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Turner Battle

On a night when their shots weren't falling, the Bulls' gritty defense kept them in the game and put them in position to win in the end. However, Saint Joseph's came up with clutch shots late in the contest to hold off the Bulls.

Saint Joseph's (21-11) jumped out to a 10-3 lead, thanks in part to back-to-back three-pointers by Pat Carroll. A layup by Yassin Idbihi (Tangier, Morocco/Schloss Hagerhof) cut the Hawks' lead to 15-13 with 7:45 left in the first half. However, the Bulls went cold and scored only two more points over the final seven minutes of the first half. Saint Joseph's led, 23-15, at the break.

A three-pointer by Jason Bird (Ypsilanti, MI/Ypsilanti) and a jumper by Turner Battle (Kernersville, NC/East Forsyth) to open the second half, cut the Hawks' lead to 23-20. A steal and breakaway layup by Roderick Middleton (University Park, IL/Marian Catholic) pulled the Bulls to within one at 37-36. On UB's next possession, Battle hit a twisting jumper in the lane to give the Bulls their first lead of the night, 40-39. Buffalo went ahead, 42-40, on an alley-oop dunk from Calvin Cage (Capitol Heights, MD/Bladensburg) to Mark Bortz (Commerce Township, MI/Walled Lake Central) with 3:35 remaining. But on the Hawks' next possession, Carroll struck again with a three-pointer that gave Saint Joseph's the lead for good. Carroll, the Atlantic 10 Conference Co-Player of the Year, finished with 26 points, including four three-pointers.

UB (23-10) shot 31.7 percent (19-for-60) from the floor and only 16.7 (3-for-18) from beyond the arc. The Bulls had eight steals and forced 16 turnovers. Buffalo matched a season low with only nine turnovers.

Battle led the Bulls with 12 points. Idbihi had nine points and eight rebounds. Bortz had nine points, four rebounds and two blocked shots.

Along with Carroll, the Hawks were led by Dwayne Jones who had 10 points, 16 rebounds and four blocked shots.

"When the game was over, we asked the guys if they gave their absolute best effort and they had to say yes because when you shoot 30 percent on the road, against a team like this, typically you are going to lose by double-digits," head coach Reggie Witherspoon said. "I felt that we defended well enough to keep us in the game, we just didn't shoot it well enough from the free throw line or the field."