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Bulls Down Western Michigan, 73-62

Andrew Atman

Buffalo (12-3, 2-2 MAC) got off to a sluggish start and fell behind, 23-13, with 9:36 left in the first half. However, UB woke up over the latter stages of the opening stanza and with the help of five three-pointers, closed the half on a 17-2 scoring run to take a 30-25 lead at the break.

Western Michigan (4-10, 1-3 MAC) opened the second half on an 8-2 run to take a 32-31 lead with 17:44 remaining. With the score tied at 37, a lay-up by Andy Robinson (Schenectady, NY/Schenectady) gave the Bulls the lead for good with 14:47 left. Robinson contributed at both ends of the floor for the Bulls. With Buffalo ahead 43-39, Robinson came up with a steal and went in for a lay-up to give the Bulls a six-point lead. Later, Robinson blocked a lay-up attempt by Derek Fracalossi that led to a Roderick Middleton (University Park, IL/Marian Catholic) three-pointer to give the Bulls a 48-39 lead with 11:43 remaining. Robinson finished the night with four points, five rebounds, an assist, a block and two steals in a career-high 27 minutes.

The Broncos didn't go away quietly and cut the lead to 48-47 with 9:27 remaining. But with 10 points by Yassin Idbihi (Tangier, Morocco/Schloss Hagerhof) and nine points by Calvin Cage (Capitol Heights, MD/Bladensburg) the duo combined to score 19 of the Bulls' final 25 points to hold off the Broncos.

Andy Robinson

Idbihi and Cage shared team-high scoring honors with 17 points apiece. Middleton and Mario Jordan (Cleveland, OH/Benedictine) also reached double-figures in the scoring column with 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Buffalo outrebounded Western Michigan, 34-30. UB was led by Idbihi who pulled down eight rebounds.

Western Michigan was led by Joe Reitz who scored 17 points and pulled down five rebounds. Fracalossi added 15 points for the Broncos.

"I think we got some pretty good pressure on them," head coach Reggie Witherspoon said. "We finally got some ball movement and some player movement and we came out with the win."

Buffalo will next host Ball State on Wednesday night at Alumni Arena. Tip-off is slated for 7:00 pm.