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Mario Jordan

Trailing, 65-64, with 13 seconds remaining, Mario Jordan (Cleveland, OH/Benedictine) corralled an offensive rebound, hit an acrobatic lay-up and was fouled. He converted the free throw to give the Bulls a 67-65 lead. Canisius had a chance to tie the game or win it late in regulation. However, the Griffs' inbounds pass was stolen by Turner Battle (Kernersville, NC/East Forsyth) who dribbled the length of the court and laid the ball in at the buzzer to give the Bulls the four-point victory.

Battle's lay-up capped a season-high 20-point effort. The senior point guard tied a career-high with four three-pointers and added five rebounds and four assists. Jordan had his most productive game of the season with 12 points, six rebounds and three assists. Roderick Middleton (University Park, IL/Marion Catholic) and Mark Bortz (Commerce Township, MI/Walled Lake Central) each tallied 11 points. For the second consecutive game, Middleton grabbed a career-high eight rebounds to lead the Bulls.

Buffalo took a 10-0 lead to start the game and hit its first six shots. The Bulls led for the entire first half and a three-pointer by Calvin Cage (Capitol Heights MD/Bladensburg), in the closing seconds of the first stanza, gave the Bulls a 37-26 lead at halftime.

Canisius clawed its way back into the game in the second half. After a Bortz lay-up put the Bulls ahead, 47-33, with 15:28 remaining, Canisius mounted a 19-4 scoring run and a lay-up by Kevin Downey gave the Griffs their first lead of the night, 52-51, with 9:35 left in the game. Downey drained a three-pointer to put Canisius ahead, 55-53. However, Jason Bird (Ypsilanti, MI/Ypsilanti) countered with a trey of his own to give the Bulls a 56-55 lead with 6:54 remaining. The Bulls would continue to lead until a fast break lay-up by Dewitt Doss gave the Golden Griffins a 65-64 lead with 47 seconds remaining. The Bulls would score the final five points of the game to escape with the victory.

Roderick Middleton

Buffalo shot 50 percent from the floor and hit a season-high 11 three-pointers. The Bulls outrebounded Canisius, 34-22, and scored 30 of their points in the paint.

Canisius (1-5) was led by Doss and Darnell Wilson who each scored 17 points.

"I give our guys credit, because we didn't fold," head coach Reggie Witherspoon said. "We kept fighting, battling, rebounding and scrapping. It was a hard-fought game, but I think what helped us was our rebounding edge."

With the win, Buffalo improved to 6-2 and is off to its best start since the 1994-95 season. The Bulls will wrap-up non-conference play on Tuesday night when they play at Penn State. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 pm.