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TOLEDO, OH ­ The University at Buffalo had a frigid shooting night in Toledo as the Rockets rebounded from a second-half deficit to down the Bulls, 54-42, before 3,954 fans at Savage Hall on Wednesday night.

Buffalo shot just 31% from the field and committed 21 turnovers to fall to 11-15 and 6-9 in Mid-American Conference play. Toledo, winners of two straight, improved to 11-13 and 8-7 in the MAC. The Rockets frustrated the Bulls throughout with inspired defensive play and used some clutch shooting to take control of the game midway through the second half.

Buffalo's offensive struggles were particularly apparent in the first ten minutes and the last ten minutes of the game. Buffalo trailed 13-5 with less than ten minutes to go in the first half before a 12-0 run ­ including a three-point field goal by Davis Lawrence (Brooklyn, NY/New Utrecht) and two straight trifectas from http://www.ubathletics.buffalo.edu/mensbasketball/pics/01-02/hs/Williams.jpg senior Darcel Williams (Buffalo, NY/Traditional) ­ gave the Bulls a 17-13 lead.

Toledo would rebound to tie the game at 17-17 before Williams hit another three and senior Robert Brown (Oak Park, MI/Oak Park) ended the half with an alley-oop dunk off an inbounds pass from freshman Turner Battle (Kernersville, NC/East Forsyth). That gave Buffalo a 22-17 lead heading into halftime.

In the second half, Buffalo stretched its lead to 32-24 on a three-point field goal by Mark Bortz (Commerce Park, MI/Walled Lake Central) before going stone cold from the field. The Rockets responded with an 11-0 run to take the lead for good ­ hitting three of their four trifectas in the game during the decisive run. The Rockets grabbed a 35-32 lead after the run and would steadily pull away the rest of the way. The closest Buffalo would get again would be 37-35 on a free throw by freshman Jason Bird (Ypsilanti, MI/Ypsilanti).

"We didn't do a good job of executing down the stretch," said UB head coach Reggie Witherspoon. "We lost our poise a couple of times when we had open shots. Our guys have to get rid of the mindset of thinking that it's going to get easier because you made a few good plays, it doesn't get any easier and we haven't matured enough to understand that."

Toledo was paced by Terry Reynolds, last year's MAC Freshman of the Year. Reynolds had 12 of his 16 points in the second half to lead the Rocket uprising while Ricardo Thomas had 11 points and nine rebounds.

Williams finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds and was the only Bull in double figures. Second-leading scorer Louis Campbell (Rahway, NJ/Rahway) was limited to seven points.

"I thought our half-court defense was pretty good against them as well," said Witherspoon, whose team held Toledo to 34% shooting, "except we didn't rebound the ball very well after their first shot. I noticed they had 12 offensive rebounds and that puts a lot of pressure on you when you have to stop them on second-chance opportunities as well."

Buffalo will host Marshall in the final regular season home game Saturday night at 7 pm. UB's five seniors will be honored before the game at Alumni Arena.