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Bulls Fall Just Short in Upset Bid of Miami, 69-68

Rodney Pierce

CLEVELAND, OH - The University at Buffalo men’s basketball team put forth a gritty effort and nearly advanced to the quarterfinals of the Mid-American Conference Tournament, but the Bulls fell just short, losing 69-68 to the fifth-seeded Miami RedHawks, at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland on Wednesday night.

Down 8-0 to start the game, the Bulls managed to go on a 22-6 scoring run over the next nine minutes. UB used some hot-shooting from three-point range as it got back-to-back threes from John Boyer (Holidaysburg, PA/Holidaysburg) and Andy Robinson (Schenectady, NY/Schenectady).

A Greg Gamble (Niagara Falls, NY/Niagara Falls) bucket gave UB a 10-point lead at 26-16, but the RedHawks managed to score four straight points as UB called a timeout with 5:17 left in the first half. The Bulls came out of the timeout and found Byron Mulkey (Wheatfield, NY/Niagara-Wheatfield) in the corner for a three. UB was up 29-20, but Miami ended the half on a 9-1 run as the Bulls took a 30-29 lead into the locker room at halftime.

The Bulls missed their first six field goals in the first half, but wound up hitting 12 of their final 24 shots of the half and shot 40.0 percent from the floor. The Bulls also dominated the boards in the half with a 24-9 advantage on the glass. The Bulls had one more offensive rebound than Miami had total boards. The UB bench came through big in the half as it had half of its points during the first 20 minutes of play.

The second half began with six quick RedHawk points as they took a 35-30 lead. UB converted on a bucket to cut the lead to 35-32, but Miami converted on a three-point play to get its lead up to 38-32. The Bulls then went on a 7-0 run, capped off by five straight points from Rodney Pierce (Buffalo, NY/Hutch-Tech) including a long three, which forced a Miami timeout. The Bulls ultimately scored nine straight points, including a circus layup from Boyer, before Miami ended the run. Boyer then came down and hit a three, which gave him a new career high in points.

The Bulls used a 7-2 run, which was capped off by another Boyer three that gave the Bulls a 51-42 lead with 12:17 left in the half. Miami scored six straight points to cut the game to 51-48, but Jawaan Alston (Uniontown, PA/Albert Gallatin) ended the run with a jumper. A 10-6 RedHawk run gave Miami the lead at 58-57.

The RedHawks built their lead up to 66-61 in the final 30 seconds on a couple of free throws from Tyler Dierkers. Gamble hit a pair of free throws to get the Bulls within three with 20 seconds left, but Kenny Hayes went to the line for Miami and hit one of two to give Miami the 67-63 lead. The Bulls then missed a few attempts at three, but they were able to get basket from Gamble with four seconds left to cut the Miami lead to 67-65.

Miami’s Tim Pollitz went to the line with three seconds left and he converted on both of his shots to give the RedHawks the 69-65 lead. Pierce hit a three at the buzzer, but the Bulls fell just short, losing 69-68.

John Boyer

Pierce led the way for the Bulls with 16 points. Boyer proved to be a suprise spark for the Bulls as the walk-on point guard finished with a career-best 11 points, including three three-pointers. Max Boudreau (Montreal, Quebec/Champlain-St. Lambert) had 10 points and nine rebounds. The UB bench had 43 of the team’s 68 points and outscored the Miami bench 43-0. Gamble was UB’s only starter in double figures with 10 points.

The Bulls were dominant on the boards with a 44-25 advantage on the glass. UB had 19 offensive rebounds, to just four from the RedHawks. Along with Boudreau, Calvin Betts (Rochester, NY/Rush-Henrietta) pulled down a game-high nine rebounds.

The RedHawks went to the line 24 times, including a 17-of-21 performance in the second half. UB went to the line just six times in the second half.

Miami was led by Michael Bramos who scored 23 points and Tim Pollitz who added 20.

“There were a couple areas that we could have been a little better in, but overall I think we made it pretty difficult for them.” head coach Reggie Witherspoon said.

The Bulls finished the season 10-20. The 2008-09 season looks promising as the Bulls return all but two players, including their top eight scorers.