University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Published: March 4, 2004

Basketball

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UB 82, Kent State 66
UB 87, Miami (OH) 73

UB proved that it is a force to be reckoned with in the Mid-American Conference with an 82-66 throttling of Kent State at Alumni Arena on Feb. 25.

The 6,176 fans in attendance, all clad in royal blue for UB's "Sea of Blue" promotion, counted down the final seconds and stormed the court as the Bulls handed the Golden Flashes only their second conference loss of the season and fourth loss overall. The Bulls also snapped Kent State's 10-game winning streak.

It was a team effort for UB, with four players finishing in double-figures in the scoring column. Daniel Gilbert led the way with a career-high 22 points. Calvin Cage was a spark off the bench with a season-high 18 points. MAC All-Freshman candidate Yassin Idbihi tallied 16 points. All three players drained four three-pointers. As a team, UB knocked down 14 three-pointers-the second-most in school history. Junior point guard Turner Battle scored 13 points for the Bulls as well.

It was a seesaw battle early on, with both teams holding brief leads. A three-pointer by Bryan Bedford gave Kent State a 16-13 lead with 14:14 left in the half. A triple by Gilbert tied the game and sparked a 13-2 scoring run that gave the Bulls a 28-18 lead. Buffalo extended its lead to 42-31 at halftime.

A Bedford three-pointer cut the UB lead to 48-40 with 15:53 remaining. However, back-to-back treys by Cage quickly boosted the UB lead back to 14 points. The Bulls then fed the Golden Flashes a steady diet of three-pointers-their next five buckets were of the three-point variety. A layup by Battle extended the Bulls' lead to 20 points with 2:57 remaining.

UB shot 55.8 percent (29-52) from the floor, including 56 percent (14-25) from long distance. The Bulls outrebounded Kent State, 32-28. UB did a great job of neutralizing Kent State's best player, John Edwards, holding the 7-foot center to six points and four rebounds.

Another impressive shooting performance enabled the Bulls to soundly defeat Miami, 87-73, in Oxford, OH, on Saturday afternoon. It was UB's fifth straight victory and first-ever win in Miami's Millett Hall.

The win secured a home playoff game for the Bulls for the first time since the university joined the MAC in 1998.

For the second straight game, Cage came up huge for UB, notching 22 points, including four three-pointers. Battle finished with 18 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals.

Miami led briefly at the start of the game, 3-0. However, a steal and a layup by Battle gave the Bulls a 4-3 lead and they never trailed again.

The Bulls led by as many as 19, 53-32, early in the second half. But Miami fought back and, with the aid of a 20-5 scoring run, cut the Bulls' lead to 58-52 with 10:49 remaining. However, a layup and a three-pointer by Cage quickly put the Bulls back up by 11 points. The RedHawks continued to hang around until freshman Brian Andre hit a layup and was fouled. Andre's free throw put the Bulls up 76-60 with 5:46 left in the game. Miami didn't threaten again and the Bulls' held on for the victory.

Heading into Saturday's contest, Miami was allowing a conference-low 62 points per game. The 87 points scored by the Bulls were not only a season high on the road for UB, but the most points an opponent has scored against Miami since Jan. 5, 2002.

WOMEN'S

Kent State 80, UB 53
Miami (OH) 98, UB 71

The Kent State Golden Flashes had five players score in double figures, led by 17 points from Malika Willoughby, en route to a 27-point victory, 80-53, over UB on Feb. 25 tonight at the M.A.C. Center in Kent, OH. The loss drops UB's record to 6-18 overall and 4-10 in the MAC.

The Golden Flashes hit seven of their first nine shots in the game-a .778 shooting percentage-to jump out to a 15-6 lead just over four minutes into the game and they never looked back.

Kent State led by 23 at halftime, 42-19, and extended that lead to 33 points, 71-38, with 7:56 remaining in the game. The flashes finished the game with a 48.3 shooting percentage (29-for-60) and a 38.5 percentage from three-point range (5-for-13). KSU scored a total of 38 points in the paint and 27 points off of turnovers.

On Saturday, the Miami RedHawks proved they belong at the top of the MAC with a decisive, 98-71, win over the visiting Bulls.

Miami had four players finish in double figures in scoring. The RedHawks already have secured the league's regular season title and the top seed in the conference tournament. With the loss, UB drops to 6-19 overall, 4-11 in the MAC.

Miami forced the Bulls into eight turnovers on their first 10 possessions of the game, but the Bulls somehow were able to keep things close early on. Sophomore Lauren Burd provided a little spark off the bench with three buckets in just over three minutes of play, and the Bulls found themselves down by just six points, 34-28, with 4:17 remaining in the half.

The RedHawks, however, then embarked on a 6-0 run with a three-pointer by Nicki Motto, upping their lead to 12, 40-28, with 2:29 on the clock. The RedHawks held that 12-point lead until halftime, 46-34.

The RedHawks then opened the second half with a 15-2 run to distance themselves from the Bulls. Miami shot 56.7 percent from the floor in the second half (17-for-30) and led by as many as 29 points down the stretch.

The Bulls were led by Kim Kilpela and Jessica Kochendorfer. Kilpela had a team-high 19 points, six rebounds and two blocked shots, while Kochendorfer finished with 17 points, a game-high nine rebounds and two blocks. With her two blocks, Kochendorfer became UB's all-time leader with 160 career blocks, surpassing Nicole Blakeslee (1994-98) who had held the record with 159.

Indoor Track and Field

Vance wins MAC shot put title

Sophomore Sarah Vance became the MAC champion in the women's shot put at the league championship meet held last weekend at the Bob Parks Indoor Track at Eastern Michigan University.

Vance won the event with a toss of 48-2 (14.68m), six inches better than second-place finisher Ashley Morrow of Northern Illinois. Vance's throw also broke Faith Thompson's record of 46-8.25 (14.23m) set last season and bettered her ECAC qualifying mark by more than three feet. Vance also finished seventh in the 20-pound weight throw at 51-3.50 (15.63m).

UB's women scored 41 points to place ninth of 13 squads, while the men took seventh of eight teams with 32 points. Eastern Michigan's men's squad won its ninth consecutive MAC title, while the Central Michigan women claimed their second title in the past three seasons.

The Bulls also posted a pair of second-place finishes on Saturday. Allison Laske finished the 800-meter race in 2:11.09, a half-second behind Akron's Beata Rudzinska (2:10.57). For the men, freshman Rayshon Higgins scored with a triple jump of 47-11.75 (14.62m).

Swimming

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Lee wins ECAC diving title

UB completed the ECAC Championships on Sunday night with a sixth-place overall finish and a victory in the one-meter diving competition. The Bulls picked up 265 points among the 29 schools that scored in the meet. Johns Hopkins University won the men's team title with 437.50.

Patrick Lee became an ECAC champion with his record-setting victory on the one-meter diving board. Lee scored a six-dive total of 314.10 points, surpassing the record of 308.93 points that he had set in 2002. Lee also finished third in the three-meter competition earlier in the week at 434.55 points.

Teammate Jim Taravella also made the championship field, scoring an eighth-place finish at 211.05 points.

In Friday's opening-night action, Jon Yarger placed eighth in the 500 freestyle in 4:43.84 after qualifying in a season-best 4:38.05. Yarger also finished 12th in the 200 freestyle in 1:43.76, a season-best, cutting .04 seconds from his qualifying mark (1:43.80) and more than two seconds from his previous season-best. UB's 200 freestyle relay team also reached the championship round. The team of Jeff Hurst, Ryan Cahill, Kevin Gatley and Erik Schwarz completed the race in 1:26.46 to take sixth place overall.

Mark Sy scored in two championship races. On Saturday, he finished fourth in the 400 individual medley in 4:07.26 and then turned in a fifth-place performance in the 200 butterfly on Sunday, touching the wall in 1:53.65. He also 11th in the 200 individual medley in a season-best 1:55.22.

Hurst finished seventh in the 400 individual medley in 4:12.74. Hurst turned in a season-best 4:07.93 in the qualifying round to make the final eight.

In the 100 breaststroke, junior Geoff Wells reached the championship final, scoring a sixth-place finish in 58.54. Sy, Hurst, Yarger and freshman Luke Adams comprised the Bulls' fourth-place 800 freestyle relay squad. The combo finished in 6:56.55.

The Bulls will travel to Ypsilanti, Mich., for the MAC Championships, which start today.

WOMEN'S

Brankovsky earns All-MAC First Team honors

UB closed out the 2004 MAC Championships in seventh place on Saturday night at Miami University's Corwin Nixon Aquatics Center. UB scored 331 points, while host Miami was crowned the team champion with 664 points.

Junior Jennefer Brankovsky earned All-MAC First Team honors for the third consecutive year. She became a MAC champion for the second consecutive season, winning the 400 individual medley in Friday night's title race. Brankovsky led throughout the entire race, touching the wall in a UB school record and NCAA B cut time of 4:19.86. The time shattered her own previous record of 4:24.79 set at the 2002 MAC Championships, when she finished third.

Brankovsky also swam the opening leg of UB's record-setting 400 freestyle relay. The team of Brankovsky, Abby Delia, Kahla Walkinshaw and Frances Stephenson finished fourth overall in 3:29.69, slicing nearly two seconds off the previous record set at the 2002 MAC Championships.

UB's 800 freestyle relay team of Brankovsky, Jolie Pun, Walkinshaw and Stephenson broke the school record with a third-place finish in Friday's final event. The Bulls posted a 7:33.00 clocking, breaking the record set at last season's MAC Championships by six seconds.

Tennis

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UB 5, Rochester 2
UB 5, Bucknell 2
UB 6, Duquesne 1
Western Michigan 5, UB 2

UB had a very busy week, going 3-1, including its opening MAC match, a 5-2 loss to Western Michigan on Sunday. UB defeated Division III power Rochester, 5-2, on Feb. 25 in Rochester. The Bulls then traveled to St. Bonaventure on Saturday to pick up a sweep over Bucknell (5-2) and Duquesne (6-1) before heading home for the WMU match.

In the win over the Yellowjackets, the Bulls had to juggle the lineup due to an elbow injury to junior Randy Rocchio. Replacing Rocchio in the doubles lineup was Ivan Chamdani, who paired with Nick Zieziula to take down the Yellowjackets' top duo, Colin Ryan and Dan Williford, 8-6.

On Saturday, Zieziula became the school's single-season victory leader in singles play during the Division I era. Zieziula picked up the mark in his opening match, a 6-1, 6-4 win over Bucknell's Gerald DiChiara at second singles. Zieziula moved up to the number one singles spot for his win against Duquesne's Devon Peightal, 7-6 (1), 4-6, 1-0 (10-8).

Against Western Michigan, Rocchio at first singles and Mike Rockman at fourth singles picked up UB victories. Rocchio needed three sets to down Western Michigan's Tommy Dennis. After Dennis won the opening set over Rocchio, 6-0, the UB junior rallied to take the second set 6-4 and then won the match with another 6-4 victory in the third set.

Rockman had a relatively easier time against Justin Kates. The freshman rolled to a straight sets win, 6-2, 7-5. It was Rockman's first time this season playing in the number four singles slot after spending much of the season as the number three player but also seeing action at numbers one and two.

The Bulls will take to the road for spring break matches, traveling to South Carolina-Aiken on March 12, Barry on March 13 and Stetson on March 14.

WOMEN'S

Bowling Green 4, UB 3
Ball State 5, UB 2

UB opened the MAC portion of its schedule with a pair of tough losses on the home courts. UB played impressively in matches against league rivals Bowling Green and Ball State, but came away with a pair of defeats-4-3 to the Falcons and 5-2 to the Cardinals.

However, there were some bright spots in both matches. In Friday's match against Ball State, the Bulls won the top three singles matches.

On Saturday, although the Bulls dropped a 5-2 decision to Ball State, it was not without heroics from Migleno Nenova and Kristen Ortman. UB's top two singles players posted impressive come-from-behind victories for the Bulls' lone points.

The Bulls will head to Tampa for spring break matches, facing Wisconsin-Green Bay on March 14 and Dayton on March 19 on neutral courts. The Bulls also will tangle with Division II power Tampa on March 17.

Baseball

Georgetown 8-7, UB 1-3
Georgetown 10-10, UB 0-2

UB opened the 2004 baseball season by dropping both games of a doubleheader at Georgetown on Saturday afternoon. The Hoyas won game one, 8-1, and took the nightcap, 7-3.

In game one, Georgetown scored three runs in the fourth inning and five runs in the fifth inning to take an 8-0 lead. The Bulls got on the board in the top of the seventh courtesy of a solo home run by James Kingsley. Nick Bellacose picked up the loss, allowing three runs on four hits over four innings.

In game two, Georgetown jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first and added another run in the fourth inning for a 3-0 advantage. Kingsley ripped an RBI single in the top of the fifth to cut the lead to 3-1. However, the Hoyas answered with three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to take a 6-1 lead. A two-run single by Dan Quinn in the top of the sixth made the score 6-3. Georgetown added a run in the bottom of the seventh and held on for the 7-3 victory. Chris McGraw allowed five earned runs over 4.1 innings pitched and was charged with the loss.

On Sunday the Bulls dropped another doubleheader to the Hoyas, 10-0 and 10-2.

In game one, the Hoyas scored all 10 runs in the first three innings and Warren Sizemore tossed a complete game four-hit shutout to blank the Bulls. Freshman hurler Joe Welch was a bright spot for the Bulls, as he didn't allow a hit in two innings of relief. Offensively, David Amaro had two of the Bulls' four hits.

In game two, Bulls' starter Sean McWilliams-making his first start in a UB uniform-allowed only one run on five hits over six innings.

However, the Hoyas exploded for eight runs, including a grand slam by Drew Dargen, in the bottom of the seventh inning to take a 9-0 lead. Georgetown added a run in the bottom of the eighth before a Joe Mihalics RBI triple and an RBI single by Andrew Wengert in the top of the ninth made the score 10-2.

UB will return to action tomorrow when it plays at Maryland.

Softball

Alabama 6, UB 3
Wisconsin 4, UB 2
Tennessee Tech 4, UB 1
UB 5, Chattanooga 1 (8)
UB 2, North Texas 1
Tennessee-Martin 2, UB 1

After a two-week layoff, UB got back on the diamond this past weekend, competing at Tennessee Chattanooga's Frost Classic. The Bulls opened the tournament with a 6-3 loss to nationally ranked Alabama and a 4-2 loss to Wisconsin on Friday.

Senior Breanne Nasti hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning against the Crimson Tide to account for the Bulls' three runs. Junior Ann Magur and senior Marce Ross each had RBI-singles against Wisconsin.

On Saturday, the Bulls dropped a 4-1 decision to Tennessee Tech, with junior Julie Hibner driving in the lone run, before rebounding to earn a 5-1 win over host Chattanooga in extra innings. Nasti drove in Magur with first run of the game in the first inning, but the Mocs tied things up in the bottom of the sixth to force extra innings. Freshman Sophie Barstad had the game-winning RBI in the top of the eighth, driving in sophomore Lisa Wheat, who started the inning on second base due to tie-breaker rules, and Nasti hit a three-run home run later in the inning to put the Bulls comfortably ahead.

On Sunday, the Bulls took a 2-1 decision from North Texas in their first game of the day before losing to Tennessee-Martin in eight innings by the same 2-1 score.

Against North Texas, a double by senior Allison Round drove in Nasti with the first run of the game in the first inning, and Hibner followed with a single to right center that scored Round and gave the Bulls a 2-0 lead. North Texas got one run in the top of the fifth on a solo home run, but the Bulls were able to hold on for the 2-1 win behind the pitching of Barstad She went the distance and allowed just four hits to improve to 3-1 on the season.

In the Bulls' final game of the tournament, Tennessee-Martin jumped out to an early 1-0 lead after the first inning. UB forced extra innings when Nasti drove in freshman Mary Russell in the top of the sixth, but Tennessee-Martin shut the Bulls down in the top of the eighth before scoring the game-winning run in the bottom half of the inning for the 2-1 win.