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HUNTINGTON, WV ­ The University at Buffalo posted the biggest road win in its Mid-American Conference history Saturday night with a come-from-behind, 82-78, victory at Marshall before 5,025 at Cam Henderson Arena.

Buffalo did it the hard way, overcoming a 16-point first-half deficit and some rough free throw shooting down the stretch to hand the Thundering Herd just its third loss in the conference at home in the past two years.

Buffalo got another huge performance from senior

Darcel Williams

Darcel Williams (Buffalo, NY/Traditional) who netted 23 points and grabbed 13 rebounds while fellow senior Louis Campbell (Rahway, NJ/Rahway) not only scored 15 points but held two-time All-MAC player Tamar Slay to eight points ­11 below his average.

The Bulls (9-8, 4-3 in the MAC) trailed 43-27 with six minutes remaining in the first half before going on an incredible run that closed the first half and opened the second. Buffalo went on a 14-3 run to close the first half ­ buoyed by a trio of three point field goals by junior Davis Lawrence (Brooklyn, NY/New Utrecht) ­ to cut the Marshall lead to 46-41 at intermission.

Davis Lawrence

Buffalo didn't miss a beat in the second half, outscoring Marshall 16-2 and eventually opening up a 64-50 lead that the Bulls would not relinquish. All told, the Bulls outscored the Herd by a 30-7 margin to close and open the two halves.

"We got a big burst from some of the guys off the bench near the end of the first half," said Buffalo coach Reggie Witherspoon, whose team is now 2-1 on the road in the MAC this year. "We persevered long enough, particularly at the defensive end of the floor. We wanted to use our defense to get out and get some baskets and I think we were able to do that."

Buffalo snapped a two-game losing streak with the victory and climbed back into the MAC East chase with the road win. Marshall fell to 8-8 and 3-4 in the MAC with the loss. To win at Marshall the Bulls needed contributions from everyone and that's just what Witherspoon got.

Freshman point guard Turner Battle (Kernersville, NC/East Forsyth) had 11 points, five rebounds and four assists while Lawrence finished with 11 points. Also, despite heavy pressure by Marshall, Buffalo turned the ball over just 11 times while forcing 16 miscues by the Thundering Herd.

"It's a very difficult place to win," said Witherspoon. "It's sort of known in this conference that this is a place you don't win, so we told the guys, 'let's just hone in on what we need to do.' We did a good job of keeping pressure on them."

Buffalo also got great efforts by backup centers Joe Veal (Chicago, IL/Osborn) and

Kevin Swoffer

Kevin Swoffer (Independence, MO/William Chrisman) as the Bulls were in foul trouble throughout. Veal scored six points off the bench, while Swoffer held All-MAC performer J.R. VanHoose in check down the stretch and saw VanHoose foul out.

After Marshall had cut the UB lead to 71-64 with under six minutes to go, Williams hit back-to-back shots to restore a 75-64 lead and Buffalo overcame hitting just 7-of-18 free throws in the final minutes by playing excellent defense. Slay, averaging 19.3 points per game coming in to the game, was held to 3-of-11 shooting by Buffalo. Ronald Blackshear led Marshall with 25 points, including five treys.

Buffalo will play at Kent State on Tuesday night at 7 pm.