University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Published: February 10, 2005

Basketball

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Ohio 92, UB 90
Miami (OH) 77, UB 74 (OT)

UB suffered two heartbreaking losses last week, falling to MAC rivals Ohio, 92-90, in Alumni Arena and Miami (OH), 77-74, in overtime on the road. With the losses, UB is now 13-7 overall and 6-6 in league play.

Despite a career-high 29 points from Turner Battle, the Bulls couldn't overcome an energetic Ohio squad on Feb. 2. The loss snapped the Bulls' three-game winning streak and five-game home winning streak.

Ohio jumped out to a quick 16-7 lead just four minutes into the contest. The Bulls answered with a 10-2 scoring run, capped by a Daniel Gilbert layup, to cut the Ohio lead to 18-17. There were 11 lead changes in the final 10 minutes of the half and the game was knotted at 41 at the break.

The game remained tight in the second half until a 10-0 scoring run gave the Bobcats an 82-71 lead with 5:19 remaining. Ohio held an 87-79 advantage with 1:39 left in the contest. Battle drained his fifth three-pointer to cut the Ohio lead to 87-82 with 1:11 remaining. After each team made a pair of free throws, a free throw by Battle cut the lead to four points with 29 seconds remaining. A free throw by Terren Harbut gave the Bobcats a 92-87 advantage with 13 seconds left. Calvin Cage knocked down a three-pointer from the top of the key to cut the Ohio lead to two points with six seconds remaining. After being fouled on the ensuing possession, Harbut missed a pair of free throws to give life to the Bulls. However, after gathering the rebound, Battle dribbled the length of the floor, but couldn't get a shot off before time expired.

The Bulls shot 50 percent from the floor and also forced 16 turnovers. UB struggled from the free-throw line, especially in the second half, shooting 22-for-33 from the charity stripe. The Bulls missed nine free throws in the second stanza.

Jason Bird scored 15 points to reach double-figures for the second straight game. Gilbert also reached double-digits with 12 points. Mark Bortz grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds to go along with nine points.

On Saturday, UB dropped a 77-74 overtime decision to Miami (OH) in Millett Hall. The Bulls squandered a 12-point lead in the final 3:26 of regulation allowing the RedHawks to force overtime.

UB played some of its best basketball of the season through the first 36 minutes of the game, building a second-half lead as big as 17 points. However, Miami chipped away and a three-pointer by William Hatcher cut the UB lead to 65-64 with 32 seconds remaining. Roderick Middleton made a pair of free throws to extend the Bulls lead to 67-64 with 25 seconds left. On the RedHawks' ensuing possession, Chet Mason grabbed an offensive rebound and was fouled. After he missed both free throws, the Bulls were unable to secure the rebound and Miami was awarded the ball under the basket with five seconds left. Hatcher hit a three-pointer from the corner to tie the game and force overtime.

In overtime, the Bulls briefly led, 69-68, on a jumper by Bortz. Miami scored five unanswered points to take a four-point lead, its largest of the game. Cage hit his third three-pointer of the afternoon to cut the Miami lead to 75-74 with 12 seconds remaining. Danny Horace hit two free throws to give the RedHawks a 77-74 lead with 10 seconds remaining. Battle had a chance to tie the game, but his three-point attempt at the buzzer rimmed out.

The key to the game was rebounding. The Bulls were outrebounded, 47-29. Miami grabbed 19 offensive boards and scored 17 second-chance points.

UB featured a very balanced scoring attack as 10 different Bulls scored. Bortz led the Bulls with 16 points and seven rebounds. Cage was the only other UB player to reach double-digits with 13 points. Parnell Smith made his first career start and played well. The sophomore forward had seven points, three rebounds, two assists and a steal in 23 minutes of action. The Bulls bench outscored Miami's, 43-9.

WOMEN'S

UB 55, Akron 49

The Bulls scored 22 points in the paint—14 by freshman Heather Turner—and sank six free throws in the final 29 seconds of the game to spoil Akron's comeback attempt in a 55-49 win in Alumni Arena. Turner posted her fourth double-double of the season with game highs of 18 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Bulls' attack. With the win, UB snapped a five-game losing streak and improved to 4-15 overall and 2-6 in the MAC.

The Bulls made five of their first eight shots in the game to jump out to an early 11-4 lead, and led by as many as eight points in the first half before Akron closed the gap and tied the score at 24-24 with a 6-0 run to end the half. The Bulls shot 45.5 percent from the floor in the half (10-for-22), while Akron shot just 29.6 percent (8-for-27).

Akron scored the first bucket of the second half to break the 24-24 tie, but the Zips then hit just one of their next six shots—a three-pointer by Jessie Crooks—while the Bulls went 5-for-9 for an 11-3 run that put them back up by six, 35-29, with 13:08 remaining in the game. Akron, however, capitalized on six UB turnovers over the next three minutes to put together a 9-0 run and take a three-point lead, 38-35, with 9:38 on the clock. UB answered with an 8-0 run of its own, highlighted by a three-point play by Turner and a three-pointer by freshman Stephanie Bennett. The Bulls later led by six, 49-43, with 1:52 to play.

Akron's Lindsay Hemmelgarn came off the bench and scored all seven points of her points in the final two minutes of the game to give the Zips a chance. She made one of two free throws with 1:58 on the clock, hit a layup at the 1:06 mark, made one of two free throws with 30 seconds to go and then knocked down a three-pointer with 21 seconds remaining that brought the Zips within two, 51-49. The Bulls held on for the win by going 6-for-7 from the free-throw line in the final 29 seconds of the game to quiet the Zips' comeback attempt.

Turner was 7-for-9 from the floor and 4-for-6 from the free-throw line for her game-high 18 points. She also finished with a team-high six steals, marking the most steals by a UB player since the 2002-03 season. Sophomore Belinda Gibb reached double digits in scoring for the third straight game with 10 points while also adding six assists. Bennett finished with 11 points and six rebounds.

Swimming

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St. Bonaventure 154, UB 83

UB concluded the 2004-05 regular season on Saturday afternoon with a 154-83 loss to Western New York rival St. Bonaventure in non-conference action in Alumni Arena Natatorium on Senior Day. The Bulls finished the dual-meet campaign with a 3-4 overall mark.

UB picked up four victories in the 13-event meet. Senior Mark Sy registered a pair of wins to lead the Bulls. Sy captured the grueling 1,000-yard freestyle in 9:48.37, holding off a hard charge from St. Bonaventure's Scott Jordan, who finished second in 9:49.92. Sy also rallied to win his specialty event, the 200-yard butterfly, touching out St. Bonaventure's Roman Margulis by three-hundredths of a second. Sy, who trailed Margulis the entire race, reached the wall first in 1:54.85 to Margulis' 1:54.88.

Sophomore Luke Adams claimed the 200-yard backstroke in 1:55.58 to lead the Bulls to the top two spots in the race. Senior Evan McCormack finished second in 1:58.53.

Senior Jon Yarger also won a thriller in his race, the 500-yard freestyle. Yarger touched the wall in 4:50.89, eight-hundredths of a second ahead of Jordan (4:50.97). Sy was third in 5:03.56. Yarger also took second in the 200-yard freestyle in 1:45.62.

The Bulls honored their senior class—Fotis Bardis, Dustin Hui, McCormack, Erik Schwarz, Sy, Geoff Wells and Yarger—prior to the meet.

UB's postseason will begin on Feb. 27 with the ECAC Championships in Pittsburgh. The MAC Championship will be held the following weekend, starting March 3 in Oxford, Ohio.

WOMEN'S

Bowling Green 189, UB 111
Akron 179, UB 121

UB fell Friday night in a MAC double-dual meet against Bowling Green (189-111) and Akron (179-121) in Bowling Green's Sam Cooper Natatorium. The Bulls are now 3-8 overall and completed the MAC regular season at 0-8. The meet became a double-dual event because Akron was unable to travel to UB for a Jan. 22 meet.

UB won two individual events outright on Friday. Junior Ashlee Burton took the one-meter diving competition, breaking her own school record in the event. Burton tallied 302.90 points in six dives, shattering her previous record of 275.25 set last season at the UB Invitational. Senior Tracy Hoover finished second with a season-best total of 257.50 points, holding off Akron's Lindsay Power by a half-point. Power won the three-meter event for the Zips with 249.80 points, with Burton placing second with 237.30 and UB senior Kimberly LaHaye taking third with 235.30.

Senior Jennefer Brankovsky took the 200-yard individual medley in 2:10.11, beating Akron's Danielle Beland to the wall by a half-second. Brankovsky also finished second overall in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:25.89) and third in the 200-yard freestyle (1:57.34).

UB will complete the regular season on Saturday at Cornell. The MAC Championships will be held Feb. 24-26 in Athens, Ohio.

Wrestling

Eastern Michigan 20, UB 19
Central Michigan 30, UB 9

UB suffered two MAC losses on Saturday to drop to 1-10 overall and 0-4 in the conference. The Bulls opened the day in Ypsilanti, Mich., and the Eastern Michigan Eagles took a dramatic 20-19 win, thanks to a major decision in the final match of the dual meet. UB then traveled to ninth-ranked Central Michigan, where the Chippewas easily took a 30-9 decision.

Eastern Michigan entered Saturday's dual meet looking to snap a 38-match conference non-winning streak.

The Eagles won three of the first four matches to jump out to a 13-4 lead, but the Bulls battled back to take a 19-16 lead entering the meet's final match. Junior Harold Sherrell defeated Tony Lyssiotis, 7-4, at 197 pounds, and sophomore Mark McKnight pinned Michael Weck at 125 pounds to start the Bulls comeback. Sophomore Mark Budd then earned an 8-5 decision over Phillip Plowman at 133 pounds, and freshman Dana Gingerich defeated Nick Conklin by a 13-10 score at 141 pounds to set up the dramatic ending. EMU's Jermaine Thompson, ranked 16th in the country, scored a major decision over freshman Mickey Moran to give the Eagles the 20-19 win.

The No. 9 Central Michigan Chippewas easily scored a 30-9 dual meet win over the Bulls in the nightcap, winning eight of 10 matches. Highlighting the Bulls effort was a 7-2 decision by junior Garrett Hicks over 16th-ranked Alex Lammers at 184 pounds. Budd also won by forfeit at 133 pounds.

The Bulls will host Kent State at 7 p.m. tomorrow in their final conference dual meet of the regular season.

Indoor Track and Field

Thompson sets two records to lead Bulls at Syracuse Invitational

The men's and women's track-and-field teams were in action at the Syracuse Invitational in Manley Field House over the weekend. The two-day, non-scoring meet concluded Sunday afternoon as the Bulls posted several outstanding marks and six UB athletes won individual events.

In the women's competition, Faith Thompson continued her impressive season with a pair of school-record tosses in her events. Thompson won the weight throw at 63-6.25 (19.36m), breaking her own record set two weeks earlier at the Cornell Invitational. The toss was more than a foot better than the previous mark and improved on her NCAA provisional qualifying mark. Sarah Vance was third in the event with a season-best throw of 54-11.25 (16.74m), an improvement on her ECAC qualifying distance.

Thompson also retook the school record in the shot put with a toss of 48-6.75 (14.80m), breaking Vance's record set last season while Thompson was redshirted. Thompson's shot-put throw was nearly four feet better than her previous season-best and led the Bulls to spots 2-5 in the event. Vance was third at 46-6.25 (14.18m), while Ekua Mends-Aidoo was fourth at a season-best 42-3.25 (12.88m) and Beverly Weyer was fifth at 42-0.75 (12.82m), establishing her season-best.

The women also added a pair of winners on the track. Jen Jezorski won the 800-meters in 2:12.81 and qualified for the ECAC Championships in the event. Jezorski now has qualified for the ECAC meet in three events, establishing top marks in the 1,000-meters and mile runs, as well as the 800-meters. Kelli O'Brien won the 1,000-meter race in 2:57.91.

Three men also won events for the Bulls. Rayshon Higgins scored a victory in the triple jump at 47-7 (14.50m). On the track, Chris McClure took the 1,000-meter run in 2:33.01 and John Flor established a season best with his victory in the 3,000-meter run in 8:36.76, knocking more than 10 seconds off his previous best.

Tennis

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Western Michigan 7, UB 0
UB 4, Xavier 3

UB split two matches over the weekend, dropping a 7-0 decision to defending league champion Western Michigan in the MAC opener and rallying to defeat Xavier, 4-3, on Sunday.

The Bulls were unable to win a set against a much-stronger Western Michigan team, ranked 69th by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. Mike Rockman and Josh Liederman each won seven games against their opponents. Rockman, at number two, was defeated by Jose Orozco, 6-4, 6-3, while Liederman, at number three, lost to Jeff French, 6-3, 6-4.

On Sunday, the Bulls scored a thrilling 4-3 victory over Xavier, winning four of the six singles matches to claim the win at the Olean Racquet Club. UB is now 2-4 in dual meet play this season.

The Bulls fell behind after the doubles play as the Musketeers took two of the three matches for a 1-0 lead. UB's lone win in the doubles was at number three as Matt Kennedy and Albert Alant defeated Rustin Reys and Adam Shaeffer, 8-6.

Alant proved to be the difference as his sixth singles match against Xavier's Brian Quinn determined which team would claim the victory. With UB and Xavier tied 3-3, Alant took a straight-sets win over Quinn, 7-5, 6-3, and gave the Bulls the 4-3 cushion.

UB's three other singles victories came from Nick Zieziula, Rockman and Yules Hadisubroto. Ziezuila at number one, downed J.R. Randall, 7-5, 6-4. Rockman, at number two, defeated Jeremy Miller, 6-2, 6-2. Hadisubroto needed three sets to knock off Rob Simpson, dropping the first set 6-1, but coming back to take the final two sets, 6-0 and 6-4.

The Bulls travel to Army for a match up with the Black Knights on Sunday.