University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Published: January 18, 2007

Basketball

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Kent State 69, UB 56
UB 68, Miami (OH) 51

UB struggled with turnovers and it proved costly in a 69-56 loss to Kent State at Alumni Arena on Jan. 10. The Bulls had a season-high 26 turnovers and the Golden Flashes were able to turn them into 26 points to help spark the 13-point victory.

Yassin Idbihi, who had a team-high 17 points and nine rebounds, was the lone UB player to score in double-figures.

The Bulls led, 13-12, with 11:40 left in the first half. However, that was the last lead UB held in the game. Kent State built its lead to as many as nine points in the first half before holding an eight-point advantage at the break. The Bulls committed 17 of their turnovers in the first half.

After falling behind by 10 early in the second half, the Bulls went on an 11-3 scoring run and a jumper by Idbihi pulled the Bulls to within two with 14:37 remaining. With UB trailing, 46-42, the Golden Flashes went on a 9-3 run to go back ahead by 10 and pull away for the victory.

On Sunday, the Bulls turned it around and put together one of their best performances in recent games to defeat Miami (OH), 68-51, in Alumni Arena.

The Bulls were led by Idbihi's season-high 23 points with seven rebounds.

With the game close for much of the first half, the Bulls closed the half on a 10-3 scoring run to take a 29-23 lead at the break.

UB (9-7, 1-2 MAC) opened the second half on a 10-4 run to extend its lead to 12 points. Leading by 46-36 with 10:42 remaining, the Bulls got five straight points from Darwin Young, including his first three-pointer of the season, to extend their lead to 15. Eric Moore's second three-pointer of the game gave the Bulls an 18-point lead, their largest of the game, with 4:02 left.

The Bulls will hit the road for a two-game swing at Ohio today, followed by a game at Akron on Sunday.

WOMEN'S

Ohio 69, UB 66
UB 64, Akron 58

UB was unable to keep the momentum from a late 10-0 run, falling 69-66 to Ohio on Jna. 10 in the Convocation Center. Junior Stephanie Bennett had a career-high 20 points, including the game-tying three-pointer with less than three minutes remaining. UB cut the lead to two points, but ultimately fell to the Bobcats.

The Bulls climbed back from deficits of more than 10 points twice, trailing by as many as 11 in the final moments of the first half. UB scored three quick points heading into the break and two straight treys from Bennett to begin the second half cut the Bobcat lead to just two. Ohio responded by scoring 10 straight points to take its largest lead at 12. The Bobcats led by as many as 12 on three separate occasions. Ohio had a 10-point lead with 7:26 remaining in the game, but UB began to fight back, as Bennett scored eight of the 10 points on the run to tie the game up. The Bulls had a chance to tie the game one final time, but a Bennett three at the buzzer was no good.

On Saturday, freshman Kourtney Brown led five Buffalo players in double figures as UB picked up its first Mid-American Conference victory of the season, defeating Akron, 64-58, in Alumni Arena. The victory improves UB's record to 6-10 on the season and 1-3 in conference play.

UB found itself down eight early in the contest, but went on an 8-0 run to tie the game. Akron regained the lead, scoring five unanswered points, but UB ended the half on a 12-6 run to take a one-point advantage into the break.

The two teams traded leads for much of the beginning of the second half until the Bulls went on a 15-2 run, which was fueled by six points from sophomore Jamie Schiebner and capped off by a trey from Bennett.

The Bulls will travel to Toledo to face the Rockets on Saturday afternoon.

Wrestling

UB 42, Gardner-Webb 3
UB 25, Appalachian State 16
UB 22, UNC-Greensboro 14
Northern Illinois 30, UB 6

Senior captain Mark Budd became just the seventh grappler in school history to win 90 matches in a career, as he led UB to a duo of dual meet victories on Jan. 9. The Bulls toppled Gardner-Webb, 42-3, while two early pinfalls boosted the Bulls past Appalachian State, 25-16.

Budd picked up right where he left off before the holiday break, as the nationally 12th-ranked 133-pounder scored a pin over Gardner-Webb's Rob Tate at 4:32. The match highlighted a string of eight straight victories over the Bulldogs, including those by redshirt freshmen Andrew Stella and Jason Hilliard.

The second bout of the afternoon versus Appalachian State proved to carry a more competitive atmosphere, but UB took the lead early and never looked back. Redshirt freshman Dan Bishop picked up his first career pin against Frank Celorrio in the 125-pound bout, while Budd claimed his second pin of the afternoon over Corey Hulsey. The Bulls' early 12-point lead was slowly chiseled away by the Mountaineers, who earned three consecutive victories to make the score 12-10. Scott Ervin, nationally 16th- ranked at 149 pounds, overmatched Hilliard in a 13-0 technical fall. Junior Mike Ragusa fought back to his winning ways by taking his second victory of the afternoon. The Bulls' heavy hitters of senior Ray Lamb and redshirt freshman Ricky Scott were too much for the Mountaineers, as Lamb scored a 9-1 major decision over Dan Carrasco, and Scott pinned Brandon Brothers in 3:29.

The Bulls scored their fifth straight dual meet victory, defeating UNC-Greensboro, 22-14, on Jan. 10 and giving the Bulls a sweep of their North Carolina matches. The Bulls prevailed as a result of monster performances by Budd and Hilliard, each earning technical falls in UB's third meet in two days.

On Sunday, the Bulls dropped the last five matches to fall to MAC foe Northern Illinois, 30-6, in UB's league opener. The defeat marks the sixth straight at the hands of the Huskies dating back to the 2001-02 season. Budd and junior Jeff Parker were able to collect individual wins in the match.

The Bulls next host the 38th annual New York State Intercollegiate Wrestling Championships tomorrow and Saturday, which will feature 16 of the best collegiate teams in the state, and also will play host to four state-ranked high schools in dual meet action. The preliminary rounds are scheduled for 11 a.m. tomorrow.

Swimming

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Ohio 124, UB 117

In a meet that came down to the final event, UB fell short of extending its season-opening unbeaten streak, dropping a 124-117 decision to Ohio University in the Alumni Arena Natatorium. UB and Ohio now hold identical 3-1 overall and 1-1 league records.

After Ohio opened the meet by winning the first two events and jumping out to a 25-11 lead, UB stormed back to take the next seven events and hold a 92-76 edge, their largest of the day, with four events remaining. However, the Bulls were unable to nail down the win as Ohio took three of the final four events, including the final relay by a fraction of a second.

By the final race, the 400-yard freestyle relay, UB led 113-111, but Ohio's Luke Herlehy touched out UB's Luke Adams by a scant 14-hundredths of a second to win the race and give the Bobcats the team victory.

The Bulls will travel to Oxford, Ohio, tomorrow for their next meet against defending MAC champion Miami.

WOMEN'S

Ohio 140, UB 91

UB came up short on Saturday, falling to the Ohio University Bobcats 140-91 in Alumni Arena Natatorium.

After a lengthy break from competition of almost one month, UB was led by freshman Samantha Palma, who tallied a pair of second-place finishes in the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard freestyle. Kahla Walkinshaw also had a good afternoon, sailing to a second-place finish in the 200-yard butterfly, and junior Meghan Lafferty turned in a solid performance, picking up third-place in the 100-yard freestyle.

The Bulls will return to action on Saturday with a meet at Bowling Green.

Track and Field

Bulls open season at Doug Raymond Invite

UB got off to a strong start in its season-opening meet, the Doug Raymond Invitational, at Kent State University. There was no team scoring in the meet that featured 11 institutions, including Division I members West Virginia, Duquesne, Bradley and Youngstown State, as well as the Bulls and the host Golden Flashes.

The UB men had four first-place finishes in the meet, highlighted by the

horizontal jumping tandem of Roy Richards and Rayshon Higgins. Richards claimed first in the men's long jump with a leap of 23-11.75 (7.31m), establishing an IC4A qualifying mark for the event. Higgins was second in the event with a leap of 22-7 (6.88m). Higgins, meanwhile, won the men's triple jump at 47-1.50 (14.36m), also establishing an IC4A qualifying distance. Richards was third in the 60-meters in 6.94 seconds, while freshman Dan Schichtel was fourth in 6.98 seconds. Both times also were IC4A qualifiers.

Other winners for the UB men included Todd Joki, who returned to the lineup after sitting out the 2006 season as a redshirt. Joki won the 60-meter hurdles in 8.28 seconds. The UB men also picked up a one-two finish in the 800-meter run from a pair of freshmen. John Bauman won the race in 1:57.38, while Ryan Zillman was second in 1:58.35.

In the women's meet, Mary Veith won the mile run in 5:09.20, while senior Kate Kohout was second in 5:18.43. Catilin Godin took first in the high jump at 5-5.75 (1.67m).

Sarah Vance led the list of UB's second-place finishers, earning an ECAC qualifying mark and setting a collegiate personal record with her toss in the weight throw of 58-2 (17.73m). Tina Villa also claimed an ECAC qualifying distance in the shot put with her toss of 46-10.75 (14.29m).

Freshman Octavia Johnston finished second in the 60-meter dash in 7.76 seconds, one-hundredth of a second off Janelle Callender's school record, set in 2003.

Other second-place individuals included freshman Christine Sprehe in the 800-meters in 2:22.14, freshman Kimarie Black in the triple jump at 36-0 (10.97m) and Jessica Lister in the pole vault at 10-11.75 (3.35m).

The UB foursome of Stacy Downer, Veith, Allison Grimes and Patrice Coney also finished second in the 4x400-meter relay in 3:58.06.

The Bulls will travel to Ithaca for their next meet, the Cornell Upstate Challenge, on Saturday.