MEN'S BASKETBALL

Roster  |  Coaches  |  Schedule / Results  |  News

BUFFALO, NY - The University at Buffalo men's basketball team handed out its season-ending awards at the annual UB Athletic Awards Banquet on Sunday, April 28 at Samuel's Grande Manor in Clarence.

Turner Battle

Receiving awards from head coach Reggie Witherspoon and his staff were freshman Turner Battle (Kernersville, NC/East Forsyth), senior Kevin Swoffer (Independence, MO/William Crisman), junior Clement Smith (Brooklyn, NY/Westinghouse) and senior Darcel Williams (Buffalo, NY/Traditional).

Battle received the Top Newcomer award after becoming the first UB player to earn Mid-American Conference All-Freshman Team honors in his first season in the Blue & White. Battle averaged 7.6 points, 4.0 rebounds and led the Bulls with 102 assists (3.6 per game). He started all 30 games as a freshman and shot 42% from three-point range.

Swoffer, a 6-10 center, was a valuable reserve off the bench early in the season and later started six of the final seven games while showing great dependability and effort, en route to earning Most Improved honors.

Smith won the Coaches Award for the second straight year after again battling through injuries to give Buffalo a solid season in the post. Smith started 19 of 25 games - missing five games with a stress fracture - and averaged 6.2 points and 3.7 rebounds per game while shooting 53% from the field. He also displayed great leadership as a co-captain.

Clement Smith

Williams earned Most Valuable Player honors despite having just one season of eligibility with Buffalo - after transferring from Eastern Kentucky. He made the most of it by earning Honorable Mention All-MAC honors while leading the Bulls in scoring (15.1 ppg), rebounding (8.0), three-point field goals (64) and free throw percentage (.821) while starting all 30 games.

The 12 wins by the Bulls tripled their total from a year ago and tied them for the 25th-best turnaround in NCAA Division I men's basketball in 2001-02. In addition, the seven Mid-American Conference victories were more than the team achieved in its first three years in the league combined.