University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Published: November 29, 2007

Football

UB 30, Kent State 23 (OT)

A record-breaking season was capped off in thrilling style on Saturday as the fast-improving UB football team came back from a fourth-quarter deficit to down Kent State, 30-23, in overtime at Dix Stadium.

The Bulls—trailing by a touchdown late in the fourth quarter—rallied to tie the game, blocked a field goal by Kent State in the final two minutes and then won in overtime to secure a first-ever winning record in the Mid-American Conference. The Bulls finished the season 5-3 in MAC play, 4-2 in MAC East play and 5-7 overall. The 4-2 mark ties the Bulls for first place in the MAC East with Bowling Green and Miami.

Quarterback Drew Willy broke the school record with 34 completions and threw for a career-best 334 yards and two touchdowns to lead the offense. Flanker Ernest Jackson had a career-best nine receptions for 118 yards and a score.

“Our guys have played with great effort all season long and it was great to see them finish that here today with a win,” said head coach Turner Gill. “We started off slow, but it showed that the guys have a lot of heart and a lot of character. The win is something to build on in our off-season program,” said Gill. “We have a good football team and we’re to be reckoned with and everyone is going to know about the Buffalo Bulls.”

UB opened the game promisingly when sophomore Naaman Roosevelt returned the opening kickoff 83 yards to the Kent State three-yard line. However, the Bulls were not able to punch the ball in and settled for a 23-yard field goal by A.J. Principe.

Kent State responded immediately with a touchdown drive that took just two plays. The Flashes were aided by a 31-yard kickoff return and a 15-yard penalty against the Bulls that started the drive at the UB 42-yard line. Andre Flowers finished the drive with a two-yard run to give Kent a 7-3 lead with 11:52 remaining in the first quarter.

After forcing a UB punt, Kent State put another touchdown on the board, driving 77 yards in 10 plays and capping the drive on a 24-yard pass from Anthony Magazu to Eugene Jarvis. After a failed PAT, Kent State led, 13-3, with 3:25 remaining in the first quarter.

The Bulls responded with a scoring drive of their own that culminated in a 21-yard field goal by Principe.

The Bulls drove down the field in the final minutes of the first half, assisted by a 34-yard completion from Willy to sophomore flanker Brett Hamlin. UB eventually completed the drive with Principe’s third field goal of the half, this time from 23 yards away, and the teams went into halftime with Kent State leading, 13-9.

The Bulls came out strong to start the second half, forcing a punt on Kent State’s opening possession and then regaining the lead on a 41-yard touchdown pass by Willy to Jackson.

The Golden Flashes took the lead on the first play of the fourth quarter, driving 59 yards in 10 plays—converting a fourth and inches along the way—to take a 20-16 lead with 14:54 remaining in the game.

After the Bulls were stopped on their ensuing drive, the Flashes extended their lead to seven points on a 23-yard field goal with 9:55 remaining.

The Bulls tied the score on an impressive 11-play, 73-yard drive. Willy again was outstanding, spreading the ball to receivers all over the field and capping the drive with a four-yard scoring toss to Hamlin. It marked Hamlin’s first career touchdown and knotted the score at 23-23 with 4:54 remaining.

The Flashes, however, had an answer. Converting a key third down, Kent drove to the UB 14 with just over two minutes remaining. However, on third down, senior defensive end Trevor Scott threw Jarvis, who rushed for 183 yards, for a two-yard loss.

The Flashes lined up for a 29-yard field-goal attempt, but senior defensive tackle Labinot Hakanjin burst through the right side and blocked the kick. It was Hakanjin’s second blocked field goal of the season.

Once in overtime, the Bulls had the first chance to score. Willy connected with Jackson for 13 yards and then hit Hamlin for eight more yards to set the Bulls up inside the five-yard line. On third and goal, redshirt freshman Brandon Thermilus slammed in from the one-yard line to put UB on top.

On Kent State’s possession in overtime, the Bulls began by forcing an incompletion on a quarterback hurry. After a three-yard gain, Jarvis was sent for a two-yard loss by Scott to set up fourth and nine. Senior linebacker Larry Hutchinson closed the game—and the season—in style by sacking Magazu for a nine-yard loss to clinch the victory.

The Bulls had a plethora of defensive stars in the game. Davonte Shannon had 15 tackles, two for losses, and forced a pair of fumbles. Safety Mike Newton had 12 tackles, while Hutchinson finished with 11 tackles, 1.5 sacks and three tackles for loss. Scott finished with seven tackles, a half sack and 2.5 tackles for loss.

Basketball

MEN’S

Niagara 80, UB 63
Pittsburgh 92, UB 45

UB dropped an 80-63 decision at Niagara on Nov. 20, snapping a five-game winning streak over the Purple Eagles.

UB was led by Andy Robinson, who scored a season-high 16 points, including three three-pointers. He scored nine of the Bulls’ first 11 points and his layup with 14:59 left in the first half gave UB an 11-10 lead.

That would be the Bulls’ last lead of the game, however, as Niagara mounted a 15-3 scoring run to take a 25-14 lead. The Purple Eagles built their lead to as many as 15 before settling for a 36-25 lead at the half.

Niagara opened the second half on a 10-2 run to take a 19-point advantage. A Calvin Betts free throw cut the Niagara lead to 55-42 with 10:29 left. But that was as close as the Bulls could get as Niagara cruised to the 17-point victory.

UB struggled to get into a groove offensively, shooting only 35 percent from the field and committing 26 turnovers. UB did, however, pull down a season-high 49 rebounds—13 more than Niagara.

On Friday night, the Bulls fell, 92-45, to 17th-ranked Pittsburgh at the Petersen Events Center. Vadim Fedotov led the way for the Bulls with a career-high 13 points.

UB (2-3) jumped out to a quick start, scoring the first four points of the game on baskets by Fedotov and Max Boudreau. But the Panthers (5-0) responded by scoring the next 22 points of the contest. At the half, the Bulls trailed, 49-21.

UB was never able to cool off the hot-shooting Panthers, who shot 50.7 percent for the game and made 18 of 22 free throws. The Bulls, meanwhile, were only 3-for-6 from the charity stripe.

Boudreau scored nine points on 4-of-5 shooting in only 14 minutes.

Non-conference foes Tulane and Evansville visit Alumni Arena tonight and Saturday, respectively.

WOMEN’S

UB 66, Detroit Mercy 50
Canisius 70, UB 62

UB took an 18-4 run in the second half and never looked back, defeating Detroit, 66-50, on Nov. 20 in Alumni Arena to post its third win in four games.

Detroit took an early 10-6 lead with 14:04 left in the first half. The Bulls then went on a 12-4 run, which was capped off by a Jamie Schiebner jumper at the 7:16 mark. The Bulls led by as many as six points in the first half, including a 28-22 advantage at halftime.

The second half opened up with a 13-7 Detroit run, tying the game up at 35-35. That was short-lived, however, as UB scored the next seven points, en route to an 18-4 run, with senior Heather Turner scoring seven of those points. The run was capped off by a fast-break layup by junior Dortae Freeman after Freeman picked the pocket of Detroit’s Zemora Davis. From there, the UB lead never got under nine and the Bulls scored the last six points of the game for the 66-50 victory.

The Bulls had five players score in double figures, with Turner leading the way with 15 points and nine rebounds. Sophomore Ashley Zuber and Freeman recorded new career highs with 11 points, and senior Stephanie Bennett and Schiebner each had 10 points.

The Bulls shot 49 percent from the floor—their best shooting performance of the season—including 37.5 percent from three-point range.

In other action last week, the Bulls staged a furious comeback after trailing by 19 early in the game, but were unable to defeat Canisius, 70-62, on Saturday in Alumni Arena. The loss drops UB’s record to 3-2 on the season.

Canisius came out firing in the first half, with six early three-pointers giving the Golden Griffins a 19-point lead at 32-13 with 8:37 remaining in the first half. From there, the Bulls went on an 11-1 run, capped off by a layup by Jessica Fortman at the 4:05 mark of the first half to cut the Canisius lead to 33-24. The Golden Griffins took a 40-28 lead into halftime.

The Bulls opened the second half on 20-7 run, cutting the Canisius lead to one on a Zuber three-pointer at the 9:14 mark. Canisius built its lead back to 11 with 2:21 remaining in the game. Although UB cut the deficit to five on two occasions, it was unable to fight all the way back.

Bennett led the way for the Bulls with 16 points and Zuber finished with a career-high 14 points, including 4-of-7 from behind the arc. Turner had seven points and a team-high 11 rebounds.

Wrestling

Two Bulls win titles at Mat Town Invitational

Jimmy Hamel and Mickey Moran won their respective weight classes at the Mat Town Tournament Saturday. In addition to Hamel and Moran, three other Bulls earned top-four finishes in the non-scoring event.

Hamel earned his first career individual title by winning the 197-pound weight class. On his road to the final, Hamel won a 17-7 decision over Josh White of Lock Haven and a 13-3 decision over Raymond Bennett of Millersville. In the championship bout, he defeated Nick Sommerfeld of Columbia, a top-20 ranked wrestler.

Moran won three matches for the day to claim the 184-pound title. In his opening bout, he defeated Jon Rothman of Hofstra by a 12-2 decision and dispatched Columbia's Kenji Porter by an 8-3 decision in the semifinals. Moran won the championship with an 8-6 decision over unattached wrestler Cam Simaz.

Dana Gingerich (149 pounds) and Jeff Parker (285 pounds) earned third-place finishes for the Bulls. Joe Wilson finished fourth in the 133-pound weight class.

The Bulls will compete in the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational this weekend in Las Vegas.