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Calvin Cage

Calvin Cage (Capitol Heights, MD/Bladensburg) tied a season high with 23 points, 17 of which came in the first half. The junior sharpshooter, who had struggled shooting the ball over the latter stages of the season, picked the right time to get hot as he shot 7-for-10 from the floor and 3-for-5 from beyond the arc.

Yassin Idbihi (Tangier, Morocco/Schloss Hagerhof) added 15 points and a game-high eight rebounds and Turner Battle (Kernersville, NC/East Forsyth) chipped in with 12 points, six rebounds and three assists.

Buffalo (21-8), which never trailed in the game, jumped out to a 7-0 lead on a jumper by Battle, a three-pointer by Jason Bird (Ypsilanti, MI/Ypsilanti) and a steal and layup by Daniel Gilbert (Detroit, MI/Cass Technical). Toledo fought back to tie the contest twice in the first half, but UB always seemed to have an answer. Tied at 31, Cage drained a three-pointer to spark a 14-6 scoring run to end the half and give the Bulls a 45-37 lead at the break.

Buffalo opened the second half on an 11-4 run, capped by a Gilbert steal and solo jam, to take its largest lead of the game, 56-41, with 16:28 remaining. Toledo cut the lead to seven with 11:04 remaining, but again the Bulls answered with seven unanswered points, punctuated by a Parnell Smith (Indianapolis, IN/Pike) layup to regain a 14-point advantage.

Toledo (16-13) quickly got back in the game and cut the UB lead to 73-68 with 5:28 left in the game. However, like it had done all day, UB had an answer for the Rockets’ threat. The Bulls went on a 6-1 run, thanks to consecutive layups by Cage, Battle and Gilbert, to reestablish a 10-point lead with 2:27 remaining. Buffalo sank its free throws down the stretch to seal the 13-point victory.

Buffalo outrebounded Toledo, 36-28, including 14 offensive boards that led to 32 second chance points. Gilbert led the way defensively for the Bulls with five of UB’s 12 steals. The Bulls forced 17 Toledo turnovers and turned them into 18 points.

UB shot 20-for-24 from the free throw line compared to 9-for-14 from the stripe for the Rockets.

Yassin Idbihi

It was a total team effort for the Bulls as all nine of the players that saw action in the game scored. Gilbert finished with eight points, five rebounds and three assists. Roderick Middleton (University Park, IL/Marian Catholic) also scored eight points and continued to stroke it well from the outside as he knocked down a pair of three-pointers. Mario Jordan (Cleveland, OH/Benedictine) tallied seven points and five rebounds.

“I give credit to our guys for coming in here and fighting the fight and getting after it,” head coach Reggie Witherspoon said. “We had great support from our students who made the trip and our guys gave them a lot to cheer about. We just have to keep fighting.”

Buffalo will face Western Michigan in the semifinal round of the First Energy Mid-American Conference Tournament on Friday night at 9 pm. The Broncos defeated Akron in the quarterfinals to advance. The game will be broadcast on Fox Sports Ohio and will air locally on Adelphia 13.