Men's

Fairleigh Dickinson 74, UB 68

Lionel Bomayako scored 14 of his 17 points in the first half and Fairleigh Dickinson connected on 14 more free throws to hold off UB, 74-68, in a non-conference game Saturday in Alumni Arena before 1,185 fans.

With the Knights leading 43-32 at halftime, UB mounted a second-half comeback behind the play of junior Robert Brown and senior Damien Foster. Brown and Foster combined for 13 points as the Bulls (0-2) went on a 17-10 run to open the second half and cut the lead to 53-51 with 13:19 remaining.

However, FDU (2-1) held Buffalo without a basket until the 8:45 mark, and although the Bulls would get within three points twice more in the game, they never were able to make up the lead.

Brown led the way for UB with 20 points, while Foster had 17. Junior Jason Robinson added 13 points, while Louis Campbell had 11 points and a career-best 14 rebounds as well as six assists. Senior Maliso Libomi had a career-best seven rebounds off the bench for the Bulls. UB got only seven minutes from starting point guard Gabe Cagwin, who continues to be hobbled by a bruised foot.

Athletes of the Week

Josh States won both his matches in the wrestling team's double dual victories over Mid-American Con-ference rivals Eastern Michigan and Northern Illinois. Wrestling at 184 pounds, States won a 3-1 decision over NIU's David Potter, last year's MAC champion, to give UB enough points to take the team victory and followed that by pinning EMU's Dave Ciccarelli in 1:12. A national qualifier last season, States is a perfect 6-0 in competition this season. Tiffany Bell led the women's basketball team to victories over Big 4 opponents Niagara (72-67) and Canisius (73-59), scoring 36 points, pulling down 28 rebounds and adding four blocks in the two contests while shooting 14-of-28 (50 percent). Bell, with 1,179 points, moved into third place on UB's career scoring list, passing Charissa Gardner (94-98). For the season, Bell is averaging 21.3 points and a team-best 11.7 rebounds per contest.

Women's

UB 73, Canisius 59
UB 72, Niagara 67

Senior Tiffany Bell posted her second straight double-double with a game-high 21 points and 12 rebounds, and senior Mari McClure scored 19 points to pace UB to a 73-59 win over Canisius on Saturday in Alumni Arena. With her 21 points, Bell moved into third place all-time in scoring at UB with 1,179 career points. The win was the Bulls' third straight this season.

The Bulls jumped out to an early lead, scoring the first 12 points of the game en route to a 33-20 halftime lead that the Griffs, playing in their season opener, could not overcome. Buffalo shot slightly better from the floor-27-for-63 compared to 21-for-67 for Canisius-and out-rebounded the Griffs by a 49-40 margin. UB senior Sonia Ortega tied her career high with a game-high 13 rebounds, and freshman Jessica Kochendorfer grabbed nine boards. Ortega also added eight points, six assists and two steals. Ten different players scored for the Bulls, and the team made 9-of-10 free throws in the final minute of the game, including five by junior Jana Richtrova and four by sophomore Roslyn Dominico to secure the win.

The Bulls on Nov. 22 squeaked out a 72-67 win at Niagara. McClure scored a game-high 22 points and Bell recorded her first double-double of the season and the 18th of her career with 15 points and a game-high 16 rebounds.

Niagara came out flying in its home opener and led for most of the first half. The Purple Eagles scored the first six points of the game and led by as many as seven points before sophomore Colleen Tabor and senior Tara Perrier came off the bench to spark the Bulls. Tabor hit a three-pointer at the 7:57 mark to tie the score at 18-18, and Perrier followed with a driving layup to give Buffalo its first lead of the game, 20-18. Perrier scored nine of her 12 points to key a 19-12 UB run to close the first half. Niagara erased Buffalo's 37-30 halftime lead with a 15-8 run to open the second half, and two free throws by Amy Getman tied the score at 45-45 with 13:35 left. The Bulls countered that comeback with 10 unanswered points, six straight by McClure, to take their largest lead of the night, 55-45, with 11:17 remaining. The Purple Eagles continued battling, however, and led by one point on two separate occasions late in the game: 65-64 with 2:28 remaining and 67-66 with 1:07 remaining. A jumper and two free throws by McClure gave UB the lead back both times, and she hit five of her six free-throw attempts in the final minute of play to secure the Bulls' win.

McClure finished the night shooting 10-of-13 from the foul line, and added five rebounds, four assists and three steals. Ortega added seven points and seven rebounds, while Kochendorfer contributed nine points off the bench.

Off the court, McClure was named Mid-American Conference East Player of the Week after leading the Bulls to a 95-89 upset win over nationally ranked North Carolina in the season opener on Nov. 17. After undergoing an MRI scan the day before, McClure played a team-high 38 minutes, scoring 35 points-seven points higher than her previous career high of 28 points.

The Bulls also received two votes in the Associated Press Top 25 poll released on Nov. 20 following their win over North Carolina, marking the first time ever in their history that the Bulls received votes in a national poll.

Wrestling

UB 31, Eastern Michigan 9
UB 19, Northern Illinois 15

The wrestling team picked up two big wins to start the Mid-American Conference season, recording dual meet wins over Northern Illinois and Eastern Michigan on Sunday in Alumni Arena.

UB dominated Eastern Michigan, taking that contest 31-9. The Bulls recorded three wins by fall in that match, the first coming at 149 pounds from Tom Paladino, a double winner on the day for UB. Labe Black followed that up with a win by fall in 1:21 at the 157-pound weight class. The last fall came at 184 pounds when Josh States pinned his opponent in 1:12. Shawn Kegel recorded a major decision at 133 pounds, winning 17-4 in his match, and Ryan Bentley pulled out a sudden-death victory, winning 6-5 at 141 pounds. David Guarino and John Eschenfelder both took wins by decisions, and both recorded double wins on the day for the Bulls.

In the first match of the day, UB and Northern Illinois battled down to the last match, with the Bulls coming away with a 19-15 win. Eschenfelder took an 8-4 win to start things off for UB, but NIU came back to win the next two weight classes for a 7-3 lead. The Bulls got a key major decision win by Bentley over Steven Bradley at 141 pounds, winning 12-4, and then got a 4-2 win from Paladino at 149 pounds to give UB a 10-7 lead. The Huskies got major decisions at 157 and 174 pounds to lead 15-13 with two weight classes to go. States got a big win over David Potter at 184 pounds to give the Bulls a one-point advantage, and Joe Downey closed the deal with a 10-5 win at 197 pounds for the 19-15 UB victory.