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Turner Battle

Buffalo got off to a great start and was in command of the game for the first 24 minutes. After Mychael Green missed a breakaway layup, Jason Bird (Ypsilanti, MI/Ypsilanti) nailed a three-pointer in transition to give the Bulls a 57-38 lead, their largest of the game, with 16:20 left in the game. However, the Bobcats mounted a frantic 24-3 scoring run to take a 62-60 lead with 8:44 remaining. UB regained a 66-64 advantage on a layup by Turner Battle (Kernersville, NC/East Forsyth). After the Bobcats tied the contest, the Bulls scored four-straight, capped by an alley-oop layup from Battle to Mark Bortz (Commerce Township, MI/Walled Lake Central) to take a 70-66 lead with 2:22 remaining. The Bobcats tied the contest at 70 on a layup by Sonny Troutman with 31 second left. The Bulls had a chance to win the game at the end of regulation, but Yassin Idbihi’s (Tangier, Morocco/Schloss Hagerhof) three-point bid in the closing seconds was off the mark and the game went into overtime.

In the extra session, Ohio held a 76-72 advantage with 2:03 remaining. Mario Jordan (Cleveland, OH/Benedictine) hit a layup to cut the lead to 76-74. After Calvin Cage (Capitol Heights, MD/Bladensburg) came up with a steal, Battle drove to the basket, made a layup and was fouled. Battle made the free throw to give the Bulls a 77-76 lead with 55 seconds remaining. On the ensuing possession, Sonny Troutman hit a layup to regain a 78-77 advantage for the Bobcats. Trailing by one, and time winding down, Battle knocked down a 15-foot jumper to give the Bulls a 79-78 lead with 11.5 seconds remaining. On Ohio’s final possession, Jeremy Fears drove baseline and missed a layup, but Williams collected the loose ball and laid it in with 0.5 seconds remaining to give the Bobcats the victory.

UB was led by Battle who had 22 points, six rebounds and eight assists. Cage scored 20 points. The junior guard was red hot in the first half as he knocked down all five of his three-pointers in the opening stanza. Bird added nine points and Bortz chipped in with eight points and a team-high eight rebounds.

Ohio was led by Williams who scored 29 points and grabbed 15 rebounds – both game highs. Fears added 21 points.

Buffalo outrebounded Ohio, 38-36. The Bobcats shot 14-for-19 from the free throw line while Buffalo shot 5-for-5. Buffalo outscored Ohio’s bench, 34-2.

“It was a hard-fought game. Ohio played well and we played well,” head coach Reggie Witherspoon said. “They made a play at the end and all the credit should go to them.”