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Sports Recap
Daniel Gilbert of the men's basketball team averaged 12.5 points and five rebounds as the Bulls went 1-1 on the week with a 74-62 win over Colgate and a loss to Western Michigan.
Jennefer Brankovsky of the women's swimming team set three school records and finished second in all three races at the Giant Eagle Zippy Invitational. Brankovsky broke Dawn Hickey's 500 freestyle record with a 4:57.97 clocking. She then broke the mark in the 100 breaststroke in 1:04.63 and finished by lowering her own record in the 200 butterfly with a 2:03.02 finish.
Basketball
Men's
UB 74, Colgate 62
Western Michigan 70, UB 57
Five players scored in double-figures to lead UB to a 74-62 win over Colgate at Alumni Arena on Dec. 1
The Bulls led for much of the game, but Colgate shot the ball very well to keep the game close until late. Trailing, 16-15, with 13:28 left in the first half, UB took the lead for good on a jumper by sophomore center Yassin Idbihi, who finished the night with 13 points and tied a career high with 11 rebounds. The Bulls extended their first-half lead to nine points before settling for a 39-34 lead at the break.
A Jon Simon jumper cut the UB lead to 45-42 with 14:45 left in the game. However, the Bulls answered with an 11-2 scoring run to take a 56-44 advantage with 9:58 remaining and held the double-digit lead for the rest of the game.
Turner Battle tied Idbihi for UB's high point honors with 13 points, and added four assists and four steals. Daniel Gilbert tallied 12 points and five steals. Calvin Cage and Mark Bortz notched 11 points apiece.
On Saturday, the Bulls dropped their Mid-American Conference opener to Western Michigan, 70-53, in Alumni Arena. The Bulls struggled through a tough shooting night, hitting 32.8 percent from the floor, en route to their lowest point total of the season. The loss snapped UB's three-game winning streak and eight-game home winning streak.
UB (3-2, 0-1 MAC) jumped out to a 5-0 lead, compliments of a three-pointer by Cage and a layup by Gilbert. However, Western Michigan answered with a 12-0 run to take a 12-5 lead. The Bulls pulled to within 22-19 with 6:52 left in the half, but went ice cold for the remainder of the first stanza. UB only scored two more points for the rest of the first half and trailed, 37-21, at halftime.
As cold as UB shooters were in the first half, the same couldn't be said for the Broncos. Western Michigan shot 50 percent from the field in the first half and were red-hot from beyond the arc. Levi Rost nailed six of his career-high nine three-pointers in the first half. The senior forward finished the night with a game-high 31 points.
Gilbert led the Bulls with 13 points and seven rebounds. Battle was the only other UB player in double-figures with 12 points.
The Bulls will host Niagara at 7 p.m. on Saturday in Alumni Arena.
WOMEN'S
Northeastern 71, UB 44
Maine 69, UB 57
Although UB got off to a strong start against Northestern on Dec. 1, shooting 55.0 percent from the floor in the first half, the Bulls struggled offensively in the second half, finally losing a 71-44 decision in Boston.
The Bulls looked strong in a very fast-paced first half, jumping out to an 11-6 lead thanks to two buckets apiece by junior Amy Kucheran and sophomore Belinda Gibb, and a three-pointer from junior Brooke Meunier. Two free throws by Shaleyse Smallwood at the 8:02 mark gave the Huskies a 20-18 lead, their first lead in the half since a layup by Maralene Zwarich on the opening possession of the game put them up 2-0. The Bulls went back on top, 21-20, after a free throw by Meunier and a jumper by freshman Stephanie Bennett, but the Huskies went on to close the half on a 14-6 run in the final six minutes to take a 34-27 lead into the locker room at halftime.
UB turned the ball over on its first four possessions of the second half and Northeastern used a 4-0 run to open up a double-digit lead, 38-27, with just under 18 minutes to play. The Huskies extended their run to 18-4 to go up 52-31 at the 11:19 mark, and led by as many as 29 points down the stretch.
The Bulls were led by senior Allison Bennett with 11 points, all in the second half.
On Saturday, the Bulls battled back from a five-point halftime deficit to take a one-point lead early in the second half, but visiting Maine put together two big runs of 14-0 and 11-0 to earn a 69-57 victory in front of 1,427 fans in Alumni Arena.
Freshman Heather Turner recorded the first double-double of her career with a team-high 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the floor and a game-high 11 rebounds.
The Bulls (1-4) will host Niagara at 5 p.m. on Saturday. The game is part of a doubleheader with the men's team, which will face the Purple Eagles at 7 p.m.
Swimming
MEN'S
Bulls place fourth at Zippy Invitational
UB finished fourth among eight squads at the 2004 Giant Eagle Zippy Invitational in Akron's Ocasek Natatorium. UB tallied 1,062 points in the three-day meet. St. Bonaventure won the meet by less than eight points over Ball State (1,576-1,568.50). Clarion was third at 1,310 points, followed by UB (1,062), Xavier (1,049), Ohio (762), Duquesne (742) and Hiram (255.50).
UB picked up a swim victory and a diving win in the meet. Jon Yarger cruised to a win in the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:41.37, identical to what he clocked in the preliminary round as the fastest swimmer in the morning session. He finished more than a second ahead of Ball State's Ryan Bowman (4:42.45).
Junior diver Patrick Lee picked up a victory on the three-meter board. Lee scored 452.05 points for 11 dives to easily win the competition by more than 20 points over Ohio's Rick Wade.
The Bulls will host Canisius on Jan. 8.
WOMEN'S
Brankovsky sets three school records at Zippy Invitational
UB completed the Giant Eagle Zippy Invitational with a fifth-place finish and three new school records.
The Bulls scored 884.50 points to claim fifth place and hold off Ohio (881) and Clarion (879) by a slight margin. Tulane won the meet with 1,344.50 points, with Ball State (1,289), Illinois State (1,090.50) and Akron (1,023) taking the next three spots. Duquesne (766.50), Xavier (554), Hiram (150) and St. Bonaventure (26) completed the 11-team women's field.
UB senior Jennefer Brankovsky set three records in three days to lead the Bulls. On Friday, Brankovsky opened the competition with a UB and meet record in the preliminary round of the 500 freestyle. She completed the course in 4:57.97 as the fastest in the morning session, breaking Dawn Hickey's mark of 4:58.52 set in the 1999-2000 season. However, Brankovsky fell short in the finals, finishing second to Akron's Danielle Beland by 14 hundredths of a second. Brankovsky clocked a 4:58.02 finish in the final while Beland finished in 4:57.88 to establish a new meet record.
On Saturday, Brankovsky clocked a 1:04.63 in the 100 breaststroke final to finish second overall and slash Carol Cottingham's 1997-98 school record of 1:04.80. Tulane's Linda McEachrane won the race in 1:04.31. The times by McEachrane and Brankovsky both broke the previous meet record of 1:04.77.
Sunday, Brankovsky broke her own 200 butterfly mark with another second-place finish, turning in a 2:03.02 showing to cut more than a second off her previous mark of 2:04.08. Beland set another meet record with her 2:01.54 finish.
The Bulls will take the remainder of December off and then head to Florida for the Islamorada Invitational on Jan. 10. UB will host Niagara in its next dual meet on Jan. 19.
Wrestling
McKnight, Budd, Rock post strong individual achievements at Las Vegas meet
Two UB wrestlers achieved winning marks and another placed at the prestigious Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational on Friday and Saturday. The tournament featured 46 schools and two Top-10 teams. The Bulls scored nine points in the meet. Michigan won the tournament title with 148 points.
Sophomore Mark McKnight led the way with an eighth-place finish as he won his first two matches on Friday at 125 pounds after entering the tournament ranked sixth in the field. McKnight beat North-Carolina-Greensboro's Joe Kemmerer 3-2 in the opening match and then beat Northwest Wyoming's Seth Wright, 6-5. In the quarterfinals, though, McKnight fell to Mark Moos, ranked 16th in the country by the National Wrestling Coaches Association, 5-1.
On Saturday, McKnight beat Erin Granmass of Augustana, 9-7, but lost in the sixth-wrestleback round to Jesse Miramontes of Cal State Fullerton, 6-4. He finished the tournament in eighth place after losing to Jeremy Mendoza of Arizona State, 6-3, in the seventh-place match.
Sophomore Mark Budd opened with a default win over Cal Poly's Chad Mendes at 133 pounds before falling to Edinboro's Shawn Bunch, ranked seventh in the country, 6-4 in the round of 16. Budd rebounded to beat North Idaho's Justin Pearch, 3-2, and Brown's Dan Appello, 4-0, before dropping a wrestleback match to Pittsburgh's Drew Headlee, 9-1,
Freshman Nate Rock lost his opening match to Missouri's Ben Askren, the second-ranked grappler in the nation, by pin. However, Rock rebounded with three wins, beating Fresno State's Chris Gifford, 8-6, Cornell's Luke Hogle, 8-4 and Augustana's Beau Severtson, 3-0. He lost in the fifth wrestleback to Kevin Gabrielson of North Carolina State, 8-2.
UB will return to action with a dual meet against Edinboro at Jamestown Community College at 1 p.m. on Saturday.