University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Published: January 25, 2007

Basketball

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Ohio 67, UB 51
Akron 66, UB 59

It was a tight game throughout, but the Ohio Bobcats outscored UB, 11-1, over the final 3:27 to pull away for the 67-51 victory on Jan. 18 at Ohio.

The Bulls were led by Yassin Idbihi, who scored 11 points and Andy Robinson, who added 10.

It was a defensive struggle early on as the Bulls held Ohio to only seven points over the first 11 minutes of the game. Unfortunately, UB was unable to take advantage of the Bobcats' miscues, scoring only 11 points over the same span. The Bulls built their lead to as many as nine, but Ohio closed the half on an 11-2 scoring run to tie the contest at 24 at the break.

Robinson scored the Bulls' first eight points of the second half, including a pair of three-pointers. His jumper with 15:16 remaining gave UB its final lead of the night, 32-31. After Ohio built a five-point lead, Darwin Young drained his career-best third three-pointer of the game to cut the lead to 40-38 with 10:18 left. A Vadim Fedotov layup cut the deficit to four with 4:37 remaining.

With the Bulls trailing, 56-48, Idbihi hit a jumper to cut the lead to six with 3:27 left. But that was as close as the Bulls would get as the Bobcats closed the game on an 11-1 run to pull away for the win.

On Sunday, the Bulls dropped a 66-59 decision at division-leading Akron as Idbihi led the team with 18 points and 10 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season.

It was a close game throughout, with neither team holding more than a seven-point advantage. Akron led for the majority of the first half and held a 30-28 lead at the break.

A layup by Idbihi early in the second half gave the Bulls their first lead since the opening minutes of the game. There were eight lead changes over the next five minutes. A steal and breakaway dunk by Akron's Romeo Travis gave the Zips the lead for good, 39-38, with 13:34 remaining.

UB (9-9, 1-4 MAC) hung around for the rest of the game, not allowing the Zips to pull away. Akron built its lead to seven with 4:20 remaining. But the Bulls got four straight points by Parnell Smith to cut the Akron lead to 55-52 with 3:10 left. A pair of Robinson free throws cut the lead to 57-54 with 1:26 remaining. However, the Bulls could get no closer as the Zips made their free throws down the stretch to put the game on ice.

WOMEN'S

Kent State 72, UB 69
Toledo 85, UB 77 (OT)

UB put forth a valiant effort for 40 minutes on Jan. 17, but fell short, dropping a 72-69 decision to Kent State in Alumni Arena. The Bulls had a chance to tie the game and force overtime, but a three-pointer at the buzzer by Stephanie Bennett fell short as time expired.

The two teams played a tight game, with the largest lead by either team being an eight-point advantage by Kent State with 11:03 remaining in the first half. UB fought back though and a three by Belinda Gibb at the first-half buzzer sent UB into the locker room down just two.

Kent State charged back in the second half and took two leads of six points, but three straight Rachelle Matthys buckets tied the game with 10:40 to go in the second half. UB took its first lead since the 15:01 mark of the first half with a Heather Turner layup. The Golden Flashes took off on an 8-0 run to take another six-point advantage, but that was short-lived as Bennett took over, hitting three of her four three-pointers in a span of 1:06.

The teams exchanged baskets, with the game knotted at 68 with 2:28 remaining. Both teams struggled to take the lead until Kent State's Kristin Peoples hit a leaning jumper with 44 seconds remaining. UB cut that lead to one, but got no closer as Kerrie James sunk two foul shots for the three-point advantage. UB drew up its final play, but Bennett's three fell short.

On Saturday, the Bulls shot 62.1 percent in the second half, but were unable to come away with a victory, falling 85-77 in overtime to Toledo in Savage Hall. The Bulls had their opportunities, but an offensive foul call away from the ball in the final seconds of regulation sent the game to the extra period. Toledo scored the final 11 points of the game after UB had a three-point advantage with 3:20 to go in overtime.

The loss drops UB to 6-12 on the season and 1-5 in conference play.

UB got off to a quick start, scoring the first six points of the contest. Toledo tied the game up at six, but UB went on a 9-3 run to regain the advantage. The Bulls had a four-point lead after a Bennett three-pointer, but Toledo scored the final 11 points of the half to take a seven-point lead into halftime.

Both teams picked up their scoring in the second half, with Toledo extending its lead to 10 with 17:15 remaining in regulation. The Bulls took off on a 10-0 run, with Turner and Kourtney Brown converting back-to-back baskets. The Bulls then began showing their prowess from long range. Bennett cut the Rockets' lead to three with a trey before sophomore Jamie Schiebner tied the score with her first three-pointer of the season. UB took the lead and had a five-point advantage as Bennett knocked down another trey with 11:06 to go in the second half. Toledo again fought back and went on a 13-2 run to lead by six with 8:51 remaining.

The margin remained at six until UB rattled off six straight points, tying the game at 62 with 4:44 remaining. Bennett tied the game up again with 3:28 remaining, converting on her fifth three-pointer. The Bulls again took the lead on a Turner layup with 2:00 left, but Toledo tied the game to force overtime.

Toledo took over in the overtime period, converting on four of its six field goals in the extra session and knocking down all seven shots from the foul line. After shooting 62.1 percent from the floor in the second half, the Bulls shot just 27.3 percent in the overtime period and missed both free-throw attempts.

Wrestling

Bulls place third at New York State championships

UB battled its way to a third-place finish at the 38th Annual New York State Intercollegiate Wrestling Championships, held on Friday and Saturday in Alumni Arena.

The Bulls were one of three teams to score 100 team points. Redshirt freshman Jason Hilliard was the lone UB grappler to claim an individual title at 149 pounds. Redshirt freshman Dan Bishop (125 pounds), senior Mark Budd (133 pounds) and junior Nate Rock (174 pounds) settled for second in their respective weight classes.

Following a semifinal 12-2 upset over Division III's nationally seventh-ranked Eugene Kobilansky of New York University, Hilliard was matched up with Matt Dunn of Columbia—seeded second in the tournament—in the championship match. Hilliard scored a takedown in the third period to break the 4-4 tie and ultimately claim his first-ever collegiate tournament title. With the 6-4 win, Hilliard continues a streak in which at least one Bull has won a New York State individual title in the last five years.

One of the largest upsets of the day occurred in the 133-pound finals, in which Budd was denied his third-straight New York State title by Army's William Simpson, who scored a 4-3 decision to take the title. Simpson scored a two-point takedown in the final frame to seal the win for the Black Knights, sending Budd to only his fourth defeat of the season.

The meet's overall champion was nationally 24th-ranked Columbia University, taking six individual titles for its first state Wrestling Championship team title in school history.

The Bulls will return to conference dual-meet action when they take on Ohio at 7 p.m. Saturday.

Swimming

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Miami (OH) 142, UB 98

Despite winning six of 13 events, UB dropped its second Mid-American Conference dual meet of the season on Friday afternoon, falling to the defending MAC champion Miami (OH) University RedHawks in Oxford, 142-98. With the setback, the Bulls fell to 1-2 in MAC competition and 3-2 overall.

Freshman Michael McDowell led the Bulls with two individual victories. McDowell took the one-meter diving event with a score of 287.02 and won the three-meter board event with a score of 292.65.

The Bulls got off to a promising start, earning wins in the first two events of the meet. The 400-yard medley relay team of Andrew Tamchyna, Jordan Matthews, Kevin Schuster and Zach Ruske touched the wall first in a time of 3:32.87, while Connor Vander Zalm followed with an individual victory of his own in the 1,000-yard freestyle, finishing in a time of 9:54.16.

In the 500-yard freestyle, senior Luke Adams and Vander Zalm turned in a one-two finish, as Adams won the event in 4:42.75 while Vander Zalm touched the wall second in a time of 4:48.33. Rookie Kevin Song won the 200-yard breaststroke, in a time of 2:10.67.

The Bulls return to the water at 1 p.m. on Saturday with a dual meet against MAC foe Eastern Michigan in Alumni Arena. The meet is a combined meet with the women's team.

WOMEN'S

Bowling Green 181, UB 119

UB dropped a 181-119 dual meet to Bowling Green on Saturday. UB is now 0-6 in the MAC (2-6 overall).

Freshman diver Meili Carpenter inked wins in both of the diving events, as she won the one-meter event with a score of 282.23 and crushed her opponents in the three-meter event, earning a score of 301.35.

In the 1,650-yard freestyle, Eugenie Viale turned in a solid performance for the Bulls, winning the event in a time of 17:58.68, while Ashley Schaffert also produced an individual win for UB, sailing into first place in the 100-yard breaststroke in a time of 1:07.61. Kahla Walkinshaw scored a convincing victory in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:07.41.

The Bulls will return to action on Saturday with a MAC dual meet against Eastern Michigan. The meet, set for 1 p.m. in Alumni Arena, will run in conjunction with the men's meet against the Eagles.

Track and Field

Squads finish second at Cornell meet

UB turned in a strong performance on Saturday, with both the men's and women's squads taking second place at the Upstate Challenge, hosted by Cornell University.

On the women's side, Sarah Vance had a great afternoon for the Bulls, establishing an IC4A qualifying mark with her winning throw of 58-1.25 (17.71m). Vance also won the shot put with her toss of 50-8 (15.44m). Patrice Coney won the long jump and established an IC4A qualifying mark with her leap of 18-9 (5.71m).

Mary Veith won the 800-meter run in a time of 2:19.62.

On the men's side, both Jake Madonia and George Fetchko set IC4A qualifying marks in the shot put. Madonia took first place with his throw of 52-8 (16.05m) and Fetchko finished third with his toss of 52-4 (15.95m). Roy Richards continued to turn in excellent results for the Bulls as well, establishing an IC4A qualifying mark in the long jump with a winning leap of 24-5.75 (7.46m). Reggie Rucker and Todd Joki established IC4A qualifying times in the 60-meter hurdles with their two-three finish. Rucker posted a time of 8.0 seconds, while Joki finished in 8.2 seconds.

Andy Leonard won the 5,000-meter run in 15:43.06, while Matt Kaiser took first in the 800-meter run in a time of 1:59.11. Ezekiel Porter won the 60-meter and the 200-meter dashes in times of 6.77 and 22.22, respectively.

The Bulls return to action this weekend at the Penn State National Invite.

Tennis

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St. John's 7, UB 0
UB 4, Manhattan 3

UB began the spring portion of the season with a 7-0 loss to St. John's on Jan. 18 at Cunningham Park.

St. John's took the doubles point to start things off and then won all six matches, allowing only two sets to UB.

On Friday, the Bulls pulled out a 4-3 victory over Manhattan at the Columbia Tennis Center. With the victory UB is now 2-1 in dual meets on the season.

UB had to squeeze by to claim the doubles point as it came down to the match at number two doubles for the point. Nikesh Singh Panthlia paired with UB's newest member, Kirill Kolomytes, to win 9-7 to give the Bulls a 1-0 advantage going into singles play.

Panthlia and Mike Rockman each picked up a victory in singles play, while Kolomytes, Eric Rothstein and Octavian Stane each fell in their matches. That left a 3-3 contest with the number five singles still being played. Yules Hadisubroto won the first set, 6-3, against Manhattan's Filip Szymik, before falling in the second on a tiebreaker, 8-6. Hadisubroto found himself down 3-0 early in the third set, but fought back to win that final set, 7-5, and give UB the victory over the Jaspers.

The Bulls return to the court on Feb. 4 as they welcome both Colgate and Duquesne to the Village Glen Tennis Center with matches beginning at 1 p.m.