CLEVELAND, OH - Top-seeded Kent defeated eighth-seed Buffalo 71-68 in the quarterfinals of the Mid-American Conference Tournament in Cleveland's Public Hall Thursday afternoon. The loss eliminated the Bulls from the tournament and concluded their season at 18-11.

UB trailed 34-21 at halftime but rallied in the second half shooting 58 percent to tie the game at 58-58 on a Tiffany Bell (Alexandria, VA/Hayfield) layup with 2:39 remaining but the Bulls never gained the lead. The Golden Flashes then scored the next nine points to gain a 67-58 edge with 35 seconds left before the Bulls put together another run scoring eight points in the final 24 seconds, including a pair of three-pointers by Mari McClure (Rochester Hills, MI/Rochester Adams) in the final five seconds.

Kent made eight of their last ten free throw attempts in the final two minutes, including six by MAC Player of theYear Dawn Zerman. Kent went to the charity stripe 17 times in the contest, making 14 to the Bulls' 5-of-6 from the line.

McClure and Tara Perrier (Aurora, Ontario/Aurora) led the Bulls with 15 points apiece, combining for 7-of-13 behind the three-point arc. McClure also had seven assists playing all 40 minutes. Kim Kilpela (West Bloomfield, Mi/West Bloomfield), who garnered MAC All-Freshman team honors, had 14 points while Sonia Ortega (Chihuahua, Mexico/Cobach) scored 12 with nine rebounds. Bell, a second-team All-MAC selection, pulled down 11 boards and added ten points.

Zerman and Alana Bader each scored 17 points in leading the Golden Flashes (23-5) to their eighth victory in a row and 20th in the last 21 games. Kent advanced to the MAC Tournament semifinals for the ninth time in the past ten seasons.