BUFFALO, NY – The University at Buffalo men's basketball
team won its fourth straight game, 64-51, over Bowling Green at
Alumni Arena on Wednesday night. The Bulls drained 10
three-pointers to help break the Falcons' aggressive zone
defense.
Rodney Pierce and Sean Smiley each hit four three-pointers for the
Bulls. Pierce finished with 18 points and added six assists. Smiley
added 14 points in 27 minutes off the bench.
Bowling Green (13-12, 6-7 MAC) took a 13-12 lead midway through the
first half before the Bulls made a run. Buffalo outscored the
Falcons, 19-3 over the next seven minutes and a Smiley three gave
the Bulls a 31-16 lead with 3:58 left in the half. The Bulls
extended their lead to 17 on a three-pointer by Pierce before
settling for a 35-20 lead at the break.
Bowling Green opened the second half on a 14-2 scoring run to
quickly slash the UB lead to three points. However, UB hit
three-pointers on each of its next four possessions to extend its
lead to 49-38 with 10:29 remaining.
The Bulls (15-9, 8-5 MAC) held a 56-46 lead with 3:49 left when Max Boudreau scored on a conventional three-point play to push the lead
the 13. The senior forward scored the Bulls' final nine points of
the game and finished the night with 12 points.
John Boyer finished with six points, four rebounds, four assists
and a pair of steals. Buffalo's bench outscored the BG reserves,
30-4, as all nine UB players scored in the game.
Scott Thomas led Bowling Green with 21 points.
"We moved the ball well enough that our offense came to us," head
coach Reggie Witherspoon said. "We started the second half in a
funk. But I thought we responded well to them making a run at us.
We got away from what we were previously doing defensively, so we
have to get back to doing a better job."
Buffalo will take a break from conference play and travel to St.
Peter's for a Bracket Buster matchup with the Peacocks on Saturday.
Tipoff is scheduled for 2:00 pm.