MEN'S BASKETBALL

Roster  |  Coaches  |  Schedule / Results  |  News

Turner Battle

YPSILANTI, MI ­ A 50-point second half fueled Buffalo to an 83-64 come-from-behind victory over Eastern Michigan in Mid-American Conference play at the Convocation Center on Wednesday night. Turner Battle (Kernersville, NC/East Forsyth) scored 22 of his game-high 24 points in the second stanza to lead the UB comeback.

Eastern Michigan (10-12, 5-9) controlled the tempo and led for much of the first half. The Bulls struggled early on as they had 10 turnovers and shot 36.7 percent from the floor in the first half. The Eagles capitalized and built a 13-point lead with 2:32 left in the first stanza. However, the Bulls closed the half on a 9-1 run to pull within five points at the break.

Jason Bird (Ypsilanti, MI/Ypsilanti) scored five-straight points, including one of his three three-pointers, to spark a 15-5 run at the start of the second half that gave the Bulls a 10-point lead. Buffalo (11-11, 7-7) would later go on a 16-4 run to increase its lead 68-47 with 8:34 left in the game and never looked back.

Buffalo's tenacity on the boards proved to be a determining factor in the game. The Bulls outrebounded the Eagles, 48-30, including 17-4 on the offensive glass. The Bulls converted the offensive rebounds into 22 second chance points.

It was a nice homecoming for Bird who tallied a season-high 15 points, including 3-for-4 from beyond the arc. Fellow Michigan natives Mark Bortz (Commerce Township, MI/Walled Lake Central) and Daniel Gilbert (Detroit, MI/Cass Technical) finished with 14 points and eight rebounds and 13 points and seven rebounds, respectively. Mario Jordan (Cleveland, OH/Benedictine) also reached double-figures with 11 points and added eight boards. Along with his 24 points, Battle added eight rebounds, three assists and four steals.

Jason Bird

Eastern Michigan was led by Markus Austin who scored 16 points. James Jackson had eight points and a game-high 15 rebounds.

It was the Bulls' third conference road win of the season - their most since joining the MAC in 1998. UB has now won six of its last eight games.

"We were determined to play harder and pull ourselves out of it," head coach Reggie Witherspoon said in reference to UB's second half comeback. "We didn't know how long it was going to take, but we were going to play as hard as we could until things started to go our way."