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HUNTINGTON, WV - Buffalo took MAC favorite Marshall to the wire, forcing overtime before the Thundering Herd pulled out an 85-75 conference win over the Bulls in front of 6,046 fans. Damien Foster (Buffalo, NY/Traditional) kept Buffalo in the game with seven three-pointers for a season-high 24 points while Tamar Slay had a game-high 28 points to lead the Herd.

Damien Foster

Marshall (7-1, 1-0) jumped out to a quick lead, scoring the first nine points of the game in the first two minutes, forcing Buffalo (2-6, 0-1) to call a quick timeout. MU then extended out to a 13-3 lead three minutes into the game before UB made a charge. The Bulls went on a 10-0 run, including two three pointers by Foster. Later in the half, Foster again caught fire and gave UB its first lead of the game. Marshall was leading 26-19 with 7:22 to play before Foster did his magic. He hit three straight from long range over the next two minutes, with the only Marshall points coming on a free throw. The last three pointer gave UB a 28-27 lead, but the Herd would close the half with a 7-3 run and took a 34-31 lead into halftime.

The second half opened much the same as the first, with Marshall scoring early and getting up by eight points, 43-35, at the 17:02 mark. The Bulls then charged back again with an 11-3 run to tie the game as two free throws by Foster knotted it at 46-46. A few minutes later, Foster hit yet another three pointer, giving Buffalo a 49-48 lead with 12:23 to play. The Herd gradually extended the lead again and got up by five points before Louis Campbell (Rahway, NJ/Rahway) hit two consecutive three-pointers, giving the Bulls the lead at 60-59 with seven minutes to play. Marshall would take the lead back on some free throws, and the Bulls would not gain the lead the rest of the game. The game was tied again four more times in the last four minutes, the last on a jumper by Robert Brown (Oak Park, MI/Oak Park) with 0:50 to play. Marshall would have a couple chances for the win, but the Bulls' defense prevented the Herd from capitalizing on a couple of jumpers, sending the game into overtime tied at 68-68.

The Thundering Herd took the first lead in overtime, and two free throws by Campbell tied the game at 70-70 with 4:24 to go in the extra period. Joda Burgess then hit two three-pointers in consecutive possessions for Marshall to extend the lead to six points. UB could get no closer than two points the rest of the way, as a free throw by Foster made it a 76-74 game with two minutes to play. Marshall hit seven free throws down the stretch for the 85-75 final score.

"We fought hard, but just had too many turnovers and many of those were unforced turnovers," said UB head coach Reggie Witherspoon. "Even though we outrebounded them we gave up too many offensive rebounds to them, especially in the final minute of regulation. But our team fought hard and hung in there till the final buzzer."

Damien Foster had a season-high 24 points for Buffalo and six rebounds. Foster hit 7-of-11 from three-point range for the game, and his seven three-pointers tied him for the fourth-highest single game total for a UB player. The Bulls as a team hit 12 three-pointers, which tied for the third-highest single game total in UB history. Robert Brown poured in 19 points and had five rebounds and Louis Campbell had 15 points. O'Tes Alston (Lackawanna, NY/Lackawanna) scored five points off the bench and had a team-high seven rebounds. Tamar Slay led Marshall with a game-high 28 points and J.R. VanHoose and Joda Burgess each had 16 points, with Burgess scoring ten points in overtime.

The Bulls are now 2-6 on the season and 0-1 in the conference. Buffalo will next be at home on Wednesday, January 3, against Akron at 7 pm in a Mid-American Conference matchup.