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Akron Hands Buffalo First Home Loss

Calvin Betts

Calvin Betts (Rochester, NY/Rush-Henrietta) scored a career-high 17 points and added eight rebounds, two assists, two steals and a blocked shot to lead UB. Andy Robinson (Schenectady, NY/Schenectady) added 14 points and tied a career high with five assists. Rodney Pierce (Buffalo, NY/Hutch Tech) had 13 points and four assists.

Vadim Fedotov (Munich, Germany/Schloss Hagerhof) nailed a jumper to put the Bulls ahead, 16-11, with 13:24 left in the first half. However, the Zips rattled off 14 unanswered points to take the lead for good, 25-16. The Bulls trailed 35-29 at the half.

Akron (12-3/2-0 MAC) held an 11-point advantage, its largest of the night, with 7:12 left in the game. But the Bulls mounted a 10-2 scoring run, capped by a Robinson trey, that cut the Akron lead to 60-57 with 4:24 remaining.

Following a pair of Akron free throws, Greg Gamble (Niagara Falls, NY/Niagara Falls) hit an acrobatic layup to again cut the deficit to three with 3:32 left. However, the Bulls would get no closer as the Zips iced the game on the free throw line.

Buffalo (6-8, 0-2 MAC) shot 42 percent from the floor compared to 40 percent for the Zips and outrebounded Akron, 41-37. However, the Zips held an overwhelming edge at the free throw line, connecting on 28-of-31 free throw attempts, compared to 5-of-9 shooting for the Bulls.

The Zips were led by Jeremiah Wood who scored 16 points and Cedrick Middleton, the brother of former UB player Roderick Middleton, added 15 points.

Akron was able to convert 18 UB turnovers into 19 points and scored 14 second chance points.

"We have got to find some determination around the basket," head coach Reggie Witherspoon said. "We have got to get more than nine free throws and we have to get stronger around the basket. Some elements of what we need are there, otherwise we wouldn't have outrebounded them. But not enough of it is there."

The Bulls will next head back out on the road and play at Bowling Green on Thursday night.