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BUFFALO, NY - The University at Buffalo saw another strong effort fall just short on Wednesday night as Ball State held off the Bulls, 59-56, at Alumni Arena in a Mid-American Conference game.

Buffalo (3-19, 1-12), who trailed by 10 points at halftime, went back and forth with the Cardinals (12-10, 7-6) - who return four starters from last year's NCAA Tournament team - as the lead changed hands four times in the final 12 minutes and there were four ties.

The Bulls took their first lead in the game when Robert Brown (Oak Park, MI/Oak Park) scored on a layup to make it 42-40 with 11:26 left. Ball State pulled back on top by a 48-44 score with an 8-2 run capped by a three-pointer by Rob Robbins - who hit five-of-eight treys in the game and finished with a game-high 21 points.

The Bulls rallied to take a 51-50 lead on a jumper by Jason Robinson (Seattle, WA/Curtis), who finished with a team-high 20 points and added seven rebounds. However, Robinson missed a crucial one-and-one with 1:45 left and the Cardinals' Theron Smith scored three straight points to give Ball State a 53-51 lead with 1:25 left.

Buffalo tied it up again when Kevin Swoffer (Independence, MO/William Chrisman) hit a reverse layup with 1:07 remaining. Lonnie Jones gave Ball State the lead at 55-53 with a layup with :48 left and UB looked to be in trouble when Smith made two more free throws to make it 57-53 with :27 left.

However, Davis Lawrence (Brooklyn, NY/New Utrecht) hit a three-pointer with :13 left and then had a shot at the game-winner from 12 feet away after Robbins missed the front end of a one-and-one. Lawrence's shot was off the mark and Robbins made both free throws to account for the final score. UB's Damien Foster (Buffalo, NY/Traditional) had a three-point shot from the left corner at the buzzer glance off the side of the backboard at the buzzer after a perfect full-court pass by Adam Johnson (Alta Loma, CA/Etiwanda).

Robinson led Buffalo with 20 points, while Louis Campbell (Rahway, NJ/Rahway) had eight points, eight assists and two blocked shots. Gabe Cagwin (Belfair, WA/North Mason) came off the bench to contribute nine points and two steals for the Bulls while Swoffer had a career-best five rebounds.

"We had good looks at the end of the game that we're going to make if we keep working hard," said Buffalo coach Reggie Witherspoon. "I'd be more concerned if we didn't execute well or turned the ball over. We had opportunities to win despite being down 10 points at halftime. Our guys kept fighting and we turned it up defensively in the second half. There's still a lot of fight in this team."

Ball State closed the first half with a 14-4 run after leading just 18-17 with 6:51 remaining. Robbins had a trio of three-pointers to help the Cardinals establish a ten-point bulge at the break.

"It certainly wasn't a masterpiece," said Ball State coach Tim Buckley, "but we're glad to get out of here with it because at the end of the year it's going to show up as a win."