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Bulls Stung By Delaware State, 65-62

Andy Robinson

The Bulls (7-5), who were playing their second straight game without leading scorer and rebounder Yassin Idbihi (Tangier, Morocco/Schloss Hagerhof), were sluggish out of the gate as they were held to only 19 first-half points on 30 percent shooting and had 14 turnovers. They trailed the Hornets, 25-19, at the break.

Delaware State opened the second half by scoring seven straight points to open a 16-point advantage. The Hornets built their lead to as many as 17 points and led, 51-36, with 7:20 remaining. Six straight points in 20 seconds by Calvin Betts (Rochester, NY/Rush-Henrietta) cut the Delaware State lead to 10 with 6:41 left.

Trailing, 58-50, with 2:14 remaining, the Bulls made one last frantic attempt to win the game. A steal and lay-up by Andy Robinson (Schenectady, NY/Schenectady) cut the lead to five with 1:06 left. Following a Darwin Young (Buffalo, NY/Hutch Tech) steal, Robinson made a pair of free throws to reduce the lead to four. On the Hornets' ensuing possession, Betts came up with a steal and went in for the lay-up to cut the lead to two.

Robinson came up with his fourth steal of the game on Delaware State's next possession to give the Bulls the ball trailing by two with 29 seconds remaining. However, Parnell Smith's (Indianapolis, IN/Pike) jumper to tie the game came up short and the Hornets were able to seal the victory at the free throw line.

Buffalo was able to force Delaware State into 14 second-half turnovers. However, the Hornets only missed three shots in the second half and shot a sizzling 62.9 percent for the game. It was the first time this season that a UB opponent shot over 50 percent from the field.

"We didn't play very well and we didn't deserve to win," head coach Reggie Witherspoon said. "There isn't anything that I can sit here and say that we did a good job at. You can say that we didn't give up, but that's not commendable, it's a requirement."

The Bulls were led by Smith who scored 19 points. Robinson added 16 points and Betts notched a career-high 11 points.