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Kyle Cerminara of the wrestling team won both of his matches on Sunday to finish a perfect 5-0 in the Mid-American Conference as the Bulls split with Northern Illinois and Eastern Michigan. Cerminara, a junior, scored a major decision over EMU's Tony Lyssiotis and defeated NIU's Greg Reardon, 7-4, in the 197-pound bouts. Cerminara is now 34-3 for the season.
Jessica Kochendorfer of the women's basketball team scored a career-high 29 points and a game-high 14 rebounds against Eastern Michigan in her return to the lineup after sitting out two games due to a concussion. The double-double was her eighth of the season and seventh in the past 11 games.
Basketball
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UB 83, Eastern Michigan 64
UB 64, Indiana State 51
The Bulls ran their winning streak to three games with a pair of victories last week and move over the .500 mark at 12-11 overall and 7-7 in the MAC. UB has now won seven of its last nine games and the 12 wins tie their highest overall victory total since joining the MAC in 1998.
A 50-point second half fueled UB to an 83-64 come-from-behind victory over Eastern Michigan in MAC play on Feb. 18 in the Convocation Center. Turner Battle scored 22 of his game-high 24 points in the second stanza to lead the UB comeback.
Trailing by five points at the half, Jason Bird scored five-straight points, including one of his three three-pointers, to spark a 15-5 run at the start of the second half that gave the Bulls a 10-point lead. UB later went on a 16-4 run to increase its lead 68-47 with 8:34 left in the game and never looked back.
Buffalo's tenacity on the boards proved to be a determining factor in the game. The Bulls outrebounded the Eagles, 48-30, including 17-4 on the offensive glass. The Bulls converted the offensive rebounds into 22 second-chance points.
On Saturday afternoon, UB utilized one of its finest defensive efforts of the season to top Indiana State, 64-51, in the ESPN Bracket Buster game in the Hulman Center. The Bulls held the Sycamores to 11 first-half points and had 12 steals and forced 20 turnovers in the game.
The Bulls returned home to face MAC-leading Kent State last night with a "Sea of Blue" promotion on tap. All fans were encouraged to wear royal blue to the game to support the Bulls, who are seeking to earn a first-round home playoff game for the first time in their six seasons in the MAC.
WOMEN'S
Eastern Michigan 80, UB 62
UB 61, Akron 54
The Bulls split a pair of MAC contests last week, falling at home to West Division leader, Eastern Michigan, 80-62, on Feb. 18 and followed with a road win, 61-54, at Akron on Saturday.
Against the Eagles, UB got a big game from senior Jessica Kochendorfer, back after missing two games with a concussion. But it wasn't enough to match the all-around play of Eastern Michigan.
The Eagles opened the scoring on their first possession and quickly jumped out to a 13-point lead, 17-4, less than six minutes into the game, sparked by two early three-pointers by Marion Crandall. Crandall, ranked second in the NCAA in three-point shooting percentage, was 5-for-6 from three-point range for 15 first-half points that helped the Eagles to a 45-26 halftime lead.
The Bulls matched the Eagles in the second half, but the 19-point halftime deficit proved to be too much to overcome.
The Bulls used a 12-2 run early in the second half to get out in front of the Akron Zips, and four late free throws by sophomore Brooke Meunier sealed a 61-54 Bulls' win in the James A. Rhodes Arena on Saturday. The win improved the Bulls' record to 6-17 overall and 4-9 in the MAC and avenged the Bulls' 71-59 loss to the Zips the previous week in Alumni Arena.
Kim Kilpela led UB with a game-high 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the floor.
The Bulls were to play at Kent State last night and will travel to Miami (Ohio) on Saturday.
Wrestling
Northern Illinois 25, UB 9
UB 26, Eastern Michigan 18
UB posted a split in its season-ending tri-meet in Alumni Arena on Sunday afternoon. The Bulls lost to Northern Illinois, 25-9, before rebounding to defeat Eastern Michigan 26-18. UB completed its regular season with a 12-5 record and a 2-3 mark within the MAC. The 12 victories were the most for UB since 1996-97 season, when it also won 12 matches.
Three Bulls-senior Ed Pawlak, junior Kyle Cerminara and freshman Mark McKnight-earned victories in both of their respective matches.
Pawlak-who was recognized alongside the injured Mike Trotta as part of Senior Day festivities in Alumni Arena-now has a 35-6 overall mark this season. The 174-pounder is just one of four wrestlers in UB history to reach the 35-win plateau during a single season.
Cerminara, who wrestles at 197 pounds, racked up 12 takedowns in his two wins, which brought his season total of dual meet takedowns to 64. That ties an all-time UB mark for dual meet takedowns in a single season. John Stutzman also recorded 64 during the 1996-97 campaign.
On the season, Cerminara is 34-3-including a perfect 5-0 MAC record. McKnight's two victories-one of which came by forfeit-moved him to 29-6 overall. He wrestles in the 125-pound weight class.
UB wrestlers who recorded one win on Sunday included freshman 149-pounder Patrick Lloyd and junior Greg Thomas, who wrestles as a heavyweight. Sophomore Mike Sebaaly earned a victory by forfeit at 141 pounds.
The Bulls will return to action on March 6 and 7 at the MAC Championships, being held at Ohio University in Athens.
Indoor Track and Field
Bulls prepare for MACs with Kent State tune-up meet
UB's men's and women's indoor track-and-field teams prepared for the upcoming post-season with Saturday's regular-season finale, the Kent State Tune Up. There was no scoring in the meet.
Both squads sat out many of their top athletes in preparation for the upcoming MAC Championships. The UB men posted three individual victories, including a school-record in the 1,000-meters.
Freshman Paul Riley broke a 12-year-old school record on his way to winning the 1,000-meters for the Bulls. Riley completed the distance in 2:27.22, breaking Tom Ducey's 1992 record of 2:28.94. Riley cut more than two and a half-seconds off his previous best and secured an IC4A qualification standard in the race. Dan Simpson took top honors in the pole vault competition, clearing 15-7 (4.75m). Gary Asbach (won the long jump with a leap of 22-11.75 (7.00m), his top distance of the year.
For the UB women, Jennifer Jezorski finished second in the 1,000-meters in 2:55.84. The time cut five seconds off her season's best and qualified the sophomore for ECAC competition.
The squads will head to Ypsilanti, Mich., for the MAC Championships starting tomorrow.
Tennis
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Cornell 6, UB 1
Army 7, UB 0
UB was swept Sunday in a pair of non-conference matches at Cornell's Reis Tennis Center. In the opener, the Bulls fell to No. 67-ranked Cornell, 6-1. UB then dropped the nightcap to Army, 7-0. UB is now 2-6 overall.
In the opening match against the Big Red, UB's lone bright spot was junior Randy Rocchio. Rocchio scored the Bulls' only point of the match with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Scott Poltrowitz at first singles. Rocchio also teammed with junior Nick Zieziula to defeat Nick Brunner and Josh Raff, 8-4, at first doubles.
The Bulls felt the effects of playing a second match immediately after the Cornell loss as they were swept by the Black Knights and failed to win a single set.
UB was to travel to Rochester to take on a strong Division III Yellowjackets squad yesterday. The Bulls also will travel to Olean on Saturday for matches against Bucknell and Duquesne. The Bulls will open MAC play on Sunday at home against Western Michigan.