This was not the way it was supposed to happen.
In front of an electrified crowd of 5,378 inside UB's Alumni Arena on Friday night, the Buffalo Bulls (0-1) laid the ground for their own demise in a game they controlled for the majority of the night.
To make things worse, the loss came at the hands of the local-rival Canisius Golden Griffins (1-0) by the closest of margins in a deflating 60-58 defeat in front of a Buffalo crowd that has been painfully longing for something, anything, to cheer about.
While Buffalo was able to shoot a cool 50 percent from the field on the night, it was the bevy of turnovers and their horrific performance at the free throw line that ultimately cost UB the season opener.
"We really shot ourselves in the foot," said Mark Bortz, who was 1-6 from the charity stripe. "Free throws and turnovers, a lot of that is poise and we didn't handle that well at all. If we just hit the free throws we wouldn't be having this conversation right now."
Despite their self-proclaimed lack of poise, the Bulls had the opportunity to come out victorious when trailing only 59-58 and in possession of the rock.
UB's Roderick Middleton had the ball, and with the arena waiting to explode, telegraphed a pass to B.J. Walker that was intercepted by the Griffins' Kevin Downey who immediately passed it to free-throw wizard Dewitt Doss.
Without delay the Bulls fouled Doss, and sent him to the free throw line for two shots with 24 seconds remaining in the contest.
Doss, who had been prolific from the line in his sophomore year shooting free throws at an 82 percent clip prior to an injury that kept him out all of last year, made the first but missed the second and UB grabbed the rebound that would give them one final chance.
Buffalo head coach Reggie Witherspoon called a timeout with 3.7 seconds remaining to draw up the play that would determine the final outcome of the game.
When play resumed Turner Battle had the ball and heaved up an awkward 3-pointer in heavy traffic that did not find its way into the hoop, resulting in a demoralizing Canisius celebration on the floor.
"I set a back screen on B.J. and got the ball and dribbled once and shot it," said Battle. "The game was over."
"That was the play we wanted to run," said Witherspoon. "But that wasn't how we wanted to execute it."
The Bulls might not have even found themselves in that position if they were able to cut down on their 20 turnovers or improve upon their free throw shooting, in which they went an appalling 9-23.
"I don't know what to say about the free throws," said a visibly displeased Witherspoon.
Toby Foster led the way for the Griffins, scoring 14 points including a key 3-pointer that put Canisius up by two with under three minutes remaining in the game.
"This feels great," said Foster. "I can't put it into words."
The trio of Bortz (nine rebounds), Walker (16 points) and Battle (14 points and eight rebounds) spurred the Bulls, but it was Walker and Bortz' 10 total free throws that severely disabled the Buffalo team.
Yassin "the Dream" Idbihi made his debut for UB in the game, and although his travels from Morocco to Buffalo are complete, he kept on traveling even during the game. Three times the seemingly nervous Idbihi walked before settling down to draw an offensive foul and a steal.
The game ended disappointingly for UB's fans, and Witherspoon was obviously upset with letting them down in a night that seemed destined for Buffalo glory.
"It was a great atmosphere and our students came out and supported us," said Witherspoon. "We just didn't give them enough, that's for sure."
The Bulls' next contest is at 7 p.m. on Tuesday against Rutgers in New Jersey.
