University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Published: February 21, 2008

Basketball

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Ball State 76, UB 67
Miami (OH) 64, UB 55

Ball State came into Alumni Arena on Feb. 13 and shot 57 percent from the floor to hand UB a 76-67 loss and snap the Bulls' two-game winning streak.

Ball State was quick to jump on a sluggish UB squad, taking a 19-9 lead midway through the first half. The Cardinals’ lead hovered around 10 points for much of the first half before they settled for a 40-29 lead at the break.

UB came out with a jump in its step to open the second half and collected three straight steals that led to transition baskets. An offensive rebound and putback by Kambi Laleye cut the Ball State lead to 40-37 only two minutes into the second half.

However, the Cardinals responded with a 17-4 scoring run to take their largest lead of the game, 57-41, with 12:39 left. The Bulls rattled off nine unanswered points, capped by a steal and layup by Rodney Pierce, to cut the lead to seven with 9:24 remaining.

After a Calvin Betts jumper made the score 59-52 with 7:18 left, Ball State made its next five shots to extend its lead to 12. The Bulls made one last run and cut the lead to six with 59 seconds left on an Andy Robinson three-pointer. However, that was as close as the Bulls could get.

On Saturday, the Bulls dropped a 64-55 decision to Miami (OH) in Alumni Arena. The RedHawks shot 52 percent from the field, including 61 percent in the first half to pull away for the victory.

UB (8-16, 2-10 MAC) got off to a good start and a three-pointer by Sean Smiley gave the Bulls a 15-11 lead with 12 minutes left in the first half. Robinson hit a layup to put the Bulls up 23-19. However, the RedHawks closed the half on a 15-5 scoring run to take a 34-28 lead at the break.

The Bulls' shooting woes continued into the second half as they scored only one field goal in the first 10 minutes of the second stanza, including a number of missed shots in the paint. Miami capitalized and built its lead to as many as 20 points.

WOMEN’S

Western Michigan 73, UB 67
Central Michigan 80, UB 57

UB dropped a tight game to Western Michigan on Feb. 13, falling to the host Broncos, 73-67. The Bulls had two players score 20 points on the night, but WMU won the battle at the free-throw line to seal the game.

The Bulls got off to a quick start, with senior Heather Turner scoring the first six points for the Bulls. The game was tight for much of the first half, with the score tied four times during the first eight minutes of play. Tied at 14, the Bulls scored five straight points, capped off by a Stephanie Bennett three, and took their largest lead of the game, 19-14. The Bulls held on to the lead until a WMU three-pointer at the 4:19 mark gave the Broncos their first lead of the game. A layup by Turner with 1:28 left gave UB the lead back, but it would be the Bulls' final lead of the night. Western Michigan took a three-point lead into the half.

The Broncos opened the second half by scoring the first five points to jump out to an eight-point lead. The lead grew to as many as 10 with 10:43 left before the Bulls tried to mount a comeback. Bennett and junior Jamie Schiebner hit back-to-back threes to pull the Bulls within four, but Western Michigan answered with four quick points of its own. Schiebner hit another three late in the half to pull the Bulls within five, but the Broncos answered with a jumper. Bennett drilled a three of her own to get UB within four with 35 seconds left, but they could get no closer.

Turner and Schiebner led the way for the Bulls with 20 points apiece. Schiebner’s 20 pointes were a career high and she added a game-high 10 rebounds to complete the double-double. Turner fell just short of the double-double, finishing with nine rebounds on the night. Bennett finished the evening with 11 points, and her two rebounds put her over 400 rebounds for her career, making her the first player in school history to record 1,000 career points, 400 career assists and 400 career rebounds.

On Saturday, the Bulls ran into a hot-shooting Central Michigan squad and fell to the Chippewas, 80-57, in Alumni Arena. CMU converted on 13 of 25 from behind the arc and scored 50 second-half points to defeat the Bulls. The loss evened UB’s record at 12-12 and dropped the Bulls to 5-6 in the MAC.

UB got off to a quick start, scoring the first eight points of the contest. However, the 8-0 advantage would be UB’s largest of the game as Central Michigan fought back by going on a 7-0 run of its own. UB did see its lead reach eight on one more occasion—at 24-16 lead at the 6:41 mark of the first half—but CMU responded with a 9-0 run to take the lead. The two teams went into the half tied at 30-30.

The second half was all Central Michigan, as it outscored UB 50-27.

The Bulls were led by 19 points from freshman Jessica Fortman, who just missed a double-double with nine rebounds. Turner had 12 points and nine rebounds in the contest. Bennett rounded out the double-figure scorers with 12 points.

With its game against CMU completed, the Bulls have finished their six-game swing with teams in the MAC West and will move back to the MAC East for their final five regular-season games.

Wrestling

Edinboro 37, UB 3

Mickey Moran scored a 3-1 overtime victory over 16th-ranked Chris Honeycutt, but it wasn’t enough as UB fell at 14th-ranked Edinboro, 37-3, on Friday. The Bulls now stand at 8-7-1 on the season.

Moran’s victory was a bright spot in an otherwise difficult night for the Bulls, as UB lost the other nine matches in the dual, with four of those losses coming to nationally ranked wrestlers.

Edinboro opened up the dual with two major-decision victories and a pinfall within the first three matches, giving the Fighting Scots an early 14-0 advantage. The Scots’ lead reached 17-0 with Daryl Cocozzo’s 10-5 decision victory over Ryan Needle at 149 pounds.

In the fifth match of the evening, John Cummings was paired against Gregor Gillespie, the nation’s top-ranked 157-pound wrestler and defending national champion. Gillespie won the bout by technical fall, 18-0.

Edinboro followed with two more nationally ranked wrestlers at 165 and 174 pounds. At 165, 15th-ranked Jarrod King earned a victory over Scott Rendos, who was forced to injury default at 6:16. Edinboro’s Phil Moricone, the 18th-ranked wrestler in the nation at 174 pounds, then won a tight 3-0 decision over Mike Ragusa.

Moran then earned the lone win of the night for UB when he took down Honeycutt, the nation’s 16th-ranked 184-pounder. Moran and Honeycutt battled to a 1-1 score through regulation time, as each earned an escape point. But in the overtime, Moran scored a takedown with 25 seconds remaining to score the upset win. The victory improved Moran’s record to 29-7 on the season.

Edinboro’s Pat Bradshaw answered with a tight 4-3 decision over Jimmy Hamel at 197 pounds and 19th-ranked Joey Fendone finished the dual with a 3-0 victory for Edinboro over Jeff Parker.

UB host its final home dual of the season against in-state rival Binghamton at 1 p.m. on Sunday.

Tennis

MEN’S

UB 5, Colgate 2

UB scored a 5-2 victory over Colgate University on Saturday afternoon. The Bulls are now 2-6 in dual-meet competition.

The Bulls claimed the doubles point to open the match with victories in the number-one and number-two matches. In the number-one match, Marcello Mazzetto and Nikesh Singh Panthlia knocked off Martin MacIntyre and Tyler Deck, 8-6. In the number-two match, Kirill Kolomytes and Juan Carlos Wynter defeated John Nogueras and Michael Yassky, 9-7.

Colgate's Phil Bernasek and Rusian Goussiantnikov prevented a UB sweep taking the number-three match from Alexis Lluis and Octavian Stane, 8-6.

The Bulls then scored the necessary three points to clinch the match as Singh Panthlia, Kolomytes and Stane all won in straight sets. Singh Panthlia, at number two, downed Deck, 6-4, 6-4. Kolomytes, at number three, defeated Nogueras, 6-2, 6-0. Stane, at number four, knocked off Bernasek, 6-1, 7-5.

The Bulls will host Manhattan at 5 p.m. tomorrow and MAC rival Toledo at 1 p.m. on Sunday. Both matches will be played in the Village Glen Tennis Center in Williamsville.

WOMEN’S

Princeton 5, UB 2

UB took to the road for the first time this spring, dropping its first dual match of the season to the Princeton Tigers, 5-2, on Sunday. The loss drops UB to 2-1 on the season.

For the first time this season, UB dropped the doubles point as the senior duo of Andreea Novaceanu and Tina Jacob picked up the only doubles victory at third doubles, scoring an 8-5 victory over Sarah Hoffman and Kristen Scott. The Bulls put up a valiant fight in the other two matches, but fell 8-4 and 8-6.

In singles play, the Bulls took two of the six matches, winning both in three sets. At third singles, freshman Diana Popescu won over Rebecca Parks, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. Popescu remains the UB leader in singles victories this year. In fourth singles, junior Smaranda Stan defeated Sarah Huah, 6-3, 6-7 (8), 1-0 (9).

The Bulls will remain on the road tomorrow as they head to St. Bonaventure for a match against the Bonnies.