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Yassin Idbihi

AKRON, OH ­ Buffalo closed out the regular season with a 68-60 win over Akron at Rhodes Arena on Saturday afternoon. It was the seventh straight win for the Bulls who head into the Mid-American Conference Tournament riding their longest winning streak since the 1990-91 season when they were a Division II program.

Buffalo (16-11, 11-7) shot 52.9 percent (27-51) from the floor, marking the fourth straight game that the Bulls have shot 50 percent or better from the field. Calvin Cage (Capital Heights, MD/Bladensburg) led Buffalo with 14 points, including three three-pointers. Jason Bird (Ypsilanti, MI/Ypsilanti) also drained three treys en route to an 11-point afternoon. Yassin Idbihi (Tangier, Morocco/Schloss Hagerhof) added 11 points and eight rebounds and Turner Battle (Kernersville, NC/East Forsyth) notched 10 points and five assists.

It was a low-scoring affair early on as the Bulls took a 29-21 halftime lead. A steal and breakaway jam by Mario Jordan (Cleveland, OH/Benedictine) gave UB a 12-point lead with 17:29 left in the game. The Zips would try to climb back into the contest, but the Bulls had the answer to every Akron threat. When the Zips cut the lead to four points with 3:49 remaining, Bird answered with a three-pointer. When the Zips cut the lead to three points with 2:24 remaining, Battle answered with a turnaround mid-range jumper. When the Zips cut the lead to two points with 1:38 remaining, Jordan answered with an acrobatic layup. Daniel Gilbert (Detroit, MI/Cass Technical) stole the ball from Derrick Tarver late in the game to silence the Zips for good.

The Bulls did a tremendous job defensively on Tarver, the leading scorer in the Mid-American Conference. Tarver, who was averaging 22.3 points per game prior to Saturday's contest, was limited to only three baskets, but was able to convert on 9-of-11 free throws for 16 points.

Jeremiah Wood also had 16 points for Akron (13-14, 7-11). Rick McFadden added 15 points on five three-pointers for the Zips.

"It was a total team effort," head coach Reggie Witherspoon said. "We did a good job of keeping our poise and it helped us today."

UB will host Northern Illinois on Monday night in the first round of the MAC Tournament. Tipoff is slated for 7 pm at Alumni Arena.