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The University at Buffalo Bulls completed a season sweep of Mid-Continent Conference foe Southern Utah Wednesday night with a 57-48 win in Alumni Arena. Both the Bulls and the Thunderbirds shot struggled from the floor, hitting for a combined 39-of-112 field goals (34.8%), including a dismal 22.6% (7-of-31) from behind the arc.

The Thunderbirds (5-14/2-7) got off to a fast start, jumping out to a 6-0 lead while holding UB without a field goal for over four minutes until senior Scott McMillin (Wichita, KS/Bishop Carroll) scored on a layup at the 15:42 mark. That triggered a 12-3 Bulls' run which knotted the score at 12-12 on a Rasaun Young (New Rochelle, NY/New Rochelle) driving layup with 12 minutes remaining in the half. Young led all scorers with 19 points - 10 in the first half. Tied again at 20 with under five minutes to play, the Bulls scored the final six of the half, led by two Zaid Alkhas' (Amman, Jordan/Islamik Collegiate) layups, for a 26-20 lead at the break. Southern Utah converted on only 8 of their 30 field goals (26.7%), while UB shot 35.7% (10-of-28) from the floor, including an ice-cold 1-of-10 from three-point range.

The second half started off much like the first with Southern Utah going on a 6-0 run, powered by two Kenyatta Clyde jumpers, tying the score at 28-28 three minutes in. The Thunderbirds capitalized on their momentum to take a 40-34 lead on a Clyde jumper with 10:35 left in the game. Alkhas continued his strong play from the first half however, scoring eight points while grabbing seven rebounds after the break, and ignited an 8-0 Bulls' run that saw them take a 44-40 lead with 4:45 left to play. Southern Utah tried to rally late, but the Bulls were able to hit their free throws and several key baskets down the stretch to preserve the win. Jason Essex led the Thunderbirds with 12 points and six rebounds, while Clyde had 11 points and 11 rebounds in the losing cause.

The Bulls (11-8/7-3) hit the road for a conference game on Saturday (1/31) at Oral Roberts before returning home for a three-game homestand beginning on Tuesday (2/3) when they host the University of Rochester in Alumni Arena.

SOUTHERN UTAH (48)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Felton          32   3-7   2-2   1-8  1  3    9
Essex           33  5-12   0-0   4-6  2  4   12
Clyde           37  4-18   3-4  5-11  0  3   11
Monaco          33  3-10   0-0   1-3  3  2    7
Osborne         24   1-5   0-0   0-3  3  1    3
Ellis           25   1-3   0-0   0-1  4  0    2
Mckee            6   1-1   2-2   1-2  0  2    4
Williams         9   0-0   0-0   0-2  0  3    0
Bailey           1   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 18-56   7-8 12-36 13 18   48
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Percentages: FG-.321, FT-.875. 3-Point Goals:
5-16, .313 (Felton 1-2, Essex 2-5, Monaco 1-6,
Osborne 1-3). Team rebounds: 3. Blocked shots: 7
(Felton 2, Monaco, Osborne, Clyde, Essex, Mckee).
Turnovers: 16 (Osborne 4, Williams 4, Essex 3,
Monaco 2, Clyde, Ellis, Felton). Steals: 5
(Felton 2, Ellis, Essex, Williams).

BUFFALO (57)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Kleidon         18   0-5   2-2   1-1  2  0    2
Mcmillen        26   4-6   1-1   1-4  1  1   10
Alexeev         25   1-7   0-0   1-3  2  2    2
Martinho        38   2-9   0-0   1-4  4  1    5
Clemens         31   2-8   3-4   2-6  2  3    7
Alkhas          20   5-6   2-5   2-8  0  3   12
Young           36  7-13   5-7   1-7  4  0   19
Libomi           2   0-1   0-0   1-1  0  0    0
Gustafsson       4   0-1   0-0   0-0  0  1    0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 21-56 13-19 10-34 15 11   57
_______________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.375, FT-.684. 3-Point Goals:
2-15, .133 (Kleidon 0-2, Mcmillen 1-1, Alexeev
0-1, Martinho 1-7, Clemens 0-3, Young 0-1). Team
rebounds: 4. Blocked shots: 7 (Alexeev 3, Alkhas
2, Martinho, Clemens). Turnovers: 11 (Martinho 4,
Young 2, Alexeev, Gustafsson, Libomi, Mcmillen).
Steals: 9 (Young 4, Martinho 3, Clemens,
Mcmillen).
__________________________________
Southern Utah      20   28  -   48
Buffalo            26   31  -   57
__________________________________
Technical fouls: None.  A: 1,033. Officials: Fran
Connolly, Tom Grzywinski, Michael Nagorsk.