University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Published: December 7, 2006

Basketball

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UB 64, Temple 62
UB 74, Niagara 62

Eric Moore scored a career-high 21 points and Yassin Idbihi added a double-double to lift UB to a 64-62 win at Temple on Nov. 27. It was the Bulls' first-ever win over the Owls.

In a game that featured seven ties and 12 lead changes, the Bulls pulled away late in the second half. A three-pointer by Andy Robinson, followed by a pair of free throws by Parnell Smith, gave UB its largest lead of the night, 62-53, with 3:59 remaining. However, the Owls scored six unanswered points to cut the UB advantage to 62-59 with 38 seconds left.

Greg Gamble converted a pair of free throws to extend the UB lead to five points with 25 seconds left. After Temple's Dionte Christmas made three straight free throws to cut the lead to two, the Bulls turned the ball over, giving the Owls one last chance with seven seconds remaining. However, a three-point attempt by Dustin Salisbery was off the mark and Moore came away with the rebound.

Idbihi finished with 12 points and tied a career high with 14 rebounds, achieving his 11th career double-double by halftime (10 points, 10 rebounds).

On Saturday, Idbihi's 20 points paced four Bulls in double-figures as UB defeated Niagara, 74-62, in Alumni Arena. Idbihi also grabbed 12 rebounds to notch his second straight double-double and third of the season.

UB (6-2) was able to weather an early storm by Niagara that saw the Purple Eagles hit five straight three-pointers and take a 19-7 lead six minutes into the game. Robinson answered with three straight three-pointers of his own to cut the lead to 21-16.

Sparked by a Vadim Fedotov layup and capped by a Gamble jumper at the buzzer, the Bulls finished the first half on a 12-4 scoring run to take a 31-27 lead at the break.

The Bulls opened the second half on an 11-2 run to take a 42-29 lead. A Gamble jumper gave the Bulls a 17-point lead—their biggest of the night—with 11:49 remaining. Niagara cut the lead to eight points with 4:50 left. However, the Bulls scored seven straight points, capped by a conventional three-point play by Moore, to silence the Purple Eagle threat.

The Bulls will host Pittsburgh, currently ranked second nationally, at 4 p.m. Saturday.

WOMEN'S

Cleveland State 55, UB 47
UB 70, Niagara 59

UB experienced another cold shooting night on Nov. 28, dropping a 55-47 decision to Cleveland State in the Wolstein Center.

The two teams fought hard and were tied at 42 with 6:18 remaining in the game—the 10th and final time the game was knotted. CSU then went on an 11-2 run, taking a nine-point lead with just 46 seconds remaining.

On Saturday, the Bulls went on a 14-5 run early in the game, erasing a one-point deficit and cruising to a 70-59 victory over Big 4 rival, Niagara in Alumni Arena. The win snaps a three-game losing streak for the Bulls and improves their record to 3-5.

After struggling from the floor in the last three games, the Bulls shot 48 percent from the field, including 50 percent in the first half. UB capped off the first half on a 6-0 run, taking a 36-24 lead into halftime. The 36 points scored in the first half were the most UB has scored in the opening stanza this season. The Bulls then scored six straight points to open the second half to take its largest lead of the game, at 18, on a Rachelle Matthys jumper.

Niagara crawled back and got as close as four points with 1:25 remaining, but UB hit 10 straight foul shots to seal the victory. Stephanie Bennett and Belinda Gibb both shot a perfect 7-of-7 from the charity stripe, while Matthys finished 3 of 4.

Wrestling

Budd captures sixth place at Las Vegas Invitational

UB finished 30th in a field of 47 at the 25th annual Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational Saturday evening. The Bulls performed well against many nationally ranked competitors, including senior captain Mark Budd, who tackled five nationally ranked opponents en route to a sixth-place finish.

Budd, ranked 10th in the nation at 133 pounds according to USA Today/InterMat/NWCA, began his quest for a championship by posting a 15-5 major decision against Ben Lockett of San Francisco State and upending Cal State-Fullerton's T.J. Dillashaw in overtime, 5-4. Budd scored a 3-2 decision over Eric Albright of Virginia, ranked 16th nationally, to advance to the round of 16 where he met his toughest opponent, Missouri's Tyler McCormick, ranked fourth. In heroic fashion, Budd posted a 3-1 sudden victory against the All-American, earning himself a spot in the semifinals for the first time in his career.

However, Budd's semifinal opponent, Tennessee-Chattanooga's Matt Keller, took a 6-4 decision. Ranked fifth in the nation, Keller sent Budd into the consolation rounds, where he met sixth ranked Darrell Vasquez of Cal Poly and ninth-ranked Drew Headlee of Pittsburgh. Budd lost each of those matches, finishing with a weekend record of 4-3. His 15 straight wins to kick off a season were the most in his career.

Redshirt freshman Ricky Scott saw impressive competition in the 197-pound bracket. With a 3-1 tiebreaker over Virginia's Kyle Narkiewicz, Scott assured himself of a match with No. 18-ranked T.J. Morrison of Rider. Facing his first nationally ranked opponent of his collegiate career, Scott fell by a 7-6 count.

He bounced back in the consolation round, handing decisions to Indiana's Nathan Everhart and Ohio's Larry Reichard. Scott faced his toughest opponent ever in Hofstra's Chris Weidman, who finished sixth at the NCAA Championships in 2006 and currently is ranked sixth in the nation. Weidman posted 10 straight points on Scott, taking the major decision, 13-5, and costing Scott a chance to place at his first Las Vegas Invitational.

The Bulls sent nine grapplers to the annual invitational. Juniors Ryan Needle, Mike Ragusa and Jeff Parker each posted wins, but fell short in the consolation rounds. Needle fell to nationally fifth ranked Jordan Leen of Cornell in the preliminary round, 7-1, while Ragusa dropped a 4-1 decision to No. 13-ranked Max Dean of Indiana and Parker was upended by Oregon State's Ty Watterson, ranked sixth in the nation, halting their advances to the round of 16.

The Bulls will host USA Today/InterMat/NWCA's 14th-ranked Edinboro Fighting Scots at 11 a.m. on Saturday in Alumni Arena.

Swimming

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McDowell, Vander Zalm claim victories at SummaCare Invitational

UB ended the three-day SummaCare Invitational at the University of Akron with a fourth-place showing, an improvement from last season's sixth-place finish. The Bulls, finishing with 1,162 points, improved their team score by nearly 300 points over last season's meet. The Bulls garnered 15 lifetime-best swims on Sunday as UB swimmers reached the championship final in each of the final night's six events. In the three-day meet, the Bulls posted 31 lifetime-best swims or dives.

The Bulls scored a pair of victories in the three-day meet, highlighted by a record-breaking diving performance on Friday's opening night. Freshman diver Michael McDowell won the three-meter diving event with a six-dive total in the finals of 332.40 points, breaking the Ocasek Natatorium record of 316.35, set at last year's meet by former UB diver Cassidy Lynch and establishing a new meet record. It was also a lifetime best for McDowell, who finished one point shy of Lynch's UB record set at last season's ECAC Championships.

On Sunday, freshman Connor Vander Zalm scored a victory for the Bulls in the grueling 1,650-yard freestyle. Vander Zalm conquered the mile distance in 16:13.96, eight seconds ahead of second-place finisher Chris Kobela of Duquesne.

WOMEN'S

Bulls place seventh at SummaCare Invitational

UB finished seventh among 10 teams at the SummaCare Invitational.

UB picked up three second-place finishes from senior Kahla Walkinshaw—in the 500-yard freestyle, the 100-yard butterfly and the 200-yard butterfly.

Rachel Sorg also had a second-place finish at the meet with her 100-yard backstroke finish of 2:23.70.

Freshman diver Meili Carpenter scored a third-place finish on the three-meter board.