Archives
Sports Recap
Basketball
UB 72, Liberty 66
Playing without the services of leading scorer and rebounder Yassin Idbihi, UB used a solid team effort to extinguish the Liberty Flames, 72-66, in Alumni Arena on Dec. 18.
Idbihi, who was a game-time scratch with an elbow injury, was out of the starting lineup for the first time since Dec. 3, 2003—a span of 102 games. Vadim Fedotov started in Idbihi's place and scored five points and pulled down a career-best 10 rebounds.
The night, however, belonged to Greg Gamble. The sophomore stepped up and filled the rebounding void by grabbing a career-high 15 rebounds and tied a career best with 15 points. It was the sophomore's second double-double of the season.
UB (7-4) dominated the glass, outrebounding Liberty, 52-31. The Bulls had 24 offensive boards and scored 21 second-chance points.
"I think our collective effort made up for (Idbihi's) rebounding presence," head coach Reggie Witherspoon said. "We needed everyone tonight and I'm glad they were able to contribute."
The Bulls jumped out to a 12-6 lead four minutes in the contest, but then went ice cold, scoring only four points over the next eight minutes. However, solid defense kept Liberty from taking advantage as the Flames held only an 18-16 lead with 8:18 left in the half. Liberty led, 30-27, at the break.
Like the first half, the Bulls opened the second stanza on a 12-6 scoring run to regain a two-point lead with 16:45 left. UB extended its lead to 48-42 on a layup by Gamble with 10:02 left on the clock. The Flames battled back to tie the contest at 54 with 6:11 remaining. However, that is when Eric Moore took charge for the Bulls.
Following an Andy Robinson layup to break the tie, Moore scored eight-straight points, including a pair of three-pointers, to give the Bulls their biggest lead of the night, 64-56, with 2:16 left.
Moore finished with a game-high 19 points—including four three-pointers. Parnell Smith had a solid all-around game with 13 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals. Robinson also reached double-figures with 11 points and a tied a career high with six rebounds.
The game was the first of three home games this week for the Bulls, who will host Delaware State at 7 p.m. today.
Wrestling
UB splits at Bloomsburg Duals
A triumphant start against Delaware State led to UB's second defeat of the season at the hands of cross-state rival Bloomsburg on Sunday in Bloomsburg, Pa. Senior Mark Budd and redshirt freshman Andrew Stella each remained undefeated with two victories on the afternoon, while junior Nate Rock and redshirt freshman Ricky Scott picked up two clutch wins as well.
A trio of forfeits proved costly for the Delaware State Hornets (0-9), which lost three meets on the afternoon. Suffering a bit of a scare after dropping the match at 157 pounds, the Bulls bounced back to win the last five matches. Junior Mike Ragusa earned a decision over Brandon Gardner, 6-2, while senior Ray Lamb and Ricky Scott each posted falls over their respective opponents to rally the Bulls to the impressive win.
In the day's final match, UB encountered a tough Bloomsburg squad that wanted to prevent a sixth-straight loss to the Bulls. Budd turned an impressive 5-2 decision over WrestlingReport's No. 25-ranked Ricky Donald, making him the seventh straight 133-pound ranked wrestler Budd has faced in a three-week span. Andrew Stella also posted a dramatic 6-5 decision over Darren Kern, upping his dual meet record to 3-0 at 141 lbs. With a 6-5 lead over the Huskies, UB dropped three straight matches before Nate Rock earned a 2-0 decision over Andrew Jordan. In an attempt to build a comeback, Ricky Scott dominated with a 10-0 major decision over P.J. Distefano. However, the deficit was too much after junior Jeff Parker dropped a 7-0 decision to USA Today/Intermat/NWCA No. 18-ranked Mike Spaid.
UB faces another pair of opponents on Jan. 4 when Clarion and Davidson travel to Alumni Arena for a 1 p.m. match.