Williams’ Floater Leads Bulls To Seventh Straight Victory

Tuesday, February 22

Oxford, OH

7:00 pm

17-8,11-4MAC

Miami (OH)

12-15,6-10MAC

Buffalo

Miami (OH)

Williams’ Floater Leads Bulls To Seventh Straight Victory

2/22/2022 9:57:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

OXFORD, OH – University at Buffalo senior forward Jeenathan Williams hit a floater with just under four seconds left to send the Bulls to an 86-84 win at Miami (OH) on Tuesday night. The victory was Buffalo's seventh straight as UB officially clinched a spot in the upcoming Mid-American Conference Tournament. UB is now 17-8 on the year and 11-4 in league play.

The Bulls jumped out to big leads in both the first and second halves, but the RedHawks had an answer for every Buffalo run. Tied at 7-7 early, the Bulls scored 14 straight points to build a 21-7 lead, which would be Buffalo's largest of the night.

However, the RedHawks chipped away and went on a 19-4 run as Miami regained a lead with 6:24 left. Miami, continued to lead by one at 36-35 when the Bulls went on a 10-2 run, capped off on a three from Maceo Jack. The Bulls went on to take a 45-40 lead into the break.

UB scored the first seven points of the second half, including another three from Jack, giving the Bulls a 52-40 lead. Buffalo was unable to increase the lead to any more than 12, but still led by double figures following a three from Curtis Jones with 8:43 left.

Again, Miami clawed its way back and took an 81-80 lead with 2:25 left. The Bulls answered with back-to-back buckets from David Skogman and Ronaldo Segu to go ahead 84-81, but Mekhi Lairy drilled a long three to tie the game up at 84-84.

Following a Buffalo timeout, Segu passed it off to Williams, who drove the lane and converted on the floater to put the Bulls back ahead. Miami would have one last opportunity following a timeout, but the three was short as the buzzer sounded.

"Give Miami credit, they took every punch we threw, but I am proud of the way we hung in there and came away with the victory," said Jim Whitesell. "We are really playing some good basketball right now and for these guys to win seven in a row, with four of them coming on the road, speaks to the character of this team."

Josh Mballa led all scorers with 23 points, while he added 17 rebounds, including eight on the offensive end. With his 23 points, he enters Thursday's game just four points shy of 1,000 for his career.

Williams scored 17 points to go along with five rebounds, four assists, four steals, and three blocks. Segu filled the stat sheet as he had 16 points, six rebounds, nine assists, and two steals.

Skogman also notched the double-double as the sophomore had 14 points and 11 boards. Jack finished with nine points, while Tra'von Fagan had four and Jones added three.

The Bulls dished out 19 assists, including 13 in the first half. Buffalo also held a 43-41 advantage on the glass, including 15 offensive boards.

The Bulls scored over 80 points in their sixth straight game on Tuesday night, marking their longest stretch of 80-point games since 2018-19. Since 2017-18, it was Buffalo's 90^th 80-point performance.

Buffalo continues its busy stretch with a road game at Northern Illinois on Thursday evening at 8pm ET.