BULLS NEWS

UB Enjoying A Successful December

Turner Gill

Gill comes to Buffalo after spending one season in the NFL with the Green Bay Packers. Gill has been an assistant at Nebraska during three national title seasons and was a finalist in the 1983 Heisman Trophy voting when he was quarterback for the Huskers.

In his seventh season as coach of the men's basketball team, Reggie Witherspoon is in the middle of his best start at 9-1. The Bulls are a perfect 4-0 in December with victories over Niagara, Liberty, Rutgers and Elon. The 9-1 start is tied for the team's best since the 1958-59 season when it also started 9-1.

Calvin Cage

The Bulls are led by senior Calvin Cage (Capitol Heights, MD/Bladensburg), who in the four December games is averaging 17.5 points and for the season is averaging 16.8. Cage is currently 27th in the nation in three-point field goal percentage, hitting 47.3 of his shots from behind the arc. The Bulls, who have been receiving votes in the national polls for the first time in their history, are relying on the senior leadership of Cage, Roderick Middleton (University Park, IL/Marian Catholic) and Mario Jordan (Cleveland, OH/Benedictine), plus preseason All-MAC selection Yassin Idbihi (Tangier, Morocco/Schloss Hagerhof). The Bulls have also gotten strong play from Parnell Smith (Indianapolis, IN/Pike), who prior to 2005-06 season was averaging just 1.9 point per game. This season, Smith is currently third on the team recording 11.7 points per game and leads the team with nine blocks on the year. Smith is also 29th in the country in overall field goal percentage, draining 61.5 percent of his shots.

The Bulls close out their December, and non-conference play, with a trip to Delaware State on Friday, December 30 at 7 p.m.

The women's side of UB hoops has also seen progress and the team is 4-4 on the season after a 3-1 start to December. The Bulls are led by Linda Hill-MacDonald, who is in her first season at UB. The Bulls were in the midst of a four-game winning streak before an 82-80 overtime setback on Tuesday night. Buffalo has capped off December with two MAC East Players of the Week. Senior Brooke Meunier (Saginaw, MI/Heritage), who leads the team with 15.0 points per game, began the month by winning the award on Dec. 4, while reigning MAC Freshman of the Year Heather Turner (West Seneca, NY/Mount Mercy Academy) won the award on Dec. 19 following a 7-of-7 shooting performance against Northeastern.

Heather Turner

In the victory against Northeastern, the Bulls shot an unconscious 68.8 percent, earning them the top single-game shooting performance in the nation. Turner is currently ninth in the nation in field goal percentage as she is shooting 63.6 percent from the field.

Sophomore Stephanie Bennett (Springfield, OH/Kenton Ridge) has also had a big December, which included her career-high nine assist performance against Northeastern. However, the biggest surprise for the Bulls has been the play of their freshmen. Jamie Schiebner (Saginaw, MI/Heritage) has started the last seven games for the Bulls and is currently second on the team in rebounding, pulling down 7.5 boards per game. She also chips in 6.1 points per game which is fifth on the team. Schiebner notched her career-high against Northeastern with 12 points. Rachelle Matthys (St. Clair, MI/St. Clair) has started to come on as of late and after notching a career-high 12 points against Northeastern, she shattered that with a 19-point performance against Oakland. On the season, Matthys is averaging 7.1 points per game.

However, December is far from over for the University at Buffalo women's basketball team. The Bulls return to Alumni Arena on Wednesday, December 28 for a 5 p.m. tip off against Bucknell. The Bulls will then travel down to San Antonio for the UTSA Wells Fargo Classic, where they will play Texas-San Antonio (Dec. 30) and Tulsa (Dec.31) to finish non-conference play and the 2005 calender year.

It isn't all hoops at UB right now as one of the hottest teams is the UB wrestling team. The Bulls are 5-1 on the season, including 2-1 in December. In addition to the three dual meets, the Bulls also had a 16th place finish at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, which is a school best. The Bulls are led by 2004 All-American Kyle Cerminara (Lewiston, NY/Lewiston-Porter) who has started the season 22-0 and is just three dual meet wins shy of breaking the consecutive victories record. Cerminara was also the first UB wrestler to earn a first place finish at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational.

Kyle Cerminara

Joining Cerminara with perfect 6-0 dual meet marks are Mark Budd (Orrville,OH/Orrville), Mickey Moran (Pittsburgh, PA/Shaler Area) and Harold Sherrell (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool). As for Budd, one of his victories came in the Bulls lone loss on the season to Edinboro. He defeated Shawn Bunch, the 2005 national runner-up and top-ranked wrestler at 133 lbs.

The Bulls have dominated the MAC Wrestler of the Week category, winning four weeks in a row, including two of the three selections in December. Cerminara won the award two weeks in a row, while Budd picked it up after his victory against Bunch. Moran was the first UB wrestler to receive the award after an impressive three wins in the Bulls quad meet with Findlay, Gardner-Webb and Bloomsburg.

Like the men's basketball team, the UB wrestling team earned national recognition receiving votes in the USA Today/NWCA/InterMat poll for the first time this season.

The Bulls have one date left in 2005 and that is when they host the UB Open on Saturday, December 30 which begins at 10 a.m.

While the season is still young all three programs have made tremendous strides to begin their respective seasons and they all look to keep it up when they bring in 2006 with the beginning of Mid-American Conference action.