Bulls Fall to Akron, 62-57

Rodney Pierce leads all scorers with 20 points

Greg Gamble

BUFFALO, NY – The University at Buffalo men's basketball team dropped its fourth straight game, 62-57, to Akron at Alumni Arena on Thursday night. The loss dropped the Bulls into a first place tie with Akron and Bowling Green in the MAC East Division.

Akron controlled the game early on and jumped out to a 30-16 lead with 2:19 left in the first half. Rodney Pierce outscored the Zips, 9-0, over the final two minutes of the first half to cut the Akron advantage to 30-25 at the break. Pierce scored 16 of his game-high 20 points in the first half. It was the second straight 20-point game for the junior guard.

Akron built its lead to seven points early in the second half before the Bulls battled back. After a Calvin Betts layup tied the game at 43, Max Boudreau grabbed an offensive rebound, laid it back in and was fouled. His free throw gave the Bulls a 46-43 lead with 10:02 remaining.

Andy Robinson hit a driving layup to put the Bulls up 50-49 with 5:38 left. However, a pair of Nate Linhart free throws gave the Zips the lead for good, 51-50.

Akron extended its lead to six points before the Bulls made one final push. Greg Gamble hit two free throws to cut the Akron lead to 59-57 with 1:06 left. On Akron's ensuing possession, Boudreau came up with his career-best third steal of the game to give the ball back to the Bulls with less than a minute remaining. However, Boudreau was called for an illegal screen, giving the ball back to the Zips. Akron sealed the win at the free throw line.

Boudreau's turnover was his only blemish on the scoresheet. The junior forward finished the game with nine points, five rebounds and three steals in 17 minutes. Gamble added 14 points for the Bulls.

Akron shot 52.3 percent from the field and outrebounded the Bulls, 29-27. The Zips had four players score in double-figures led by Chris McKnight's 11.

"I thought Akron did a good job," head coach Reggie Witherspoon said. "They took our rebounding from us, we turned it over and we didn't execute down the stretch."

The Bulls will head back on the road and play at Ohio on Sunday afternoon. The game will tipoff at noon and will be televised on ESPNU.