MEN'S BASKETBALL

Roster  |  Coaches  |  Schedule / Results  |  News

LAIE, HI - The University at Buffalo survived a spirited second-half rally by the Naval Academy and than sunk the Midshipmen with some great defense and strong shooting down the stretch to post a 63-54 win in the consolation bracket of the Yahoo! Invitational Tournament at Brigham Young University-Hawaii.

Buffalo improved to 6-3 on the season with the victory and will face old Mid-Continent Conference rival Valparaiso - a 71-55 winner over Columbia - on Saturday at 5:00 pm EST.

The Bulls, who appeared in control for most of the game had to survive a furious second-half rally by the Middies after leading 33-23 at halftime. Trailing 43-36, Navy's Jason Jean-Pierre (14 points) hit two three-pointers and a free throw to single-handedly bring the Midshipmen into their first tie of the game at 43-43 with 13:16 remaining in the contest. From that point, however, Buffalo would go on a 17-4 run to take control of

Darcel Williams

the game buoyed by the play of seniors Darcel Williams (Buffalo, NY/Traditional) and Louis Campbell (Rahway, NJ/Rahway).

Williams (19 points, eight rebounds) broke the tie with a trifecta to put Buffalo ahead for good and contributed five points during the run. Campbell, meanwhile, tallied seven of his 15 points during the pivotal run and also had a steal that set up a three pointer by freshman Daniel Gilbert (Detroit, MI/Cass Tech) which put the Bulls up 60-47 and ended the run.

Campbell would finish with seven rebounds and four assists while another senior, Robert Brown (Oak Park, MI/Oak Park), would also hit double figures with 10 points. Junior center Clement Smith (Brooklyn, NY/Westinghouse) added nine points and seven rebounds for the Bulls.

Clement Smith

Buffalo's defense was outstanding throughout the game as the Bulls limited Navy to 27% shooting in the contest and outrebounded the Middies, 40-35. Buffalo limited Navy to just four field goals in the first half, but Navy stayed in the game by hitting 15-of-18 free throws in the first half.

"You figured to get that kind of test from Navy," said UB coach Reggie Witherspoon. "They play hard and they do a great job with the ordinary things. They didn't beat themselves so we had to go out and beat them. I really think our half-court defense was pretty good. They didn't get a lot of clean, open shots. I think defensively we did a pretty decent job.

"I thought we had a chance to widen the margin in the first half but I think we got we got in the mindset of a quick knockout and it hurt us," said Witherspoon. "The second half it took us awhile to get back in our rhythm at both ends of the floor and in the meantime they did a good job and stayed with what they had."

However, the Bulls had enough in the stretch run and now hope they have enough in their third game in three days tomorrow.

"We're a pressure team and we need our legs," Witherspoon said. "These games are a real challenge to our mentality. We have to do those things (pressure) to be successful and we'll need our legs to do that."