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University at Buffalo
1-5
Canisius
3-0
Shorthanded Bulls Fall to Canisius, 71-64
11/20/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
BUFFALO, NY – A shorthanded University at Buffalo men's basketball team lost at Canisius, 71-64, at the Koessler Center on Tuesday night. Playing their sixth game in 11 days, the Bulls were without Tony Watson and Xavier Ford who were out with injuries.
Javon McCrea matched his season high with 22 points and added six rebounds and three blocks. Will Regan had the best game of his young UB career with 15 points and six rebounds. Jarod Oldham finished with nine points, a season-high nine assists and three steals.
Buffalo (1-5) shot a season-best 52.2 percent from the field and outrebounded the Griffs, 39-25. However, turnovers did in the Bulls as they turned the ball over 25 times Canisius was able to convert those turnovers into 27 points.
It was a close game throughout with neither team leading by more than nine points. A McCrea jumper gave the Bulls a 20-17 lead. But the Griffs responded with an 11-2 scoring run to take a 28-22 lead with 7:17 left in the half. The Griffs led by as many as seven in the first half before UB cut the lead to 40-38 at the half.
Canisius never trailed in the second half. The Griffs led 57-54 with 10:50 before the Bulls went ice cold. UB went scoreless for the next seven minutes but played defense well enough to stay in the game. A McCrea free throw cut the Canisius lead to 67-62 with 35 seconds left. But the Bulls would get no closer as they dropped their third straight game.
Auraum Nuiriankh scored eight points and Corey Raley-Ross finished with five as all five starters played over 30 minutes in the game.
"It's painful for us to go through these experiences. But we have to go through them in order to get our guys the growth and development," head coach Reggie Witherspoon said. "We obviously turned the ball over a lot. But I also thought we did some good things given we were shorthanded."
Buffalo will finally return home and host Mansfield on Saturday.
