4-2
St. Bonaventure
3-2
Bulls Fall In Final Seconds To St. Bonaventure
12/2/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
BUFFALO, NY – St. Bonaventure's Marcus Posley hit a jumper with eight seconds remaining on Wednesday night, leading the visiting Bonnies to a 60-58 win over the University at Buffalo, The State University of New York men's basketball team. The loss drops the Bulls to 4-3 on the season.
It was a tough night offensively for the Bulls who went just 1-of-13 from three point range and 19-of-32 from the free throw line, while also committing a season-high 21 turnovers. Despite that, the Bulls played solid defense over the final six minutes of the game to force a late tie before the game-winning basket.
The Bonnies led for the majority of the evening as the Bulls never held more than a two point advantage, their last one coming with 11:15 left. A layup by junior Willie Conner gave UB a 22-21 lead, but St. Bonaventure went on an 8-1 run to take a 29-24 lead with 4:29 left. A late three pointer from Nelson Kaputo, one of just two on the night for St. Bonaventure, gave the Bonnies a 38-33 lead at the break.
St. Bonaventure extended its lead to nine on a number of occasions and continued to lead 58-50 with 6:15 left when the UB defense picked up its game, forcing eight straight stops. During that defensive stand, UB continued to chip away at the lead. A fast-break dunk by redshirt freshman Ikenna Smart pulled the Bulls within five and then three straight points by sophomore Lamonte Bearden had UB within a single possession. Senior Rodell Wigginton hit a pair of free throws with 37 seconds left to tie the game up at 58-58, the first tie since 10:58 of the first half. However, the Posley layup gave the Bonnies the lead back and a late shot attempt by the Bulls at the buzzer was no good.
"It was really bad for us offensively tonight and I still can't figure out how we were even in that game," said head coach Nate Oats. "It seemed like earlier in the season, when our offense was struggling and guys were going one-on-one and not really sharing the ball. The difference tonight, than with those games, is we played some really good defense down the stretch."
Wigginton finished with his third double-double of the year as he had 16 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Bearden had 12 points and three steals, while junior Blake Hamilton finished with 10 points off the bench. Conner and freshman CJ Massinburg each had seven points, while Smart added five points and a career-high nine rebounds.
The Bulls will now embark on a two-game road trip where they will play a pair of top 10 national opponents. The trip begins on Saturday when UB heads to Cameron Indoor Stadium to face #7 Duke. The game will tip off at 5:15 and will air nationally on ESPN2.
