University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Published: February 7, 2008

Basketball

MEN’S

Western Michigan 100, UB 90 (2 OT)
Central Michigan 100, UB 96 (2 OT)

UB dropped a heartbreaking double-overtime decision to Western Michigan, 100-90, at Alumni Arena on Jan. 29. The loss denied the Bulls their first conference win of the season.

Rodney Pierce scored a career-high 23 points and Andy Robinson added 22 points, six rebounds and four steals. The junior guard was a perfect 9-for-9 from the free throw line.

Following a 30-30 tie at halftime, UB came out in the second half and scored on 14 of its first 20 possessions to build a 62-53 lead with 7:56 remaining. A conventional three-point play by Greg Gamble gave the Bulls a 70-62 lead with 4:04 left. Gamble finished the night with 17 points and five rebounds.

But a three-pointer by David Kool and a three-point play by Joe Reitz quickly cut the UB advantage to 70-68 with 2:50 left. After the teams traded baskets, the Bulls had the ball and a two-point lead with under a minute to play. Calvin Betts laced a pass down low that found Max Boudreau for a layup to give the Bulls a 74-70 lead with 42 seconds left.

Reitz hit a layup for WMU to cut the lead to 74-72. On the Bulls' next possession, Robinson was double-teamed and a jump ball was called, with the ball going to the Broncos. Kool was fouled and drained a pair of free throws to tie the game at 74 with 17 seconds left. Pierce had a good look at the game winner, but his 15-foot jumper in the final seconds was off the mark.

Betts opened the overtime period with a three-pointer to give the Bulls a three-point lead—the largest by either team in the first extra session. After Kool hit a pair of free throws to give Western Michigan an 84-82 lead with 59 seconds left, Robinson answered for the Bulls with a layup to tie the contest at 84. After Kool missed a three-point try, the Bulls again had the ball in the game's closing seconds and again it was in Pierce's hands. However, his pull-up jumper in the lane came up short and the game went to another overtime.

The Broncos opened the second overtime on a 9-2 scoring run to take control of the game and seal the victory.

Four days later, the Bulls fell in another double overtime thriller, this time 100-96 at Central Michigan, Robinson led UB with 22 points, including a clutch three-pointer at the end of the first overtime.

With the loss the Bulls fell to 6-14 overall and 0-8 in the Mid-American Conference.

The Bulls and the Chippewas traded punches for 50 minutes of basketball—the lead changed hands 13 times and was tied on 21 occasions. The final lead change came with 2:35 remaining in the second overtime as Marcus Van made a layup to give CMU an 89-87 lead. After an Eddie Spencer bucket, answered by two free throws from Pierce, Chris Kellerman made a three-pointer to give CMU a five-point lead with 1:05 remaining. From there, the Chippewas closed the game out at the free-throw line. Pierce scored 21 in the game for the Bulls.

WOMEN’S

Northern Illinois 77, UB 63
UB 73, Ball State 62

UB cut a 20-point, first-half deficit to six in the second half, but was unable to complete the comeback, falling to host Northern Illinois, 77-63, on Jan. 31.

The Huskies led the game throughout, as the Bulls managed to tie the game just once at 2-2 on a layup from freshman Jessica Fortman with 18:08 left in the half. UB trailed by just two at 11-9 with 11:39 left in the first half, but NIU scored the next seven points to take a nine-point lead. Northern Illinois increased its lead to 20 with 1:16 left in the opening half on a Jessie Wilcox three, but three straight points by Bridgette Kendricks and a layup by Stephanie Bennett knocked the NIU lead down to 15. The Huskies converted on a basket, but the Bulls got it back to 15 on a jumper from Jamie Schiebner with three seconds left in the half.

UB opened the second half on a 13-4 run, cutting the NIU lead to just six on a layup from Schiebner. Schiebner keyed the run, scoring seven straight points in a span of just over a minute. NIU scored three quick points to get the lead back to nine, but UB cut it to seven on a layup from Fortman, However, UB’s shooting went cold after that—the Bulls went more than nine minutes without a field goal as NIU expanded its lead to 13. The Bulls went on a quick 6-0 run to cut the Huskie lead back to seven, but that is as close as UB could get.

The Bulls were led by Schiebner, who had 14 points and nine rebounds. Senior Heather Turner had 11 points and seven rebounds. With her 11 points, Turner moved into fourth place on the all-time scoring list, passing Jessica Kochendorfer.

The Bulls led wire-to-wire Sunday afternoon, downing the host Ball State Cardinals, 73-62. During the game Bennett became the 17th player in school history to go over the 1,000-point mark for her career.

With the win, the Bulls improved to 11-10 on the year and 4-4 in the MAC. The 11 wins surpass UB’s total from each of the last two seasons.

The Bulls scored the first four points of the game and eight of the first 10 points of the contest. Schiebner had the first two baskets for UB. Up 15-9, the Bulls went on a quick 7-0 run to take a 13-point advantage to go up 22-9 with 7:18 left in the half. Late in the half, Ball State’s Kiley Jarrett hit a three to get Ball State within eight, but Bennett converted on two straight three-pointers to give the Bulls their largest lead of the game at 14. UB took a 12-point lead into the half at 32-20.

The two teams came out in the second half and exchanged baskets for most of the first 10 minutes of the half. Ball State cut the UB lead to six on a three-pointer at the 4:55 mark, but the Bulls scored the next five points to go back up by 11. Ball State cut the lead to seven on two free throws from Julie DeMuth, but Bennett hit her fifth three of the game at the 1:45 mark to go back up by 10. The Bulls scored three straight points after that from the free throw line to go up by 13 points. The Cardinals added a bucket in the final 18 seconds for the final score, 73-62.

The Bulls will return home Saturday to host Toledo at 2 p.m. in the “Think Pink” game to raise breast cancer awareness. The UB women will wear pink headbands and wristbands during the game.

Wrestling

Central Michigan 32, UB 3

Powerhouse Central Michigan, ranked fifth in the latest NWCA poll, scored a 32-3 MAC victory over the Bulls on Saturday in Alumni Arena. It was the Chippewas’ 26th consecutive MAC dual-meet victory.

Central Michigan took nine of the 10 bouts with a lineup that boasted six wrestlers ranked in the Top 20 nationally, including four in the top 10.

The Bulls’ lone win was at 133 pounds, as junior Joe Wilson scored a 3-2 win over Josh Williams. Wilson scored a first-period takedown and got an escape in the second period to build a 3-0 lead and held on for the win.

The Bulls, who had won six of their previous seven dual matches, fell to 8-5-1 with the loss and 1-3 in the MAC. UB will travel to Kent State for its final MAC dual match of the year on Sunday.

Swimming

WOMEN’S

UB 164, Bowling Green 127

UB closed out its MAC schedule Saturday afternoon with a 164-127 victory over visiting Bowling Green in Alumni Arena Natatorium. The Bulls improved to 6-4 overall and 3-4 in MAC action.

Sophomore diver Meili Carpenter swept both springboard competitions, breaking her own school record on the three-meter board. Carpenter compiled a six-dive total of 336.10 points, eclipsing her old mark of 333.08 set two weeks ago at Niagara. Carpenter also won the one-meter diving with a total score of 272.00 points.

Ashley Schaffert swept the breaststroke races and also was part of a winning relay squad. Schaffert won the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:07.16 and followed with a victory in the 200-yard race in 2:26.43. She also swam the breaststroke portion of UB's victorious 200-yard medley relay as the foursome of Jessica Ballard, Schaffert, Sam Palma and Jessie Koltz finished in 1:48.27.

Koltz and Palma also scored individual wins in their specialty events. Koltz took the 100-yard freestyle in 53.77 while Palma won the 100-yard butterfly in 59.34.

Other individual winners for the Bulls included Kim Dale, who scored a season-best mark in her victory in the 1,000-yard freestyle. Dale turned in a 10:30.33 clocking, shaving 10 seconds off her previous best mark.

Two other season-bests were turned in by victorious Bulls. Senior Meghan Lafferty posted a season best in winning the 50-yard freestyle in 24.78, taking the event by one-hundredth of a second. Caitlin Reilly also set a season best to take the 200-yard backstroke in 2:08.98. Renae Sharkey won the 200-yard freestyle in 1:55.99. Andrea Lehner won the 500-yard freestyle in 5:02.22.

Indoor Track and Field

Tracksters win three events at Sykes-Sabock meet

UB had a solid showing at the Sykes-Sabock Challenge hosted by Penn State. The UB women finished seventh in a 13-team field with 36.50 points, while the men finished 10th in an 11-team field with 31 points. Additionally, the women’s team edged out fellow MAC member Kent State as the Golden Flashes finished 11th with 17.50 points.

Tiffany Maskulinski, Caitlin Godin and Ezekiel Porter all won individual titles. Ryan Zillmann and John Bauman also set new school records in the 600-meter dash as Bauman broke Zillmann’s record moments after he set it.

Maskulinski dominated the field on the women’s side, claiming first place in the pole vault with her NCAA provisional qualifying standard and indoor college best mark of 3.95m. Godin won the high jump with a leap of 1.71m.

Mary Veith turned in a personal-best in the mile run with a time of 4:56.19, good for eighth place, while Jessica Schultz produced a lifetime-best of 5:10.95 in the same event.

Other strong performances on the women’s side were turned in by Tina Villa, who finished fifth in the shot put with a throw of 14.51m; Jessica Cooper, who placed eighth in the long jump with a distance of 5.43m; and Nicole Soblosky, who finished eighth in the 3000-meter run with a personal-best time of 10:18.24.

On the men’s side, Porter claimed first place in the 200-meter dash with a season’s best time of 21.58, while Bauman grabbed second place in the 600-meter dash with a time of 1:20.42. Zillmann finished the same event in sixth place with a time of 1:21.13.

Other strong performances were turned in by Dan Schitchel, who finished fourth in the 60-meter dash with a time of 6.98; Jesse Mang, who scored a 12th place finish and a personal-best in the 3000-meter run with a time of 8:37.0; Alex Stamatakis, who placed 12th in the weight throw with a distance of 17.58m; and George Fetchko, who placed ninth in the shot put with a distance of 15.81m.

The Bulls will return to action this weekend at the New Balance Collegiate Meet in New York City.

Tennis

MEN’S

Cornell 4, UB 3

UB lost a tough 4-3 decision to Cornell at the Reis Tennis Center on Saturday afternoon. Although the Bulls scored victories at the top three singles positions, they were unable to pull out the team win.

Picking up singles wins for the Bulls were Nikesh Singh Panthlia at first singles, Marcelo Mazzetto at number two and Kirill Kolomytes at number three.

The Bulls (0-5) will open their home schedule tomorrow with a 5 p.m. match against Niagara at the Village Glen Tennis Center.

WOMEN’S

UB 7, Niagara 0

UB opened the 2008 dual season by sweeping Niagara, 7-0, at the Village Glen in Williamsville on Saturday. The Bulls won every match in straight sets and didn't allow their opponent to win more than three games in any set.

The Bulls took the doubles point by sweeping Niagara, 3-0. At first doubles, Denise Harijanto and Diana Popescu blanked the team of Shella Dargout and Vania Lakic, 8-0. Smaranda Stan and Diana Toia defeated Raquel Solis and Emma Cunnington, 8-3, at second doubles. In the third doubles match, Tina Jacob and Anna Subenkova downed Victoria Tiso and Kim Roberts, 8-1.

UB breezed through the singles matches as well. Andreea Novaceanu lost only one game in a 6-1, 6-0 win over Solis at first singles. Harijanto won by the same score over Vania Lakic at second singles. Popescu defeated Dargout, 6-2, 6-3, at number-three singles.

Stan finished her fine afternoon by blanking Cunnington, 6-0, 6-0, at number four singles. Jacob downed Tiso, 6-3, 6-2, at number five and freshman Aleksandra Petrova defeated Roberts at sixth singles, 6-1, 6-2.

The Bulls will host Syracuse at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Village Glen.

Soccer

MEN’S

Dan Stevens selected in MISL draft

Senior forward Dan Stevens was selected with the 43rd overall pick in the 2008 Major Indoor Soccer League college draft by the defending league champion Philadelphia KiXX. This is the second-straight season that a UB player was selected in the MISL college draft. Last season, Andrae Clarke was taken with the 21st pick, also by the Philadelphia KiXX.