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Mark Bortz

A free throw by Bortz gave the Bulls a 65-56 lead with 7:26 remaining in the second half. However, Niagara mounted a 12-2 scoring run to take a 68-67 lead with one minute remaining in regulation. Mario Jordan (Cleveland, OH/Benedictine) was fouled with 1.8 seconds left and made 1-of-2 free throws to tie the game and send it to overtime.

Buffalo (5-2) took a 73-70 lead in overtime on a three-pointer by Calvin Cage (Capitol Heights, MD/Bladensburg) and extended its lead to four on a layup by Bortz. However, four straight free throws by Juan Mendez tied the contest, 76-76, with 2:26 left in the first overtime. UB took an 82-79 lead on a pair of free throws by Bortz with 1:00 left in overtime. David Brooks tied the game with a three-pointer on Niagara's next possession to force a second overtime.

The Purple Eagles (5-3) drew first blood in the second overtime on a pair of free throws by Mendez. The Niagara big man finished the night with 33 points, including 19-of-23 from the charity stripe. The Bulls scored four straight points to take an 86-84 lead with 2:59 left in the period. After Brooks tied the game with a jumper, UB took the lead for good on a putback by Brian Andre (Bingham, ME/Valley). The Purple Eagles cut the lead to 93-92 with six seconds left. However, Turner Battle (Kernersville, NC/East Forsyth) calming drained two free throws to give the Bulls a 95-92 lead with four seconds remaining. Bortz capped off his magical night by stealing the Niagara inbounds pass and dribbling off the remaining time on the clock.

With 3:45 left in the second overtime, Battle knocked down a free throw to give him 1,000 career points. It made him the 12th player in UB history to score 1,000 points. The senior point guard finished the night with 13 points, four rebounds and six assists. Cage tied a season high with 16 points, including three three-pointers, in 45 minutes of action. Yassin Idbihi (Tangier, Morocco/Schloss Hagerhof) also reached double-figures with 12 points and five rebounds, but was limited to only 26 minutes because of foul trouble.

The Bulls outrebounded the Purple Eagles, 43-40, and had 20 second chance points compared to eight by Niagara. Roderick Middleton (University Park, IL/Marion Catholic) grabbed a career-high eight rebounds for the Bulls.

Along with Mendez, Niagara got a big performance from Brooks who tallied 23 points. Alvin Cruz and J.R. Duffy added 13 and 10 points, respectively.

Turner Battle

Bortz's 32 points were the most by a UB player since Mike Martinho scored 44 points against Rochester on Feb. 3, 1998.

For Buffalo, it was the second straight game and the third of the season that needed extra time to be decided. The Bulls are 3-0 this season in overtime contests.

"It was a hard-fought game," head coach Reggie Witherspoon said. "I am proud of the fact that we had people that had to play a lot of minutes because we had people foul out. Things didn't always go our way tonight but we fought through it."

Up next for the Bulls is a game with cross-town rival Canisius at the Koessler Center on Dec. 18.