Second Half Run Leads MAC-Leading Bowling Green Past Buffalo, 78-77

Friday, January 31

Buffalo, NY

7 pm

14-8,5-4MAC

Bowling Green

17-5,8-1MAC

Bowling Green

Buffalo

Second Half Run Leads MAC-Leading Bowling Green Past Buffalo, 78-77

1/31/2020 10:40:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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BUFFALO, NY – The visiting Bowling Green Falcons won their eighth straight game on Friday night as BG used a 15-2 run to open the second half to defeat the University at Buffalo men's basketball team, 78-77.
UB was outscored 44-32 in the second half as the Falcons overcame a 14-point first half deficit. Early on the Bulls rode the momentum of the crowd as UB was playing its first game at home with the students back on campus since November.

Trailing 9-5, the Bulls went on a quick 9-0 run as a three-pointer from sophomore Jeenathan Williams put UB ahead 14-9. The run extended to 20-4 as another three pointer, this one from senior Davonta Jordan, gave Buffalo the 25-13 advantage. An offensive put back from sophomore Josh Mballa gave the Bulls their largest lead of the game at 40-26 with 2:29 left. A late three pointer from sophomore Ronaldo Segu gave the Bulls a 45-34 lead into the break.

The Bulls continued to lead by 11 at 47-36 when Bowling Green went on a game-changing run, scoring the next 13 points to regain the lead. Buffalo would retake the lead scoring the next seven points as a layup from Jordan put the Bulls back ahead at 54-49 with 14:15 left, but that would be the largest advantage for either team over the final 14 minutes.

UB led 68-64 with 5:12 left, but a three from Dylan Frye capped off five straight for BG to put the Falcons back ahead. Bowling Green extended the lead to 78-74 with 1:18 remaining, but the Bulls had one more run in them.

Junior Jayvon Graves cut the deficit in half with 44 seconds left and following a BG miss, the Bulls got the ball back with just 15 seconds left. Graves was fouled with roughly seven seconds remaining and made the first but missed the second. UB had a second and third chance but couldn't convert as time expired.

"I thought both teams played extremely hard and that is what you are going to see night in and night out in this league," said head coach Jim Whitesell. "We had one bad stretch there to begin the second half, but I thought our guys played hard. We will own it and we will learn from it and get better for Tuesday night."

Graves led the Bulls with 24 points as he went 11-of-21 from the floor. Williams had 14 points and six rebounds, including four offensive boards.

Mballa had his second straight double-double coming off the bench as he finished with 12 points and a game-high 15 rebounds, including eight offensive boards. Jordan had nine points, seven rebounds, three assists, and a career-high five blocked shots.

Segu chipped in seven points off the bench, while junior Brock Bertram finished with two points and a career-high seven rebounds, while senior Gabe Grant had three points and eight rebounds.

For the second straight contest, the Bulls eclipsed the 50-rebound mark as UB had 52 boards, including 24 on the offensive end. Buffalo outrebounded Bowling Green, 52-40.

UB also recorded 13 blocked shots, third most in school history for a single game. Six different players recorded at least one block in the game.

After going 21-of-24 from the line on Tuesday night at Akron, the Bulls struggled from the charity stripe on Friday, as Buffalo went just 6-of-13, while Bowling Green went 13-of-17 from the free throw line.

UB returns to the road on Tuesday night when the Bulls head to Eastern Michigan. Tip off is at 7pm.