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TOLEDO, OH - The University at Buffalo basketball team captured its first-ever victory over Toledo, 65-59 on Saturday evening at Savage Arena in front of a crowd of 4,565.
Following a jumper by sophomore Mitchell Watt to start the contest, Toledo (3-21, 0-10 MAC) held the lead for the entire first half. The Rockets managed to score 24 of their 38 first-half points in the paint.
Trailing by nine at 6:38 remaining in the first half, the Bulls (12-9, 5-5 MAC) managed to trim back the Rockets’ lead to just one point. Starting at 4:18, the ball would exchange hands six times until senior Rodney Pierce stroked a three off an in-bounds pass by fellow senior John Boyer to cut the Rockets’ lead to 34-31 at 1:54.
In a span of 20 seconds, Watt scored four points to chisel away at the Rockets’ lead, 36-35. With 17 seconds remaining, the Rockets recaptured their three-point lead before Watt tipped in a rebound at the buzzer to pull the Bulls within one at the break, 38-37.
In what started as a second half plagued by turnovers, Buffalo managed to take control of the lead for the second time in the contest off a pair of free throws by senior Calvin Betts, 49-48 at the 12:43-mark. Less than a minute later, the Rockets tied the contest at 51-51 off a three by the Rockets’ Jake Barnett.
After the Bulls captured the lead once again off a layup by Max Boudreau, Buffalo held the lead for the next seven minutes until the contest became tied up at 59-59 off a layup by Barnett at 4:46.
In the next minute, the Bulls and Rockets turned the ball over a combined five times with neither team finding the basket. Following a Bulls’ timeout, Pierce worked his way toward the basket, firing a shot just outside the box to give Buffalo a 61-59 lead. Pierce’s shot sealed the victory for the Bulls as Boudreau and senior Sean Smiley added a pair of free throws for the Bulls’ victory, 65-59.
Pierce led the Bulls with 16 points and four assists. Betts and Boudreau added 11 points each while Watt scored 10 points.
Toledo’s Jordan Dressler scored a game-high 19 points, combined with five rebounds. Barnett finished the night with 14 points and a game-high six rebounds.
In the first half, Toledo shot 61.5 percent compared to the Bulls’ 48.5 percent to take the lead at the break, 38-37. The second half was a different story as the Rockets shot dropped to 40 percent. Buffalo improved in the second half to shoot 52.9 percent and hit at a 50 percent clip for the game.
“I was upset with the first 25 to 28 minutes. To start, we were in a hurry offensively and scored some points, but then we opened the second half in a worried state of mind. In the final 12 to 15 minutes, we were back to a determined style of defense, which we are accustomed to,” said head coach Reggie Witherspoon.
The Bulls controlled the boards, outrebounding Toledo, 31-23. When outrebounding their opponent this season, the Bulls improve to 11-1.
Buffalo returns home on Wednesday (7 p.m.) to face Eastern Michigan whileToledo will be at Miami (7 p.m.).
Courtesy of Buffalo Athletics
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