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CLEVELAND, OH ­ Freshman guard Turner Battle (Kernersville, NC/East Forsyth) has been named to the 2002 Mid-American Conference All-Freshman Team as announced by the conference office today. Battle becomes the first UB player to be honored on the All-Freshman Team in the Bulls' four years in the league.

Turner Battle

The North Carolina native joins Darryl Peterson (Akron), Nate Gerwig (Kent State), Danny Horace (Miami) and the Freshman of the Year Ben Reed (Western Michigan) on the league's rookie team.

Battle has been instrumental in the program's turnaround this year. The 6-3 guard has led the Bulls to 12-17 record, which includes eight more wins than last year. He has dished out a team-high 99 assists - the sixth-highest assist per game mark in the league at 3.4 apg - and is averaging 7.3 point per game and 4.0 rebounds per game. Battle is one of two Bulls to have started all 29 regular season games. He had his best day as a Bull in Buffalo's final home game of the season against Marshall when he just missed a triple-double with a career-high 17 points, nine rebounds and a career-best eight assists in 30 minutes of action.

In addition to Battle, UB's freshman class of Daniel Gilbert (Detroit, MI/Cass Technical), Jason Bird (Ypsilanti, MI/Ypsilanti), and Mark Bortz (Commerce Township/Walled Lake Central) have all made significant contributions this season. All four have reached double figures in scoring in at least two games this season and the four have combined for the highest grade point average - 3.35 GPA after the completion of the fall semester - of any freshman class in the country.

The Bulls finished the regular season with a 12-17 overall record and a 7-11 conference mark in their best season since the program posted a 15-13 record during the 1997-98 season. The Bulls play at Miami tonight in the first-round of the MAC Tournament.