MEN'S BASKETBALL

Roster  |  Coaches  |  Schedule / Results  |  News

Bulls Down Bowling Green in Bizarre Fashion

Yassin Idbihi

How the Bulls got to overtime is why this win was miraculous. With UB trailing by two in the closing seconds, a jumper by Parnell Smith (Indianapolis, IN/Pike) failed to draw iron and a shot clock violation was called. This is when the confusion began. Bowling Green head coach Dan Dakich believed the game was over and summoned his team to the locker room. However, after a meeting by the officials, it was agreed that 0.6 seconds should be placed on the clock. Since Bowling Green had left the floor before the game had ended, a technical foul was assessed. Idbihi calmly drained the two free throws to send the game to overtime.

The Bulls rolled in the extra session, outscoring the Falcons, 21-13. Leading 80-78, Eric Moore (Dover, NJ/St. Benedict's Prep) hit his fourth three-pointer of the game to extend the UB lead to five. Idbihi hit a three of his own to extend the lead to 88-81 with 1:24 left. The Bulls shot 10-of-12 from the free throw line in the final minute to seal the win.

The bizarre ending may have overshadowed Idbihi's monster night. The senior forward scored a career-high 28 points and pulled down a career-best 20 rebounds. It was the eighth-highest single-game rebounding total in school history. He went 15-of-18 from the free throw line. As a team, the Bulls converted 39 free throws - the second most in school history. Idbihi upped his career scoring total to 1,432 points to surpass Turner Battle (2001-05) for fourth on UB's all-time scoring list.

Moore also had a big night to snapped out of a recent slump. The sophomore guard finished with 24 points off the bench.

Smith notched his first career double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Greg Gamble (Niagara Falls, NY/Niagara Falls) scored 10 points and pulled down seven rebounds. Darwin Young (Buffalo, NY/Hutch Tech) also scored 10 points - a season high. Byron Mulkey (Wheatfield, NY/Niagara-Wheatfield) added nine points and grabbed eight rebounds.

Eric Moore

Although the Bulls didn't shoot the ball particularly well (.333), they did dominate the glass. UB pulled down 65 rebounds - the sixth-highest single-game total in school history - and outrebounded the Falcons, 65-43.

The Falcons were led by Ryne Hamblet who had 24 points and Nate Miller who had 20 points and 10 rebounds. Martin Samarco, who scored a career-high 43 points in the teams' first meeting, was held to 17 points, including 2-for-16 shooting from beyond the arc.

"I said to our guys in the locker room afterward that we did some good things and it kind of got swallowed up by what happened at the end of the game," head coach Reggie Witherspoon said. "We have been on the wrong end of those games a lot when bizarre things happen. It's nice to be on the good end of an unusual ending."

Buffalo (11-14, 3-9 MAC) will remain at home and host Detroit in the O’Reilly ESPNU Bracket Buster game on Saturday at 7:00 pm. It will follow the UB women's basketball game against Bowling Green that tips off at 5:00 pm.

A replay of Tuesday's game will air on Time Warner 13 on Wednesday and Thursday night at 7:30 pm and again on Saturday at 7:00 pm.