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University at Buffalo
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West Va. Wesleyan
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Balanced Scoring Leads Bulls To First Victory
11/16/2013 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
BUFFALO, NY - The University at Buffalo men's basketball team put five players into double figures including a game-high 19 points and 14 rebounds from Javon McCrea as the Bulls picked up their first victory of the season, 80-60 over West Virginia Wesleyan Saturday afternoon at Alumni Arena. The win was the first in the head coaching career of Bobby Hurley.
The game was close for much of the first half as Wesleyan used some strong three-point shooting to stay in the contest. The Bobcats scored the first four points of the game before the Bulls got their offense going. Wesleyan led 20-16 when the Bulls went on an 18-2 run, going up 34-22. The final bucket came on a layup from Xavier Ford who flashed his athletic ability through out the afternoon; showing it early on an alley-oop dunk off a pass from freshman Shannon Evans just six minutes into the game. UB would add one to its advantage before the half, taking a 40-27 lead into the break.
UB continued to be the aggressors in the second half, as senior Joshua Freelove converted on an alley-oop off a pass from Jarryn Skeete just seven seconds into the half. The Bobcats got no closer than 10 as the Bulls went on a 14-2 run during a two and a half minute stretch where McCrea had five points and Ford broke away for another dunk. The Bulls built their largest lead of the game at 79-56 with a driving layup from Justin Moss.
As a team, UB scored at least 80 points for the second straight game, while the 60 points scored by Wesleyan were a season low allowed. The Bulls also shot a season-high 53.6% from the floor.
"It was nice to finally be home and play in front of a great crowd today," said Hurley. "I thought we got some good contributions out of our guys today; we had five players in double figures and that is a real positive."
McCrea followed up his 31-point, 14-rebound night against Niagara with another 19 points and 14 rebounds to lead the way. He also added a block and two steals. Ford finished with 14 points off the bench, just two points shy of his career high.
Three other starters finished in double figures as Freelove had 13 points, while junior Will Regan finished with 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting in just 16 minutes due to foul trouble. Senior Jarod Oldham had his best day of the young season, scoring 13 points on 4-of-4 shooting, while adding a game-high six assists as well as a career-best three blocked shots. He also added three steals on the defensive end.
UB, which finished with a season-high 14 assists, got four dimes from Evans, who added four points and a rebound. Moss added five points and Skeete finished with three points and two assists.
The Bobcats finished with three players in double figures led by 14 from Brett Ervin.
The Bulls will now be off for 10 days before they continue their homestand by hosting Robert Morris on Tuesday, Nov. 26 at 7:00 pm.
