MEN'S BASKETBALL

Roster  |  Coaches  |  Schedule / Results  |  News

Turner Battle

CLEVELAND, OH ­ Buffalo fought valiantly, but fell to fourth-seeded Toledo, 97-85, in the quarterfinals of the Mid-American Conference Tournament at the Gund Arena on Thursday night. The Bulls will now have to wait and see if their 17 wins are enough to earn a spot in the National Invitation Tournament. If not, Buffalo's magical season will conclude with a 17-12 record, by far its best effort since joining the MAC in 1998.

The Bulls, who had their eight-game winning streak snapped, ran into a red-hot shooting Toledo squad. The Rockets shot 55.8 percent from the floor for the game, including 63.0 percent in the first half. The Bulls had trouble containing first-team All-MAC selection Keith Triplett who scored a game-high 29 points.

It was a game of runs early on. A three-pointer by Calvin Cage (Capital Heights, MD/Bladensburg) gave the Bulls an 18-16 lead. However, Toledo went on a 14-3 scoring run, capped by a Sammy Villegas three-pointer, to take a 30-21 lead. UB answered with a 12-2 run to take a 33-32 lead. The lead would seesaw until Jason Bird (Ypsilanti, MI/Ypsilanti) drained a three-pointer to give the Bulls a 42-38 advantage with 3:07 left in the half. The Rockets closed the half on a 9-2 run to take a 47-44 lead at the break.

The Rockets would extend their lead to 60-50 with 12:44 remaining. However, like they've done all season, the Bulls fought hard and a triple by Cage cut the Toledo lead to 66-64 with 8:23 left. That would be as close as the Bulls would get as the Rockets converted free throws and nailed clutch jumpers down the stretch to hold off the pesky Bulls.

Turner Battle (Kernersville, NC/East Forsyth) led UB with 23 points. Cage notched 18 points, including three three-pointers. Mario Jordan (Cleveland, OH/Benedictine) and Yassin Idbihi (Tangier, Morocco/Schloss Hagerhof) also reached double-figures in the scoring column with 13 and 10 points, respectively.

"I think we scored enough points to typically win, but we didn't stop them enough," head coach Reggie Witherspoon said. "When that happens, it makes it difficult."

Turnovers and foul trouble plagued the Bulls all night. UB had 16 turnovers, which Toledo converted into 22 points, and were whistled for a season-high 33 personal fouls. Toledo made 30-of-45 free throws.

Calvin Cage

"Our turnovers took us out of it," Witherspoon said. "If we were going to win a game at this pace, then we needed to have five turnovers again like we did the last game, but we didn't and that really cost us."

A large and boisterous UB contingent was at the game to see the Bulls play in their first-ever MAC Tournament quarterfinal game. "The fans that came down here were amazing," Witherspoon said. "They gave it a big time atmosphere and they were great."