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Mark Bortz

KALAMAZOO, MI ­ Buffalo dropped its final road game of the regular season to Western Michigan, 87-66, on Wednesday night at University Arena.

The Bulls got off to a promising start, making good on their first four shots, including back-to-back Jason Bird (Ypsilanti, MI,/Ypsilanti) three-pointers. Davis Lawrence (Brooklyn, NY/New Utrecht) drained a trey of his own to put the Bulls up 13-10. However, the lead was short-lived as the Broncos answered with a three to tie the game. Western Michigan took a 22-15 lead with 13:18 left in the first half. Down seven, Mario Jordan (Cleveland, OH/Benedictine) proved to be a spark off the bench as he scored six of the Bulls' next eight points to help cut the lead to two points with 10:14 remaining in the half. A Mark Bortz (Commerce Township, MI/Walled Lake Central) dunk pulled the Bulls even with the Broncos, 29-29. However, Western Michigan closed out the half on a 17-4 scoring run to take a 46-33 halftime lead.

Following a 62.1 percent shooting performance in the first half, Bronco shooters cooled a bit in the second stanza. However, Western Michigan was strong on the offensive glass, grabbing 11 offensive boards, in the second half alone, to create second chance opportunities. The Bulls could only get as close as eight points before the Broncos pulled away for the victory.

For the second-straight game, Buffalo (4-22, 1-16) was led by Bird who scored a career-high 16 points, including 4-for-6 from beyond the arc. Bortz dropped 12 points and added a game-high seven rebounds. Calvin Cage (Bowie, MD/Bladensburg) also reached double-figures with 10 points. Buffalo shot 46.2 percent (24-52) from the field, including 54.5 percent (6-11) from beyond the arc.

Western Michigan (17-9, 9-8) had five players score in double-figures, led by Mike Williams' 22 points. Anthony Kann added 13 points. The Bulls did a nice job containing Robby Cullum, as the senior point guard was held to 11 points on 2-for-6 shooting.

"We just wanted to make it as hard on Robby Cullum as possible," Head Coach Reggie Witherspoon said referring to the UB gameplan. "He does a terrific job for them and we are without our version of that, Turner Battle, and it makes it really tough."

Buffalo will close out the regular season at home against Akron on Saturday. Tipoff is slated for 3 pm.