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Bulls Fall to Akron, 87-69

Yassin Idbihi

Yassin Idbihi (Tangier, Morocco/Schloss Hagerhof), whose father was in the stands to watch him play for the first time in his career, led the Bulls with 23 points, 10 rebounds and a pair of blocks. It was his 12th double-double of the season.

Parnell Smith (Indianapolis, IN/Pike) and Andy Robinson (Schenectady, NY/Schenectady) also reached double-figures, scoring 10 points apiece.

The Bulls started off well by making six of their first nine shots and trailed, 14-13, at the 15:39 mark. However, Akron proceeded to go on a 22-2 scoring run to take a 36-15 lead and control of the game. Nick Dials, who scored 22 points in the first half, hit a three and got fouled with 1:57 left in the half. His free throw gave the Zips a 46-21 lead - their largest of the night. Idbihi scored the Bulls' final eight points of the half to cut the deficit to 19 at the break.

The Bulls battled back in the second half and a lay-up by Smith cut the Akron advantage to 10 with 6:50 remaining. But Akron responded by scoring eight straight points to retake an 18-point lead.

Buffalo (11-18, 3-12 MAC) won the battle of the boards and outrebounded Akron, 41-37. However the Zips, who shot 50.9 percent from the field were able to clean up a lot of their misses as they scored 20 second chance points.

Akron (23-6, 12-3 MAC) was led by Dials who finished with 24 points. Cedrick Middleton, the younger brother of former Bull Roderick, finished with 15 points.

Byron Mulkey (Wheatfield, NY/Niagara-Wheatfield) finished with eight points, seven rebounds and three assists. Greg Gamble (Niagara Falls, NY/Niagara Falls) and Darwin Young (Buffalo, NY/Hutch Tech) each added seven points for the Bulls.

"Akron played like veterans and made great decisions," head coach Reggie Witherspoon said. "We pressured them, but they didn't get too out of what they wanted to do."

Buffalo will conclude the regular season on Sunday evening when it hosts Ohio at Alumni Arena. Tip-off is slated for 6:00 pm.