Bulls Drop BracketBuster Showdown at Vermont, 78-70

Pierce leads UB with 21 points

Rodney Pierce

BUFFALO, NY The University at Buffalo men’s basketball team dropped its BracketBuster matchup with Vermont, 78-70, at a raucous sold-out Patrick Gym on Saturday afternoon.

Buffalo (17-8) came out of the gates blazing hot in its first ever trip to the Green Mountain State. Starting with a Mitchell Watt dunk for the game’s first points, the Bulls connected on nine straight shots to jump out to a 19-6 lead. Greg Gamble hit a driving layup to give the Bulls a 22-15 lead midway through the first half.

Vermont gained its first lead of the game, 31-30, with 4:56 left in the first half. However, back-to-back three-pointers by John Boyer put the Bulls back up, 36-31, with 3:39 left in the half. The Catamounts responded with a 10-0 scoring run to take a 41-36 advantage. Rodney Pierce's three-pointer at the buzzer, cut the Vermont lead to 41-39.

Pierce’s buzzer-beating three capped a big half for the junior guard. Pierce scored 15 of his team-high 21 points in the first stanza.

Vermont (22-7) never relinquished its lead and built it to 67-51 with 5:12 left. However, the Bulls battled back and cut the lead to 69-59 with 3:24 left. Byron Mulkey came up with a steal that led to an Andy Robinson layup to make the score, 74-66. Following another Vermont turnover, Pierce hit a jumper to cut the lead to six points with 1:16 remaining.

A Titus Robinson free throw slashed the lead to five points with 53 seconds remaining. But the Bulls would get no closer as the Catamounts converted their free throws down the stretch to hold on for the eight-point victory.

Max Boudreau had seven points and six rebounds in 15 minutes.

Mitchell Watt

Buffalo got solid contributions from its freshmen, Robinson and Watt. Robinson had 11 points and five rebounds and Watt finished with seven points, four rebounds and two blocked shots.

Vermont shot 54 percent from the field, led by Mike Trimboli who scored 24 points and added six rebounds and seven assists. The Catamounts controlled the play in the paint, outrebounding the Bulls, 38-33, and blocking eight shots.

Buffalo will return to MAC play on Thursday night when its hosts Akron at Alumni Arena.