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Bulls Drop Double Overtime Heartbreaker to Western Michigan, 100-90

Rodney Pierce

Rodney Pierce (Buffalo, NY/Hutch Tech) scored a career-high 23 points and Andy Robinson (Schenectady, NY/Schenectady) added 22 points, six rebounds and four steals. The junior guard was a perfect 9-for-9 from the free throw line.

Following a 30-30 tie at halftime, Buffalo came out in the second half and scored on 14 of its first 20 possessions to build a 62-53 lead with 7:56 remaining. A conventional three-point play by Greg Gamble (Niagara Falls, NY/Niagara Falls) gave the Bulls a 70-62 lead with 4:04 left. Gamble finished the night with 17 points and five rebounds.

But a three-pointer by David Kool and a three-point play by Joe Reitz quickly cut the UB advantage to 70-68 with 2:50 left. After the teams traded baskets, the Bulls had the ball, up two, with under a minute to play. Calvin Betts (Rochester, NY/Rush-Henrietta) laced a pass down low that found Max Boudreau (Montreal, Quebec/Champlain St. Lambert) for a layup to give the Bulls a 74-70 lead with 42 seconds left.

Reitz hit a layup for WMU to cut the lead to 74-72. On the Bulls' ensuing possession, Robinson was double teamed and a jump ball was called, awarding the ball to the Broncos. Kool was fouled and drained a pair of free throws to tie the game at 74 with 17 seconds left. Pierce had a good look at the game winner, but his 15-foot jumper in the finals seconds was off the mark.

Betts opened the overtime period with a three-pointer to give the Bulls a three-point lead - the largest by either team in the first extra session. After Kool hit a pair of free throws to give Western Michigan an 84-82 lead with 59 seconds left, Robinson answered for the Bulls with a layup at the other end to tie the contest at 84. After Kool missed a three-point try, the Bulls again had the ball in the game's closing seconds and again it was in Pierce's hands. However, his pull-up jumper in the lane came up short and the game went to another overtime.

Andy Robinson

The Broncos opened the second overtime on a 9-2 scoring run to take control of the game and seal the victory.

Buffalo (6-13, 0-7) outrebounded the Broncos, 43-42. Betts tied a career high with 12 boards to reach double-digits in rebounding for the second straight game.

Boudreau had his best game of the season with 11 points, three rebounds and three blocked shots.

Western Michigan (11-9, 5-2 MAC) shot 38-of-44 from the free throw line and converted 30 of its last 32. The Bulls made 29 of their 35 free throw attempts on the night.

The Broncos were led by Kool who scored 35 points and Reitz who added 29 points.

"I thought it was a fairly even game throughout most of the game and the teams fought really hard," head coach Reggie Witherspoon said. "We have got to learn from this and keep fighting. We can't learn and then stop fighting. We have to learn and keep fighting."

Buffalo will look to snap its eight-game losing streak on Saturday when it plays at Central Michigan. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:30 pm.