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DeKalb, IL - The University at Buffalo Bulls (7-6, 2-1 MAC) lost its first Mid-American Conference game of the season on Saturday afternoon, falling 72-70 to Northern Illinois (4-7, 1-2) at the Chick Evans Field House in DeKalb, Illinois.

The Bulls, who were off to a 2-0 start in the MAC after a pair of 19 point victories over both Akron and Eastern Michigan, held the lead for the majority of the second half and were up by as much as 11 points but Northern Illinois outscored the Bulls 16-6 in the final six-and-a-half minutes to steal the victory.

Louis Campbell

A Northern Illinois layup with 2:05 remaining tied the game at 67-67. The Huskies then hit a pair of free throws to take their first lead since holding a three-point advantage two minutes into the second half. Buffalo senior Louis Campbell (Rahway, NJ/Rahway) then converted the first of his two free throws before taking advantage of a Northern Illinois turnover by hitting 10-foot fallaway jumper with 12.1 seconds left to put Buffalo up 70-69. However, with both teams out of timeouts, the Huskies went the length of the floor with time winding down and Leon Rodgers hit a 10-footer left of the lane leaving just 2.8 second on the clock. Buffalo then turned the ball over with 0.9 seconds left and immediately fouled Rodgers, who made the second of his two attempts before the Bulls inserted the football team's backup quarterback in junior Adam Johnson (Alta Loma, Ca/Etwanda) to heave a desperation pass but the pass was intercepted by Rodgers to end the game.

"It's a tough way to lose," said Buffalo coach Reggie Witherspoon. "He (Rodgers, NIU's leading scorer at 20.3 ppg coming in) made a great shot. You've got to give him credit. We had him away from the block where he's been tremendous, on film he has shown us he was one of the best block players we have seen. We were able to limit his rebounds and points on the block for most of the game."

Buffalo began the game with a three-pointer by Campbell and held a 12-8 lead five minutes into the game before Northern Illinois tied it up and led for all but :52 of the of the rest of the half and took a 34-33 lead into the break with a layup as time expired.

The Bulls tied the game at 38-38 early in the second half and went up by 11 points with a 15-4 run behind three-straight three-pointers. Freshman Turner Battle (Kernersville, NC/East Forsyth) knocked down the first trifecta and senior leading-scorer Darcel Williams (Buffalo, NY/Traditional), who was slowed by foul trouble and played just four minutes in the first half, drained the next two.

Campbell led all scorers with 17 points, while Darcel Williams - 14 points, senior Robert Brown (Detroit, MI/Oak Park) - 12 points, and freshman Daniel Gilbert (Detroit, MI/Cass Technical) - 10 points, also finished in double figure scoring. Buffalo shot 34% (21-of-61) for the game and 76.9% (20-of-26) from the line. As a team, the Bulls outrebounded Northern Illinois, 33-32, while grabbing 18 offensive boards to NIU's six. NIU won the turnover battle, 13-18.

The Bulls will return home to host Kent State on Wednesday, January 9, at 7 p.m.