 14-6 lead on a jumper by Bortz. However, Akron went on an 11-2 run to take a 17-16 lead with 11:57 left in the first half. The Bulls answered right back as Battle hit one of his career-best four three-pointers to put UB up by two. After the Zips took a 31-28 lead with 6:32 remaining in the first half, the Bulls ripped off a 10-0 run to take a 38-31 lead with 4:17 left in the half. However, the three-point shot proved to be lethal for Akron as the Zips drained four treys in the final four minutes of the half to cut the UB advantage to 46-45 at the break.

The Bulls scored six unanswered points, capped by a Battle jumper, to open the second half and regained a seven-point advantage. The Bulls held the lead until the 11:10 mark when a bucket by Akron's Romeo Travis tied the contest, 61-61. However, a steal and breakaway layup by Mario Jordan capped a 7-0 run and gave the Bulls a 68-61 lead with 8:47 remaining. A pair of Derrick Tarver free throws cut the UB lead to 72-68 with 6:48 left in the game. However, the Zips got no closer as the Bulls pulled away for the six-point victory.

On Sunday, the Bulls used a 52-point second half to erase a 10-point deficit and beat Ball State, 84-75, in Worthen Arena. It marks the first time since joining the MAC in 1998 that the Bulls have won three consecutive conference games and back-to-back road conference games.

Battle paced the Bulls with 20 points—marking the second straight game that the junior point guard has scored at least 20 points. Jordan added 15 points and was one of three UB players to collect nine rebounds.

UB (8-9, 4-5 MAC) was able to establish inside position early on, leading to easy buckets. After trading baskets, Ball State made the first move by scoring 10 unanswered points and taking a 28-17 lead with 8:01 left in the first stanza. The Bulls calmed the storm and were able to cut the lead to three points with 1:12 left in the half. However, the Cardinals closed the half with a 5-0 run, including a three-pointer by Peyton Stovall with under a second to play, to give Ball State a 40-32 halftime lead.

Ball State extended its lead to 44-34 with 17:50 left. However, UB outscored the Cardinals, 39-11, over the next 12 minutes to take an 18-point lead. The three-point shot was the Bulls' weapon of choice during the comeback as they shot 8-for-12 from beyond the arc in the second half. Jason Bird drained three straight treys and added a fourth moments later to spark the Bulls. The Cardinals were able to cut the lead to six points with 45 seconds remaining. However, a layup by Daniel Gilbert put the Bulls back up by eight and sealed the victory for UB.

UB eclipsed the 80-point plateau for the third straight game. Yassin Idbihi scored 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Bird and Calvin Cage added 12 and 10 points, respectively. The Bulls grabbed a season-high 48 rebounds, including a career-high seven by Roderick Middleton. Battle and Bortz had nine rebounds apiece.

The Bulls will host Marshall at 2 p.m. on Saturday in a game to be televised by Empire Sports Network.

WOMEN'S

Northern Illinois 66, UB 47
Bowling Green 64, UB 63

UB ended a stretch of five games in 10 days with a 66-47 loss to the Northern Illinois Huskies on Jan. 26 in front of 1,435 fans in the Convocation Center in DeKalb.

The Huskies scored 32 points in the paint and held the Bulls to just a 31.5 shooting percentage for the game (17-for-54), 28.0 percent in the first half (7-for-25).

NIU freshman Stephanie Raymond scored six of the Huskies' first eight points in the game, and they quickly jumped out to a 14-7 lead with 12:25 to play in the opening half.

The Bulls then put together an 8-2 run, with a 10-foot jumper by senior Jessica Kochendorfer getting them within one, 16-15, with 6:25 to play. Northern Illinois, however, embarked on a 14-0 run that included back-to-back three-pointers and held the Bulls scoreless for the final six minutes and 25 seconds of the half. The run sent NIU to the locker room with a 15-point halftime lead, 30-15.

A three-pointer by sophomore Brooke Meunier on the Bulls' first possession of the second half ended their scoring drought, and a 7-2 UB run in the first two minutes of the half cut the Huskies' lead to 10, 32-22. The Bulls got within eight, 53-45, with a little more than three minutes to play following two free throws by freshman Belinda Gibb, but Northern Illinois ended the game with a 13-2 run to seal the victory. A jumper by Meunier with 32 seconds left on the clock was the only bucket the Bulls scored in the final three minutes of play.

Kochendorfer led the Bulls with a game-high 14 points, while Gibb finished with a career-best 12 points, four rebounds and three assists. Senior Kim Kilpela added 10 points and a team-high five rebounds. The Bulls were outrebounded 39-26.

On Saturday, two free throws by Bowling Green freshman Ali Mann with 23.3 seconds remaining in the game lifted the Falcons to a 64-63 win over the Bulls in Anderson Arena. The Bulls (4-13 overall, 2-5 MAC) overcame a 12-point halftime deficit only to see their late four-point lead erased with five Bowling Green free throws in the final minute and 19 seconds of the game. The Falcons were 0-for-12 from the floor in the final 10 minutes of play, but hit 10-of-14 free throws during that stretch to stay in the game. UB had four players finish in double figures in scoring, led by Kilpela with 14 points.

The Bulls will travel to Ohio University for a contest on Saturday.

Swimming

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Eastern Michigan 135, UB 88

UB dropped a 135-88 decision to defending MAC champion and current league leader Eastern Michigan on Saturday afternoon. The Bulls are now 3-4 overall and 1-4 in MAC action.

UB picked up three victories in the meet. Mark Sy took the 200 butterfly in 1:53.83 and also swam the opening leg of the winning 400 freestyle relay (3:24.33). Sy was joined on the winner's stand by Matt Lazio, Aaron Moessinger and James Wood.

Geoff Wells also was victorious for the Bulls, capturing the 200 breaststoke in 2:10.30.

Patrick Lee narrowly missed winning the three-meter diving competition. Lee finished third with 284.10 points, but was less than five points out of first place.

The Bulls will host the UB Invitational on Saturday and Sunday in the Alumni Arena Natatorium.

WOMEN'S

Eastern Michigan 179.50, UB 120.50
UB 210, Toledo 88

UB split a pair of MAC meets over the weekend. The Bulls dropped a 179.50-120.50 decision at Eastern Michigan on Friday to open the roadtrip, then rebounded with a resounding 210-88 win at Toledo. The Bulls are now 6-4 overall and 3-4 in the MAC.

In Ypsilanti, the Bulls took four events out of the 13 on Friday and scored first- and second-place finishes in both butterfly races. Freshman Stefanie Nochisaki won the 200 butterfly for the Bulls in a season-best 2:08.45, with junior teammate Janet Reynolds taking second in 2:10.02 to give UB 13 team points in the event. In the 100 butterfly, freshman Kahla Walkinshaw scored a first-place finish in 58.99, with senior Abby Delia in second in 59.75. Delia, a backstroke specialist, also won the 200 backstroke in 2:07.93.

Junior Jennefer Brankovsky won the 200 individual medley in 2:10.18. Brankovsky had to rally from second place in the final 50 yards, touching out her EMU opponent Maria DelMundo by 13-hundredths of a second (2:10.31).

At Toledo, the Bulls rolled to 14 wins out of 16 events. Walkinshaw earned three individual victories and was part of the winning 800 freestyle relay squad to lead the Bulls. She swept the butterfly races, winning the 200 in 2:07.96 and then following with a 59.80 clocking to take the 100-yard distance and also cruised to a win in the 100 freestyle in 54.95. She also combined with Delia, Jolie Pun and Frances Stephenson for the victory in the 800 freestyle relay in 7:58.06.

Brankovsky also took three individual races. She swept the breaststroke events with a 1:07.49 showing in the 100 and a 2:23.80 time in the 200, and also rolled to an easy win in the 400 individual medley in 4:37.03.

Delia was a double-winner for the Bulls, sweeping the 100 and 200 backstrokes. She was the lone swimmer to finish the 100 distance in less than a minute with her 59.58 showing. She then led a UB stampede in the 200 backstroke, winning in 2:08.56, as all four UB entrants—Delia, Stephenson, Heather Rochette and Catherine Rowan touched ahead of the first Toledo swimmer.

Eugenie Viale won the 1000 freestyle in 10:41.99, while Stephenson took the 200 freestyle in 1:56.32.

The Bulls also took the top three spots in both diving competitions. In the three-meter event, Tracy Hoover took top honors with a total score of 254.03 points. Ashlee Burton finished second (227.40) and Kim LaHaye took third (225.38). On the one-meter board, Burton took the competition (252.60) with Hoover (246.75) second and LaHaye (207.83) third.

UB will host Bowling Green in the MAC finale tomorrow in the Alumni Arena Natatorium. The Bulls also will participate in the UB Invitational on Saturday and Sunday.

Indoor Track and Field

Bulls post top numbers at Penn State National Meet

UB saw some of the country's best competition over the weekend at the Penn State National Meet. Although there was no team scoring in the competition, the Bulls posted several strong marks and the men's team came away with an individual title.

Sophomore jumper Roy Richards broke the school record to win the men's long jump. Richards soared 24-1.75 (7.36m) to take the individual title and qualify for IC4A Championships in March. The distance was three-quarters of an inch better than the mark set last week at the Cornell Challenge by Reggie Rucker. Rucker finished fourth in the Penn State competition at 23-4.75 (7.13m).

Andy Wigton also established a new UB record in the 3,000-meter run. Wigton, a sophomore, shaved three seconds off of Rick Stewart's 2003 mark by completing the distance in 8:32.55, good for 14th place among 51 runners. Todd Ludden placed 32nd overall in 8:40.24. Freshman Dan McKenna also earned an IC4A qualifying mark with his 4:14.28 showing in the mile, taking 11th place in a field of 40.

In the women's meet, senior Allison Laske scored an eighth-place finish in the 800-meter run in 2:11.02. The clocking was more than a second off of Laske's previous personal best set in December and solidified her ECAC Championships qualifying mark.

Other women's highlights included Sarah Vance picking up a spot in the ECAC meet with her 45-1.50 (13.75m) throw in the shot put to place fifth overall. The throw bettered her season-best by nearly two feet. Vance also finished 11th in the weight throw at 48-9.50 (14.87m). Laura Olson added a half-inch to her season-best in the pole vault with a height of 12-6 (3.81m) to place fifth overall. Jenny Koeppel also lowered her season-best mark in the 5,000-meter run with a 17:46.78 showing to place ninth among 24 runners and almost 30 seconds off of last week's previous-best at Cornell.

The Bulls will travel to the Syracuse Invite on Sunday.

Wrestling

Ohio 17, UB 16

UB suffered a nail-biting, 17-16 loss to the visiting Ohio Bobcats on Sunday afternoon. After trailing the entire day, UB took a 16-14 lead into the final match only to lose in overtime and wind up on the losing end of the match. The defeat dropped UB to 10-3 overall and to 1-1 in MAC matches.

In the afternoon's final match, Ohio heavyweight Jeremiah Beltran posted a 6-4 overtime victory over UB junior Greg Thomas. Tied at four after seven minutes of regulation wrestling, Beltran earned a takedown 30 seconds into the sudden death overtime session to secure a Bobcats' win.

Winning matches for UB were senior Mike Trotta at 141-pounds, sophomore Brian Sebaaly at 157 pounds, senior Ed Pawlak at 174 pounds, sophomore Harold Sherrell at 184 pounds and junior Kyle Cerminara at 197 pounds.

The Bulls will return to action against the nationally ranked Central Michigan Chippewas at 7 p.m. Saturday in Alumni Arena.

Tennis

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Bulls travel to Harvard Winter Invitational

Several Bulls traveled to the Harvard Winter Invitational over the weekend and saw top competition from several Ivy League team,s as well as other teams from the northeast.

UB's top duo of Randy Rocchio and Nick Zieziula were forced to withdraw from doubles competition when Rocchio suffered a hand injury during the second point of their opening match against Harvard1s George Turner and Jason Beren.

In singles play, Zieziula scored a victory over Gordie Milchutsky of Harvard and then fell in the second round to Luke Tedaldi of Brown, 6-2, 6-7, 6-3. In the consolation draw, Zieziula scored a quarterfinal win over MIT's Tom Dohlman, 6-4, 0-6, 1-0 (4) and then knocked off Max Tedaldi, of Harvard 6-1, 6-2. Mike Rockman also scored a first-round win over Rutgers' Matt Fawcett, 6-2, 6-2. Rockman then was defeated by Caleb Gardner of Harvard in the next round.