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Roderick Middleton

Buffalo (20-8) was led by Daniel Gilbert (Detroit, MI/Cass Technical) who had 15 points and eight rebounds - both team highs. Turner Battle (Kernersville, NC/East Forsyth) and Roderick Middleton (University Park, IL/Marian Catholic) also reached double-figures with 13 and 10 points, respectively.

Northern Illinois (11-17) took a 12-11 lead on a jumper by Cory Sims with 10:58 left in the first half. On the ensuing possession, Battle picked up his second foul and was forced to sit for the remainder of the half. However, Middleton and Calvin Cage (Capitol Heights, MD/Bladensburg) filled in admirably at the point guard position and sparked a 17-5 scoring run. A steal and layup by Cage gave the Bulls a 28-17 lead with 4:51 left in the half. The Huskies closed the half on a 13-6 run to cut the UB advantage to 34-30 at the break.

The Bulls led for much of the second half but couldn't pull away due in large part to the three-point shooting of Northern Illinois. A pair of free throws by Parnell Smith (Indianapolis, IN/Pike) gave the Bulls a 54-48 lead with 8:10 left in the game. The Huskies battled back to tie the game at 58 and later took a 61-60 lead on a three-pointer by Anthony Maestranzi with 4:59 remaining. The lead would be short-lived as the Bulls went on an 8-0 scoring run to take a 68-61 lead with 1:39 remaining. During the run, six of the eight points came following offensive rebounds. Gilbert led the charge on the offensive glass with five offensive boards. The Bulls had 13 offensive rebounds in the second half alone.

The Huskies wouldn't go quietly as they cut the lead to 69-66 with 37 seconds remaining. However, Northern Illinois wouldn't score again as the Bulls played stifling defense in the final minute. Middleton and Battle each made a steal on consecutive possessions and put the game on ice by converting free throws.

UB had only 10 turnovers in the game, including four in the second half. The Bulls' defense forced 17 Northern Illinois turnovers. Buffalo outrebounded Northern Illinois, 38-36.

The win set a new school record for victories in a season.

"We defended their three-point shooting reasonably well in the first half and they ended up getting hot in the second half," head coach Reggie Witherspoon said. "But I think in the second half we did a pretty good job of going to the glass and we didn't turn it over. If we weren't able to rely on defense and rebounding then we would have been in trouble. We stuck to our man-to-man defense and played it as hard as we could and I think that helped us tonight."