University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Published: January 24, 2008

Basketball

MEN’S

Bowling Green 83, UB 70
Miami (OH) 64, UB 57

UB dropped an 83-70 decision at Bowling Green on Jan. 17.

The game was the Bulls’ first without starting center Vadim Fedotov, who was lost for the season with a knee injury. Andrew Atman made his first start of the season and responded with 11 points, five rebounds and a pair of steals in 22 minutes.

Atman scored the Bulls’ first four points to give UB its last lead of the game at 4-2. Bowling Green, which shot 53.8 percent for the game from the field, used stifling defense to force 25 UB turnovers—its highest total in 10 games. The Falcons were able to convert those turnovers into 26 points.

Bowling Green built a 43-26 lead at the half. The Bulls managed to whittle the lead down to 11 when Rodney Pierce hit a jumper and was fouled. His free throw made the score 47-36 with 15:51 remaining. However, the Falcons scored back-to-back conventional three-point plays to quickly regain a 17-point advantage.

Greg Gamble, who had a season-high five assists, found a cutting Atman for a layup that cut the lead to 66-52 with 5:23 left. But the Falcons answered with a trey to silence the UB threat.

UB dominated the glass, out-rebounding the Falcons, 43-32. The Bulls pulled down 21 offensive rebounds, but could only manage 15 second-chance points.

On Sunday, the Bulls dropped a 64-57 decision at Miami (OH).

UB (6-10, 0-4 MAC) was led by Calvin Betts with 12 points and nine rebounds. Sean Smiley added 13 points and five boards. Smiley, who had been struggling from long range in recent games, knocked down a trio of three-pointers against the RedHawks.

It was a defensive struggle for both teams, as neither shot better than 40 percent for the game.

Miami took a nine-point lead, its largest of the contest, with 5:06 left in the first half. Betts and Smiley combined to score seven unanswered points to tie the contest at 27 with 2:04 remaining in the half.

After Pierce tied the game at 29, Betts hit a pair of free throws to give UB its first lead of the game, 31-29, with 50 seconds left in the half. Neither team scored again and the Bulls held a two-point advantage at the break.

A Tim Pollitz jumper put Miami ahead, 41-36, with 14:18 on the clock. The Bulls went on an 8-2 scoring run, capped by a Gamble layup, to go back up, 44-43, with 11:24 remaining.

However, back-to-back steals and breakaway layups by Pollitz gave the RedHawks a 47-44 lead. After a Gamble jumper cut the Miami lead to 47-46, the RedHawks scored six unanswered points to go ahead by seven and seal the win.

It was the Bulls’ fifth straight loss and kept the team looking for its first Mid-American Conference win.

WOMEN’S

Ohio 74, UB 64
Bowling Green 75, UB 56

The visiting Ohio Bobcats shot 72.2 percent from three-point range in a 74-64 victory over UB on Jan. 16 in Alumni Arena. The Bulls, who had won three straight, cut into Ohio’s 23-point halftime advantage, but was unable to catch the Bobcats, who shot 13 of 18 from behind the arc.

Ohio came out firing in the first half, scoring the first four points and never relinquishing the lead. The Ohio lead was just two at 17-15 with 9:35 left in the first half when the Bobcats used a 27-6 run over the rest of the half to take a 44-21 lead into the break. Ohio hit on eight of its 11 threes in the half, while the Bulls managed to convert on just one three-point attempt.

In the second half, Ohio grew to as many as 24 with 18:34 remaining in the game, but the Bulls showed some fight for the home crowd. UB cut the lead to 14 with 11:55 left in the half on a layup from junior Dortae Freeman. However, Ohio answered with two threes from Jennifer Bushby. The Bulls kept fighting back, but Bushby and the Bobcats had an answer. From the 11:35 mark until the 7:21 mark, Bushby had 14 straight points for Ohio. The Bobcat lead grew again to 19 with 3:16 left, but the Bulls had one run left in them, closing the game out on a 9-0 run. Senior Stephanie Bennett hit a three during that stretch, as did senior Diana Orozco Gollaz who made her first appearance of the season.

The Bulls were led by Bennett, with 19 points—17 of those coming after the break. Junior Jamie Schiebner had 11 points, eight rebounds and a game-high four steals. Senior Heather Turner had five points, four rebounds, two steals, an assist and a block. The four rebounds give Turner 800 for her career. She is just the third player in UB history to record at least 800 rebounds and is the first player in the school’s history to record more than 1,200 points and 800 rebounds. Freshman Jessica Fortman had nine points and seven rebounds, including five offensive rebounds.

On Saturday, the Bulls were unable to overcome a slow start, falling to the visiting Bowling Green Falcons, 75-56,int Alumni Arena. The Bulls, who were in foul trouble for most of the game, fell to 9-8 on the season and 2-2 in MAC play.

Bowling Green went on a 13-0 run midway through the first half to go up 27-10 at the 8:11 mark of the half. The Bulls were able to cut the BGSU lead to 10, but the Falcons took a 12-point lead—35-23—at the half. UB played much of the first half without its two leading scorers, Turner and Bennett, who were each sidelined with two early fouls.

In the second half, the Bulls kept fighting and cut the BGSU lead to 10 at the 6:11 mark on a layup from Turner. The Falcons responded with five quick points and the lead grew to 22 with 18 seconds left. Freeman hit a three with 10 seconds left to make the final score 75-56.

Wrestling

Bulls finish second in New York State Championships

UB earned a second-place finish in the 39th Annual New York State Intercollegiate Wrestling Championships. Mickey Moran claimed individual honors at 184 pounds. The United States Military Academy edged the Bulls for the team crown, scoring 152 points to 147.5 for UB.

Moran claimed the 184-pound crown in dramatic fashion, scoring a sudden-victory win with a 3-1 decision over top-seeded Nate Holley of Cornell. In the semifinals, the UB junior took down another Cornell wrestler, defeating third-seeded Justin Kerber, 6-3.

For the second-straight year, sophomore Dan Bishop took second place at 125 pounds. Bishop was awarded a medical forfeit in the semifinals before falling to the top seed, Fernando Martinez of Army, 5-0 in the final. Also taking second-place honors for the Bulls was redshirt freshman Jimmy Hamel. Hamel earned a hard-fought 3-2 decision over John Taylor of Niagara County Community College in the semifinals before taking on second-seeded Nick Sommerfeld of Columbia in the finals. Sommerfeld was able to edge Hamel, 4-3.

Four wrestlers—Andrew Stella (141 pounds), Pat Lloyd (149 pounds), John Cummings (157 pounds) and Mike Ragusa (174 pounds)—earned third-place honors for UB.

The Bulls will be back on the mats Saturday in Alumni Arena as they duel with the Ohio Bobcats in the first home MAC match of the season. Wrestling is slated to begin at 11 a.m.

Swimming

MEN’S

UB 148, Niagara 89

UB defeated local rival Niagara University Saturday afternoon, 148-89, in Niagara's Oxy Aquatics Center. The Bulls improved to 3-2 overall with the victory.

The Bulls won nine events, highlighted by a pair of wins by Scott Woster and diver Michael McDowell.

Woster won the 200-yard individual medley in 2:00.99 and the 100-yard butterfly in 52.84. McDowell swept the one- and three-meter diving events.

UB opened the meet with a victory in the 200-yard medley relay with the foursome of Andrew Tamchyna, Jordan Matthews, Woster and Kevin Schuster combining for the win in 1:39.74.

Freshmen Brandon Beckinghausen and Sterling Gell also picked up individual victories. Beckinghausen won the 1,000-yard freestyle in a season-best 10:18.93. Gell also scored a season-best with his win in the 100-yard backstroke in 58.27. Beckinghausen and Gell were also part of UB's winning 200-yard freestyle-relay team, along with Schuster and Mark Ayers. The foursome finished in 1:32.44.

Junior Richard Shi took the 500-yard freestyle in 4:56.74.

The Bulls will host MAC rival Miami (OH) at 1 p.m. Saturday in Alumni Arena Natatorium.

WOMEN’S

UB 155, Niagara 76

UB scored a 155-76 win over Niagara University Saturday afternoon in Niagara's Oxy Aquatics Center. The Bulls are now 4-4.

The Bulls spread the wealth around, with seven swimmers winning events and sophomore Meili Carpenter sweeping the diving competitions. UB also won one of the two relay races.

Sophomore Sam Palma set a season best with her victory in the 200-yard freestyle. Palma touched the wall in 1:57.95, cutting five seconds off her previous best.

Other individual winners for the Bulls included freestylers Alisa Koopman, Catherine Scharf and Jessica Ballard; butterflier Andrea Lehner; backstroker Ashley Olsen; and Jessie Koltz in the individual medley.

The Bulls will travel to Akron to face the Zips in their return to the MAC schedule tomorrow.

Indoor Track and Field

Men second, women third at Cornell Meet

The men’s and women’s track-and-field teams turned in top performances in a large field of competitors at the Upstate Challenge, hosted by Cornell University.

The women earned a third-place finish in the meet, while the men came in second. Both teams competed in a seven-team field that included Cornell, Syracuse, Binghamton, Colgate, Cortland and Ithaca College. Cornell won both the women’s and the men’s competitions.

The Bulls had four individual winners on the women’s side, led by Patrice Coney, who dominated the 60-meter hurdles in 8.84. In the high jump, Fatimah Hill and Caitlin Godin finished one-two, both clearing 1.65m. Tiffany Maskulinski won the pole vault with a height of 3.75m and Tina Villa took the shot put with a distance of 14.38m.

Other outstanding performances were turned in by Octavia Johnston, who placed third in the 60-meter dash with a season-best time of 7.86 and second in the long jump with a leap of 5.61m. Mary Veith also had a solid showing, placing second in the 5,000-meter run in 17:47.5.

On the men’s side, UB had a handful of individuals place in events, led by a pair of second-place finishes by Alex Stamatakis. Stamatakis placed second in the shot put with a toss of 15.97m and second in the weight throw with a throw of 17.44m. Teammate George Fetchko finished third in the shot put with a throw of 15.78m, while Matt Gac finished third in the weight throw, turning in a distance of 17.35m.

On the track, Ezekiel Porter had another extremely strong performance with a second-place finish in the 400-meter dash with a time of 50.03. Other strong times were turned in by John Bauman, who finished third in the 500-meter dash in 1:05.99 and Josh Durkin, who finished second in the 1,000-meter run in 2:37.18. Jamal Norward finished third in the 60-meter hurdles in 8.34, while Loic Sebuharara came in second in the triple jump with a season-best distance of 14.55m.

Additionally, Dan Giza had a good showing in the 5,000-meter run, turning in a lifetime-best time of 14:47.76, good for fourth place.

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

Tennis

MEN’S

San Francisco 5, UB 2
Sacramento State 4, UB 3

UB opened the spring portion of the schedule Saturday with a 5-2 loss to the University of San Francisco.

In singles action, UB scored a pair of victories. Nikesh Singh Panthlia knocked off Asaf Cohen in straight sets, 7-5, 6-2. Marcelo Mazzetto provided UB’s other victory with a 6-4, 6-3 decision over Rainer Nachbauer.

On Sunday, the Bulls dropped their second match of a three-match California excursion—a 4-3 loss to Sacramento State.

UB scored singles wins from its number two, four and six players. Kirill Kolomytes, at number two, defeated Artur Klimenka, 6-3, 7-5. Octavian Stane, in the number-four slot, needed a 12-10 win in the super-tiebreaker to defeat Holden Ching, 1-6, 7-5, 1-0 (10). Eric Rothstein, at number six, got off to a slow start, needing a first-set tiebreaker win, but rolled in the second set for a 7-6 (7), 6-0 win over Ronan Conlon.

The match served as a homecoming for UB head coach Sherif Zaher, a Sacramento State graduate and former head coach of the Hornets. Zaher was the Big Sky MVP in 2001 and 2002 for the Hornets and led the squad as head coach from 2002-05.

WOMEN’S

Bulls picked to win regular season MAC title

UB was picked as the preseason favorite in the MAC, the league office announced on Jan. 16. The poll is the result of voting by the league’s head coaches. The Bulls have been finalists in each of the last two MAC tournaments.

The Bulls received three first place votes, one more than Western Michigan, who was picked to finish second in the league. Miami (OH) was tabbed third, while Eastern Michigan, who received one first-place vote, was picked fourth.

Last season, the Bulls finished with a 17-3 record and a 7-1 mark in MAC play. Following the season, four UB players were honored by the league office. Both of UB’s second-team selections return this year in senior Andreea Novaceanu and sophomore Denise Harijanto.

UB is slated to start its spring season with home matches against Niagara on Feb. 2 and Syracuse on Feb. 9.

Soccer

WOMEN’S

Michael Thomas named head coach

Michael Thomas, who has helped lead the University of Denver to four NCAA tournament appearances, has been named the head coach at UB.

Thomas takes over for longtime head coach Jean-A. Tassy, who retired last fall after his 13th season at the helm of the women’s soccer program.

Thomas spent the past six seasons as an assistant coach at Denver, helping the Pioneers to a 90-25-12 record. The Pioneers made four NCAA tournament appearances, including one following their 2007 Sun Belt Championship. During the 2007 season, Denver defeated Stanford, who was ranked number one in the country at the time, by a 1-0 decision. In 2006, the Pioneers had an .848 winning percentage, which was sixth in nation.

Denver wasn’t just successful on the field, but also in the classroom as the women’s team won the Sun Belt Conference team academic award with a 3.4 GPA. The Pioneers also had winning percentages in the top 10 in the nation in 2002 (.857) and 2003 (.818).