University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Published: March 6, 2008

Basketball

MEN’S

Akron 76, UB 56

UB dropped a 76-56 decision at Akron on Saturday night.

Akron used the three-point shot to its advantage, with 13 of 20 field goals coming from beyond the arc. In the second half alone, the Zips shot 7 of 10 from long range.

UB worked the ball down low for its scoring chances and it proved successful—the Bulls outscored the Zips, 36-12, in the paint.

The Zips took a four-point halftime lead and built it to 13 with 11:42 left in the game. However, the Bulls battled back, and over the next four minutes managed to cut the lead to five. Greg Gamble scored 10 of his team-high 19 points during the run and the Bulls trailed, 54-49, with 7:59 remaining.

But Cedrick Middleton hit back-to-back three-pointers and Akron quickly regained an 11-point advantage and silenced the UB threat.

Despite the loss, there were a number of positives for the Bulls. Freshman forward Jawaan Alston played the best game of his young career with a career-high 11 points to go along with six rebounds, two blocked shots and a pair of steals in 31 minutes.

John Boyer provided solid minutes off the bench and proved to be a spark in the Bulls’ comeback effort. The sophomore point guard dished out five assists in only 14 minutes of action.

Defensively, the Bulls had eight steals—led by Sean Smiley’s career-best three—and forced 20 Akron turnovers.

WOMEN’S

UB 68, Akron 54
Bowling Green 74, UB 47

UB picked up its second-straight victory on Feb. 27, using a strong defensive performance to defeat Akron, 68-54, in Alumni Arena.

The Bulls led for most of the first half and took a 25-22 lead into the half.

They scored the first four points of the second half and built a double-digit lead for the first time on a pair of free throws from senior Heather Turner. Akron cut the lead to eight with 16:37 left in the half, but senior Stephanie Bennett scored the next five points, including her first three-pointer of the game, to put UB up by 13. The Zips cut the UB lead to nine on several occasions, but could not get any closer. The Bulls took their largest lead of the game at 61-44 on a Bennett three-pointer with 4:04 left in the game.

On Saturday, the Bulls had their two-game winning streak broken, falling to Bowling Green, 74-47, at Anderson Arena. The Falcons used a 21-2 run midway through the opening half and never trailed. The Bulls fell to 14-14 on the year and 7-8 in the MAC.

After the Falcons scored the first four points of the game, UB responded by scoring the next four on back-to-back baskets from Turner and Jamie Schiebner to tie the game. However, from there the Falcons used their big run and with 8:36 left in the half were up 25-6. UB responded with an 11-2 run and trailed by just 10 after a jumper from Jessica Fortman. Bowling Green, however, was able to end the half on a 13-1 run and take a 40-18 lead into halftime.

In the second half, a Bennett three pulled the Bulls within 15 with 15:47 left, but the Falcons responded by scoring the next 10 points to increase their lead to 25. The Bulls continued to fight, but were unable to get the deficit to less than 20 for the rest of the game.

Swimming

MEN’S

Ruske wins three MAC titles

UB finished seventh overall and third among the four Mid-American Conference schools at the combined MAC-Sun Belt Championships held in Nashville over the weekend. Missouri State won the overall competition; Eastern Michigan was the top MAC program.

Junior Zach Ruske won three individual events for the Bulls, setting a pair of records in the process and, in two events, earning the MAC title before competing in the championship race.

Ruske began the meet on Feb. 28 by setting the UB school record in the 200-yard individual medley in 1:52.43. Ruske was the fastest MAC swimmer in the event, placing 11th overall and third in the consolation final.

On Friday, Ruske earned his second MAC title of the meet before even hitting the water, as he was the lone league racer in the championship heat of the 100-yard backstroke. He finished eighth overall in 51.62. Ruske qualified fifth overall in a lifetime-best 50.78; no other MAC swimmer qualified higher than 10th in the event.

On Saturday, he completed the trifecta with a record-setting finish in the 200-yard backstroke. Again, Ruske earned the MAC title before even competing in the championship race as the lone MAC racer to reach the championship final. He turned in a then-lifetime-best swim of 1:48.95 in the preliminaries, the third-fastest among all entrants. In the championship race, Ruske placed third and set a UB school record in finishing in 1:48.50.

Sophomore Michael McDowell earned a third-place finish on the one-meter diving board and a fifth-place finish on the three-meter springboard.

Sophomore Scott Woster set a UB school record in the 200-yard butterfly with his 1:50.81 clocking in the consolation final of the race to finish second and 10th overall. Woster also raced in the 100-yard butterfly consolation, setting a season-best 50.29 in the preliminaries.

Indoor Track and Field

Villa wins women’s shot put title at MAC Championships

The men’s and women’s track-and-field teams competed at the 2008 MAC Championships over the weekend. The UB women finished in sixth place, scoring 50.50 points while the men ended up tied for fourth place with 47 points. Akron won the women’s competition with 106 points, while Eastern Michigan took the men’s crown with 207 points.

Tina Villa continued her outstanding season, claiming the MAC championship in the shot put with an NCAA provisional mark and personal best distance of 15.59m.

Mary Veith also had a solid showing, claiming third place in the mile run (5:00.36) and fourth place in the 3000-meter run (10:00.49).

In the 60-meter hurdles, Patrice Coney set a new school record in the event, finishing sixth with a time of 8.60.

Other scorers on the women’s side included Lataya Dixon, who placed third place in the high jump (1.68m), and Jessica Cooper, who claimed eighth place in the triple jump (11.45m).

On the men’s side, Ezekiel Porter had an excellent showing in the 60-meter dash, taking second place with a season-best time of 6.86. Porter also earned points for the Bulls in the 200-meter dash, placing sixth (22.16).

Other point-scorers included Dan Giza, who placed fourth in the 3000-meter run; Ryan Zillmann, who ran a personal best in the 800-meter run to finish second in 1:54.78; and Jamal Norward, who took fifth place in the 60-meter hurdles. Loic Sebuharara placed fifth in the triple jump and Eugene Kennedy took fifth place in the high jump (2.04m).

Three UB athletes earned All-MAC honors. Villa was named to the first team, while Coney and Porter earned second-team honors.

A handful of Bulls athletes will participate in the ECAC/IC4A Championships in Boston this weekend.

Tennis

WOMEN’S

Temple 5, UB 2
UB 4, Army 3

UB earned a split of its weekend matches, defeating Army in dramatic fashion, 4-3, but falling just short in a highly contested match against Temple, 5-2. The Bulls are now 4-2 on the season.

The Bulls began their two-match set against Temple on Saturday afternoon and started things off by taking the doubles point. The number-one team of Denise Harijanto and Diana Popescu won its match over Lucie Pazederova and Theresa Stangl, 9-7. UB’s senior duo of Andreea Novaceanu and Tina Jacob won its match at number-three doubles, 8-3, over Anastaiisa Rukavyshnykova and Josephine Bergman.

In singles play, junior Smaranda Stan picked up the only victory for the Bulls, winning at fourth singles, 6-4, 6-1, over Rukavyshnykova. UB fought hard in each match—each of the first three singles matches was decided in three sets.

In the Sunday match, UB and the host Black Knights were locked in a 3-3 duel with just the number-one singles match to be completed. Novaceanu prevailed, winning a three-set thriller over Anne Houghton, 4-6, 6-4, 7-5.

The Bulls will head to Florida for spring break matches.

Baseball

Morehead State 3, UB 2
Morehead State 7, UB 6 (9)
Morehead State 5, UB 1
UB 10, Morehead State 3

UB dropped two one-run contests at Morehead State on Saturday, falling in game one, 3-2, and in game two, 7-6.

Morehead State got off to a quick lead in game one with two runs in the bottom of the first off Buffalo starter Zach Anderson, who threw a complete game in the seven-inning contest. But the Bulls battled back, scoring single runs in the third and sixth innings to tie the score at 2-2. Jacob Rosenbeck and Rick Oliveri each drove in a run for UB. Oliveri was 2-for-2 with a walk and a run scored in game one.

The Eagles regained the lead in the bottom of the sixth with a run on a pair of doubles. That run proved to be the difference as Morehead State took game one, 3-2.

In the second game of the day, UB trailed 5-2 going into the seventh—and final—inning before pushing across four runs in the top of the inning to take a 6-5 lead. After neither team scored in the eighth, Morehead State's J.D. Ashbrook scored on a UB throwing error with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to complete the sweep.

On Sunday, the Bulls secured their first win of the season with a 10-3 victory in the second game of a doubleheader against the Eagles. UB hit five home runs in the contest—matching its total from the entire 2007 season. Rosenbeck led the way with a pair of round-trippers.

UB fell in the first game of the day, 5-1. The Bulls are now 1-6 on the year.

UB will return to action tomorrow when they open play against New York Tech in the Lamar Classic.

Softball

UB vs. Morehead State, canceled, rain
UB 11, Marshall 6
Wright State 9, UB 4
Eastern Illinois 9, UB 1
Connecticut 11, UB 3

UB picked up its first win of the season, defeating former MAC foe Marshall, 11-6 in the first game of the 2008 Frost Classic at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga.

Freshman Stephanie Visperas picked up her first collegiate win on the mound for UB, throwing the complete game and striking out two.

After a scoreless first, the Bulls tacked one on the board in the bottom of the second inning on a Sharon Barr homer to left-center field. Marshall tied the game in the third, but UB’s bats came alive. The Bulls tallied 10 runs over the next three innings, highlighted by Mary Russell’s two-run homer in the fourth inning.

In the nightcap, UB dropped a hard-fought contest to Wright State, 9-4. Barr pitched the complete game for the Bulls, finishing with five strikeouts. She also had a hot bat, knocking in three runs, while Russell, Ashley Kanavy and Candice Sheehan each recorded a hit in the game.

The Bulls were upended in both of Sunday’s contests, falling to Eastern Illinois, 9-1, and suffering an 11-3 setback to Connecticut.

Against EIU, Russell continued to lead UB at the plate. The senior belted her second homer of the weekend, which proved to be the only run the Bulls scored in the game.

In the second game of the day against Connecticut, Russell showcased more offensive flair, finishing the game 2 for 3 with one RBI.

UB returns to action tomorrow at the UC-Riverside tournament.