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Bulls Fall to Iona in Bracket Buster Matchup, 93-75

Eric Moore

A jumper by Andrew Atman (Pittsburgh, PA/Upper St. Clair), on the Bulls’ opening possession, gave UB a 2-0 lead. However, it would be the last lead the Bulls would hold. Iona built a 26-12 lead with 10:14 left in the first half. With the Gaels ahead, 31-21, Eric Moore (Morristown, NJ/St. Benedict’s) nailed a three-pointer and followed with a steal and a layup on the ensuing possession to cut the Iona advantage to 31-26 with 6:28 left in the half. However, the Gaels regained an 11-point lead by halftime.

The second half was all Iona as the Gaels opened the stanza on a 17-6 scoring run to take a 62-40 lead with 14:15 remaining. Iona would build its lead to as many as 32 points, before cruising to the 18-point victory.

Iona (20-5) was red-hot from the field all afternoon. The Gaels shot 63.3 percent from the floor, including 9-for-16 (56.3 percent) from beyond the arc. Conversely, Buffalo shot only 35.7 percent from the field.

Yassin Idbihi (Tangier, Morocco/Schloss Hagerhof) was the lone UB player to score in double figures as he finished with 13 points and added seven rebounds. Roderick Middleton (University Park, IL/Marian Catholic) and Calvin Cage (Capitol Heights, MD/Bladensburg) added nine points apiece. Atman and Moore scored eight points for the Bulls.

Steve Burtt looked everything like the nation’s sixth-leading scorer that he is as he scored 27 points, including five three-pointers. Kiril Wachsmann added 16 points and seven rebounds for the Gaels.

Buffalo (16-10) struggled from the free throw line for the second straight game – shooting 20-for-31. The Bulls did outrebound the Gaels, 39-36. UB pulled down 21 offensive boards.

The loss marks the first time in the three years that the Bulls have lost a Bracket Buster game.

Buffalo will return to conference action on Wednesday night when it plays at Ohio. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 pm.