University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Published: February 1, 2007

Basketball

MEN'S

Toledo 78, UB 6
Eastern Michigan 89, UB 76

UB dropped a 78-62 decision to Toledo on Jan. 24 in Alumni Arena. The Bulls were unable to make up for having committed a season-high 32 turnovers, as the Rockets applied pressure early and often, preventing UB from securing its second consecutive conference win at home.

Both teams, determined to set the early tone, came out in the first half applying immediate presence on both sides of the ball. The Bulls took the lead a minute and a half into the game and then went on a 9-0 run, as sophomore Andy Robinson hit a layup and buried a three-pointer to build a 14-4 lead. However, eight turnovers in five minutes, including two steals within 30 seconds by Toledo's Tyrone Kent, brought the Rockets back into contention. In spite of committing 19 first-half turnovers, the Bulls were able to keep pace, holding the Rockets to 37 percent shooting while shooting 50 percent themselves. A Toledo jumper sent the teams to the locker room with the Bulls trailing, 29-27.

True freshman Max Boudreau—in the starting lineup for the second consecutive game—came through with a career performance, displaying consistent offense and defense. The Montreal, Quebec native swallowed up a missed three-point attempt at 18:50 and scored two clutch second-chance points to cut the lead to one. With both teams volleying the lead back and forth, the Rockets turned the tables to go on a 8-1 run. Buffalo botched three free-throw attempts midway through the second half that turned into four Rocket points. With a stable 10-point lead, Toledo increased the advantage at the foul line often, with Florentino Valencia going 10-for-10 to ice the game.

Sunday night, Eastern Michigan used a 52-point second half to extend a two-point halftime advantage and pull away for an 89-76 win over UB in the Convocation Center. It was the Bulls' fourth straight loss.

It was a tight game early on, with six ties and six lead changes in the first half. Eric Moore scored 13 of his 22 points in the first half to pace the Bulls. The Eagles held a 37-35 lead at the break.

The tide turned at the start of the second half as Eastern Michigan opened the stanza on an 11-0 scoring run to take a 48-35 lead with 16:08 left. The Bulls seemed to be thrown off their game after being whistled for eight fouls in the first 3:52 of the half.

Back-to-back three-pointers by Moore cut the Eagles' lead to seven with 15:18 left. A pair of free throws by Yassin Idbihi reduced the EMU lead to six with 14:32 left. However, that was as close as the Bulls got as the Eagles went on a 9-2 run to re-establish a 13-point lead. Eastern Michigan used the three-point shot to its advantage, knocking down six treys in the final 14 minutes to thwart a UB comeback.

WOMEN'S

Eastern Michigan 69, UB 56
Northern Illinois 58, UB 53

The host Eastern Michigan Eagles went on an 11-0 run over the final minutes of play, taking a two-point advantage and turning it into a 13-point victory, 69-56, over UB on Jan 24. It was the second time this season that UB was unable to hold a halftime lead.

The Bulls and Eagles played a tight first half, with UB shooting 57.7 percent from the field. Junior Heather Turner capped off a 7-0 UB run to give the Bulls their largest lead of the game, six, with 5:22 remaining in the first half. The Eagles cut into the lead and UB went into the half up by two, 33-31.

Eastern Michigan came out in the second half and took the lead back before the Bulls went on another 7-0 run to lead by four in the early minutes of the half. Over the next 15 minutes neither team led by more than four points, as the game was tied a total of eight times. Jamie Schiebner's jumper with 1:18 remaining cut the Eastern Michigan lead to just two points, but UB was unable to get any closer as the Eagles hit their foul shots down the stretch, scoring 11 straight points.

On Saturday, the visiting Northern Illinois Huskies went on an 11-4 run in the second half to take its largest lead of the game and hold on to defeat UB, 58-53, in Alumni Arena. Although the Bulls held NIU without a field goal for the final 4:54 of the game, the Huskies hit five of their six free throws down the stretch. The loss drops UB to 6-14 and 1-7 in conference play, while Northern Illinois improves to 13-6 and 5-3 in the MAC.

The first half was a series of runs for each team. NIU began with a 9-0 run after the Bulls scored the opening points of the game. The Bulls responded with seven straight to tie the game, but NIU again improved its lead to seven. The Bulls ended the half on a 14-5 run as Kourtney Brown hit a layup as time expired in the first half, sending the Bulls into the locker room with the lead for the second straight game.

The Bulls never led by more than three points, taking that advantage with 19:03 remaining in the game. Neither team lead by more than four points until Northern Illinois took a five-point advantage with 7:45 remaining in the game. That lead would grow to as many as nine with 4:54 left before UB tried to respond. Schiebner and Brown hit consecutive layups to cut the UB deficit to five. NIU got the lead back up to seven, but Stephanie Bennett hit one of her four three-pointers and that was followed by a Brown layup to cut the NIU lead to two. UB got no closer as the Huskies hit three foul shots in the final 17 seconds.

The Bulls will return home on Saturday to host Ball State in a doubleheader with the UB men's team. The women's contest will begin a half hour after the conclusion of the men's game, which is scheduled for 2 p.m.

Wrestling

Ohio 25, UB 9

UB could muster only three dual-meet decisions in a 25-9 loss to Ohio on Saturday. It was the team's second conference defeat of the season.

Taking victories for the Bulls were senior captain Mark Budd, the MAC's top-ranked wrestler at 133 pounds; senior Ray Lamb at 184 pounds; and freshman Jason Weber in the meet's final match. Substituting for the injured Jeff Parker in the heavyweight bout, Weber defeated Marcus Adelman, 5-4. Adelman went into the match against Weber as the 30th-ranked heavyweight wrestler in the latest wrestlingreport.com poll.

The Bulls will continue the quest for their first conference win when they travel to Eastern Michigan for a Saturday match.

Swimming

MEN'S

Eastern Michigan 136, UB 93

UB dropped its final MAC meet of the season with a 136-93 loss to league power Eastern Michigan on Saturday in Alumni Arena Natatorium. The Bulls are now 3-3 overall and conclude the league slate with a 1-3 mark.

The Bulls scored four event victories, highlighted by freshman Michael McDowell's sweep of the two diving competitions. Also posting wins were freshman Kevin Song in the 200-yard breaststroke and the 200-yard freestyle relay team of Luke Adams, Zach Ruske, Scott Woster and Richard.

The Bulls will conclude the regular season today with a 6 p.m. meet at home with local rival St. Bonaventure.

WOMEN'S

Eastern Michigan 146, UB 92

UB dropped its final MAC dual meet of the season on Saturday, falling to the Eastern Michigan University Eagles, 146-92. The team honored its eight seniors in their last meet in Alumni Arena Natatorium.

With the setback, the Bulls finish the 2006-07 MAC season with a record of 0-7 (2-7 overall).

The Bulls won the 200-yard freestyle relay, as the foursome of freshman Laura Powalski, freshman Samantha Palma, junior Meghan Lafferty and junior Andrea Scharf touched the wall in a time of 1:39.40. Senior Kahla Walkinshaw also turned in a win in the 200-yard butterfly, cruising to victory in 2:08.67.

Meili Carpenter performed well on the diving board with a first-place finish in the three-meter event and second-place in the one-meter event.

The Bulls will compete in the 2007 MAC Championships Feb. 14-17, hosted by Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti.

Indoor Track and Field

Vance, men's relayers score wins at Penn State National Invite

UB traveled to the Penn State National Invitational on Saturday and came away with a pair of victories, as well as a handful of regional qualifiers and three school records. There was no team scoring in the meet that featured top collegiate programs from throughout the United States.

Senior Sarah Vance broke her school record in the women's shot put for the second time this season, winning the event with a toss of 52-8.75 (16.07m) and bettering last week's throw by more than two feet.

The UB men's 4x800-meter relay squad set a new school record with its victory. The foursome of John Bauman, Paul Riley, Ryan Zillman and Matt Kaiser finished in 7:48.73 to qualify for March's IC4A Championships and break the UB mark of 7:59.18 set in 2004. The same foursome also qualified for the IC4As in the distance medley relay.

Sprinter Reggie Rucker reached the finals of the men's 60-meter hurdles, establishing a new UB record of 7.89 seconds in the semifinal round. Rucker finished sixth in the finals in 8.05.

The Bulls will split into two groups for competition next weekend. Several athletes will compete in New York City for the New Balance Collegiate Invitational. The bulk of the team will travel to the University of Akron Open.

Tennis

WOMEN'S

UB 7, St. Bonaventure 0

UB opened the spring portion of the 2006-07 schedule with a decisive win over St. Bonaventure on Sunday afternoon, defeating the Bonnies, 7-0. UB is now 2-0 for the season, including a win over St. Francis (PA) in the fall.

The Bulls had little trouble with the Bonnies, allowing no more than three games to St. Bonaventure, while also scoring a pair of "double-bagel" singles wins and a shutout in doubles play. The number-three duo of Katrin Fischer and Diana Toia scored a shutout doubles win over Vanessa Close and Eileen Horgan, 8-0. In singles action, Fischer knocked off Close, 6-0, 6-0, at number six, while Tina Jacob also scored a "double-bagel" win at number five over Eileen Horgan, 6-0, 6-0.

The Bulls will travel to Cleveland State for a Sunday match against the Vikings.