 CLEVELAND – When the Bulls and Golden Flashes hooked up last week, Buffalo let one get away. Thursday afternoon at the MAC tournament, the Bulls turned the tables on Kent State.
Buffalo (20-10) did not let this one slip from its grasp as the Bulls made seven of nine free throws in the final 1:51 of regulation to defeat Kent State (19-14) 65-62 in the quarterfinal of the 2009 MAC Tournament at Quicken Loans Arena.
The win sends the Bulls into the semifinals for the second time in their history where they will face the Ball State Cardinals who defeated Central Michigan 64-61 in overtime in the first quarterfinal game of the session earlier Thursday.
It will be Buffalo's first trip to the semifinals since 2005 when the Bulls defeated Western Michigan only to lose to the Ohio Bobcats in the Championship Game in overtime.
“It was a hard fought game…This was a slugfest … they threw some haymakers at us and our players persevered, Buffalo head coach Reggie Witherspoon said after the game.
Junior Max Boudreau came off the bench to lead the Bulls with 13 points tying his season high while Calvin Betts added 11 and 18 rebounds and Titus Robinson had 10.
“It was really a matter of confidence. Today my shot felt good. I wasn’t trying to think about the last game … just go out there and have fun,” Betts remarked.
Chris Singletary, who returned to the starting lineup after being suspended for the first round game against Northern Illinois for his punch on Akron’s Nate Linhart on Sunday led the Flashes with 13 points before fouling out with 4:37 remaining in the game.
Tyree Evans came off the bench to score 11 and Jordan Mincy added 10 for Kent State.
The Bulls opened an early seven-point lead 12-5 at the 16:24 mark on a three by Betts and opened their largest lead of the half, 25-15 at the 6:30 mark on a three by Titus Robinson.
Kent State however ended the half on an 11-2 run to make it a 31-30 contest at halftime.
The Golden Flashes continued their run at the start of the second half and took their first lead of the game 37-36 with 17:22 remaining on two Anthony Simpson free throws.
The Flashes then opened up a pair of three-point leads the last being 42-39 at the13:56 mark on a Simpson layup.
Buffalo responded with four straight points to regain the lead 43-42 with 11:58 remaining on a jumper by Boudreau.
Kent State again pushed the lead out to three at 48-45 with 10:00 remaining on two Mike McKee free throws.
The two teams then traded the lead before Buffalo went on a 7-1 spurt to take the lead for good 59-54 with 2:12 remaining on a Boudreau layup.
Kent State closed the lead to two in the final moments 64-62 on two Jordan Mincy free throws but the Bulls made their free throws down the stretch.
The Flashes still had a chance to tie the game and send it to overtime but the Bulls made a great defensive play when Andy Robinson knocked the ball off Al Fisher’s leg, giving the Bulls possession, securing the victory.
Pending a chance to play in post-season play, the Flashes run of at least 20 wins in 11 consecutive seasons came to an end with the loss to the Bulls.
“They out toughed us down the stretch,” head Coach Geno Ford lamented.
“We had out chances but it was hard down the strech. Full credit to Buffalo they played hard” Ford added.
It was Kent State's earliest exit from the MAC Tournament since 2005 when the Flashes lost to Ohio in the quarterfinals.
NOTES: Was just the second meeting between the two schools in MAC Tournament play (Kent State beat UB in the quarterfinals in 2006 76-67)…The 20 wins are the second most in school history…Their third seed in this tournament is the highest ever for the Bulls in MAC Tournament history…Calvin Betts-UB has double digits in three of his last four games…Andy Robinson-UB passed the 1000 point total of his career gthis afternoon with five points rhe 15th player in Bulls history to reach that plateau…UB Head Coach Reggie Witherspoon is 6-9 lifetime in MAC Tournament play…5-17 lifetime against Kent State..2-1 against head coach Geno Ford…The Buffalo players are wearing a patch with the number 3407 on it which was the number of the Continental Airlines plane that crashed on February 12th in the Buffalo Suburb of Clarence Center. According to UB Media Relations, 11 people with ties to the University lost their lives in the crash…Kent State is 9-2 in MAC quarterfinal play…30-22 in their all-time MAC Tournament games….Tyree Evans-KSU three pointer in the first half gave the Flashes at least on three in 328 consecutive games...Jordan Mincy-KSU played his last MAC game. His 134th overall a MAC record and his 134 consecutive starts a Kent State record…His 341 career assists in seven all-time at KSU…The loss was the Flashes first against the MAC West since February 2, 2008 at Toledo 59-56 and their first to the West in MAC Tournament play since the 2004 Championship Game to Western Michigan 77-66…Kent State is 18-6 lifetime in MAC Tournament play at Quicken Loans Arena…Kent State head coach Geno Ford is 1-1 in MAC Tournament play and 1-2 lifetime against Buffalo and Reggie Witherspoon.
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