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BUFFALO, NY - The University at Buffalo Bulls pulled off perhaps the biggest upset in conference play so far this year, defeating the Mid-American Conference East leading Akron Zips 84-83 in a thriller.

Trailing by as many as 11 points, 66-55, with 11 minutes to play, UB charged back, using a 12-2 run to cut the lead to just one, 68-67 with under seven minutes remaining. Five different players scored during that run as the Bulls climbed back into the game. The Zips were not going to fold easily, and went on a 9-0 run of their own, pushing the lead back up to 10 points, 77-67, on a three-pointer by Andy Hipsher with just under four minutes to play. The Bulls responded with a three-pointer by Louis Campbell (Rahway, NJ/Rahway) and after a missed layup by Akron, Damien Foster (Buffalo, NY/Traditional) capitalized with a three-pointer of his own to cut the lead to four. The two teams exchanged layups before Akron scored on another bucket by Hipsher, his ninth straight point for the Zips, but the Bulls defense would hold Akron to no points the last 1:24 of the game.

With Akron up by six, 83-77, with 1:06 to play, Nikolai Alexeev (Minsk, Belarus) hit two free throws to cut the lead to four. A turnover by Jami Bosley gave the Bulls possession again and Louis Campbell hit a three-pointer from 25-feet out to make it a one point game, 83-82, with under a minute to play. Another turnover by Bosley gave the Bulls a chance for the win with under 30 seconds left, but Campbell missed a running jumper in the lane. George Phillips of Akron grabbed the rebound, but had the ball knocked away by Campbell and it ended up in the hands of a wide open Mike McKie (Brooklyn, NY/Tilden) under the bucket who hit the game winning layup with seven seconds to play. Akron tried for a last second shot, but McKie blocked a driving layup by Bosley out of bounds with 0.4 second left and the Zips desperation shot was too late and no good.

"One of the things that makes it sweeter, besides the fact that they were in first place, was that it wasn't a game where we were ahead the whole time and everything went our way," said Bulls head coach Reggie Witherspoon. "They got ahead by ten points (77-67 with 3:59 to play) and for a team that has lost the number of games our guys have lost, that was an easy time for them to quit. Instead they fought back and earned their way back to get a victory."

"We had a veteran group that really didn't make good decisions," said Akron head coach Dan Hipsher. "We had some key turnovers down the stretch and when you look at fourth and fifth year guys you don't expect that to happen and we've had that happen a couple of times this year."

The first half saw the Bulls take control early and lead by as many as nine points, 26-17, at the 9:09 mark. Akron came back and eventually took the lead with a minute to go in the first half on two free throws by Jami Bosley. Akron closed the half with a 9-0 run and took a 41-37 lead going into halftime.

All five starters for UB (4-14, 2-7 MAC) scored in double figures, led by Nikolai Alexeev with 18 points. Damien Foster and Alexei Vasiliev (St. Petersburg, Russia) had 17 points each and hit a combined seven three-pointers. Vasiliev also had a solid defensive effort on Akron's Jami Bosley, holding the preseason All-MAC selection to zero points in the second half. Mike McKie had 14 points and a career-high 12 rebounds, including seven on the offensive end, and Louis Campbell had 10 points. Akron (14-5, 8-2 MAC) was led by Jami Bosley with 18 points.