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Turner Battle

LEWISTON, NY - Turner Battle (Kernersville, NC/East Forsyth) hit a leaning jumper with 0.3 seconds remaining to give the University at Buffalo men's basketball team a thrilling 81-79 win over Niagara in front of a raucous sellout crowd of 2,400 at the Gallagher Center. Battle's basket capped a stellar night as the junior point guard finished with 21 points, eight assists and five steals. It was the fourth-straight win for Buffalo (4-3).

The game featured the contrasting styles of Niagara's highly-potent offense that ranked third in the nation in scoring (93.5 ppg) and UB's solid defensive play (64.0 points allowed per game). Defense won out on this night as UB forced 19 Niagara turnovers, had 11 steals and blocked five shots to hand the Purple Eagles their first loss of the season (4-1).

"I'm proud of our guys," head coach Reggie Witherspoon said. "We've been working really hard and it's great to get a win in here."

The Bulls held a 38-33 halftime lead after a strong opening stanza. Buffalo shot 52 percent from the field and forced 11 Niagara turnovers in the first half. Buffalo jumped out to an early 5-0 lead and led most of the half. Niagara's biggest lead was at 25-21 on a bucket by Alvin Cruz. However, the Bulls went on an 11-2 run to recapture the lead 32-27. Mark Bortz (Commerce Township, MI/Walled Lake Central), who had 10 first-half points, had four during that stretch as the Bulls' bench outscored Niagara's, 13-2, in the first half.

Mark Bortz

In the second half, Buffalo extended its lead to 48-39 on a bucket by Battle, before Niagara embarked on a 9-0 run, highlighted by a dunk by Juan Mendez to tie the game, 48-48. Niagara took its first lead of the second half at 50-49 on two free throws by Mendez with 12:12 remaining. A pair of Mario Jordan (Cleveland, OH/Benedictine) free throws put UB ahead by one. A three-pointer by Calvin Cage (Capital Heights, MD/Bladensburg) extended the UB lead to 60-56 with 9:10 remaining. However, a James Reaves' layup, followed by a Tremmell Darden trey put the Purple Eagles up by one at the 7:53 mark. An undeterred UB squad mounted a 13-0 run to take a 73-61 lead with 4:26 remaining. However, Niagara answered right back by going on an 18-6 run, capped by a pair of Mendez free throws that tied the contest, 79-79.

With three seconds remaining, Battle curled off a screen set by Bortz at the top of the key, took two dribbles and hit a leaning 10-foot jumper to put UB up for good. Niagara's length-of-the-floor pass in the waning moments was knocked away to secure the victory for Buffalo.

Bortz had his best game of the young season by scoring 19 points on 9-for-12 shooting. Jordan also reached double-figures with 15 points, including two first half three-pointers. Yassin Idbihi (Tangier, Morocco/Schloss Hagerhof) grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds and had three blocked shots.

Niagara was led by Mendez who led all scorers with 27 points, including a perfect 10-for-10 from the free throw line. Reaves notched 17 points on 8-10 shooting from the floor.

The Bulls are riding their first four-game winning streak since the 1996-97 season. It is also the first time in six seasons that UB has won consecutive road games.