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Turner Battle

BUFFALO, NY - The Buffalo men's basketball team snapped a two-game losing streak by thoroughly dominating Niagara, 75-64, at Alumni Arena on Wednesday night. Four players scored in double figures, led by Roderick Middleton (University Park, IL/Marian Catholic) with 16 points. The win also snapped the Bulls' four-game losing streak against the Purple Eagles that dated back to 1997.

Turner Battle (Kernersville, NC/East Forsyth) collected the opening tip, dribbled down the floor and hit a 10-foot jumper to set the tone for a big night. The sophomore point guard had his most complete game of the season with 12 points, a career-high nine assists, six rebounds and four steals in 40 minutes of action.

"When we play hard defense, offense comes and I think tonight, that's what happened," Battle said. "We had a lot more patience with the ball tonight and we made the defense work more than we usually do." "We got the ball inside and our big men played really well."

The Bulls, who never trailed in the game, were sparked by the play of Joe Veal (Chicago, IL/Osborn) who scored seven of his career-high 11 points in the first half. With Buffalo leading 19-18, midway through the first stanza, Battle hit a jumper and Middleton nailed a three-pointer to help ignite a 14-5 scoring run that gave the Bulls a 10-point advantage. The Purple Eagles scored the final six points of the half to cut the lead to four at the break.

The Bulls came out of the locker room and took control of the game in the second half. In the first 4:03 of the second stanza, Buffalo built its lead to 13 points and never looked back. With 1:10 remaining in the game, Clement Smith (Brooklyn, NY/Westinghouse) put an exclamation point on the contest by throwing down an emphatic one-handed dunk that brought the 2,206 in attendance to their feet.

Buffalo (3-4) broke out of a recent shooting slump by hitting 50 percent (25-50) of their shots from the floor, including a sizzling 61.9 percent (13-21) in the second half. Daniel Gilbert (Detroit, MI/Cass Technical) reached double figures with 10 points. Jason Bird (Ypsilanti, MI/Ypsilanti) and Mark Bortz (Commerce Township, MI/Walled Lake Central) chipped in with nine points apiece. Bortz added a team-high seven rebounds and three blocked shots.

Niagara (1-5) was led by Tremmell Darden and James Reaves who scored 19 and 17 points, respectively. The Purple Eagles shot 47.1 percent (24-51) from the field, but struggled from the free throw line, shooting only 50 percent (14-28).