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Yassin Idbihi

The Bulls trailed by eight points at the half and by 12 points with 18:08 remaining. A three-pointer by Ben Reed gave the Broncos a 48-37 lead with 15:29 left in the game. However, Yassin Idbihi (Tangier, Morocco/Schloss Hagerhof) answered with a three-pointer of his own that ignited a 14-2 scoring run. A Roderick Middleton (University Park, IL/Marian Catholic) jumper put the Bulls ahead 51-50 with 11:31 left in the game. The lead would change hands six times over the next four minutes.

Daniel Gilbert (Detroit, MI/Cass Technical) knocked down a three-pointer that gave the Bulls a 60-56 lead with 6:26 remaining. Western Michigan cut the lead to 65-62 on a jumper by Reed. But a jumper by Middleton put the Bulls back up by five with 1:27 left in the game. Turner Battle (Kernersville, NC/East Forsyth) went 7-for-8 from the free throw line in the final 47 seconds to seal the game for the Bulls.

UB played near perfect basketball in the second half as it shot 57.7 percent from the floor and committed only two turnovers.

Buffalo (22-8) had five players score in double-figures led by Idbihi who tallied 17 points and seven rebounds. The sophomore center shot 8-for-11 from the floor. Gilbert continued to shine in the postseason as he scored 13 points. Battle had 14 points, including 9-for-11 from the charity stripe. Mark Bortz (Commerce Township, MI/Walled Lake Central) and Mario Jordan (Cleveland, OH/Bendictine) scored 12 and 10 points, respectively. Bortz scored 10 of his points in the first half.

“A typical MAC throwdown would be the only way to describe it,” head coach Reggie Witherspoon said. “I’m thankful that our guys kept fighting through the adversity until we could get ourselves into a situation where we could attack a little bit. The fact that we could play a lot of guys a lot of minutes helped us win.”

The Bulls will make their first-ever appearance in the Mid-American Conference Finals on Saturday night at 7 pm. The game against Ohio will be broadcast on ESPN2.