University at Buffalo
23-9
(1) Central Michigan
22-8
The Bulls are MAC Champions!
3/14/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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Radio Calls by Josh Whetzel, the Voice of the UB Bulls:
Will Regan's three-pointer to break a 50-50 tie
Xavier Ford's three-pointer to put the Bulls ahead 73-66
Shannon Evans layup to give the Bulls a 79-72 lead
Xavier Ford's putback to put the Bulls ahead 75-68
Jarryn Skeete's three-pointer to give the Bulls a 83-72
Lamonte Beardon dunk to give the Bulls a 86-79 lead
Final moments of the game
BUFFALO, NY – The University at Buffalo the State University of New York men's basketball team finally gets to put on its dancing shoes as the Bulls defeated Central Michigan, 89-84, to win its first ever Mid-American Conference Tournament Championship and advances to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history.
"I'm really proud of my team," head coach Bobby Hurley said. "I'm proud of the accomplishment that this group achieved, the first time in school history that we are MAC Champions."
UB placed six in double figuresas the Bulls knocked off the top-seeded Chippewas in an offensive slugfest. UB was led by tournament Most Valuable Player Xavier Ford who scored 18 points, including a trio of three-pointers. He shared team-high scoring honors with Shannon Evans who also scored 18 points and added five rebounds and four assists.
Hampered by an injury, Justin Moss, who scored just four points in the semifinal win over Akron, came alive late in the game, when the Bulls needed him most. The MAC Player of the Year finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds in the game.
It was a close game throughout, with neither team holding more than a six-point lead for the first 34 minutes of the game. Will Regan, who has been hitting big second-half threes for the Bulls a lot lately, hit another one to break a 50-50 tie with 14:21 left that gave the Bulls the lead for good.
Central Michigan kept the game tight and cut the UB advantage to 59-58 with 10:13 left. But a Lamonte Beardon steal and breakaway layup, followed by a defensive stop and a pair of Moss free throws extended the UB lead to five.
A long Jarryn Skeete jumper with 4:15 left gave the Bulls a 77-68 lead. But it was Skeete's three-pointer with 2:17 left that proved to be the dagger – putting UB ahead, 83-72.
Skeete finished with 12 points, including a pair of three-pointers. Beardon had 12 points, six assists and three steals. Regan had 11points and Wigginton had eight to round out the scoring.
The Bulls, who had been struggling from beyond the arc in recent outings, knocked down 10-of-22 three-point shots. Defensively, the UB did a tremendous job guarding the Chippewas three-point threats. Coming into the game, CMU was one of the nation's top three-point shooting teams. The Bulls held them to just 8-for-22 from beyond the arc.
The Bulls won their eighth straight game to win the title. Ironically, UB's last loss came against this same Central Michigan team on February 14.
"This team has so much heart and really came together when we suffered a tough loss at six and six in conference, to respond the way we have and to win eight straight games. It's easy to coach when you have guys like Shannon Evans, Xavier Ford, Will Regan, Lamonte Beardon, Justin Moss and just go right down the line. This is an amazing group of kids."
The Bulls improved their record to 23-9 on the season, tying their win total from 2004-05, and will be watching the selection show on Sunday evening to see where they will be playing in the NCAA Tournament.
