"Idbihi, Robinson front momentum"

"I believe that we have won."

The Mighty Maniacs chanting was right on and so were the Bulls who defeated their second Western New York rival in a month by dismantling Niagara, 74-62. Saturday night, the Bulls went back to basics and proved their prowess on the defensive side of the boards dominating the Purple Eagles.

Coming into the game, Niagara (1-4) was without one of its starters, Charron Fisher, who was suspended for eight games after being arrested in an off-campus incident with another Niagara athlete. But the biggest woe for Niagara was not who was absent from the court, but whom they needed to cover, as senior forward Yassin Idbihi was able to knock down 20 points and grab 12 rebounds for the Bulls (6-2).

The big man for the Bulls shot 8-12 from the paint and collected seven rebounds in the second half. He recorded his second consecutive double-double, which gave him three total on the season.

"I think our defense is amazing," Idbihi said. "The way our perimeter players are defending is amazing and I haven't seen that in awhile."

Defensively, the Bulls struggled in the first few minutes of the game as Niagara came out firing and hit five three-pointers and converted on seven of its first 10 attempts which left the Bulls in an early bind. Buffalo trailed by as much as 12 points in the first half.

The Bulls eventually crept their way back on a 12-4 run at the end of the first half to go ahead of the Purple Eagles, 31-27. This was punctuated when sophomore forward Greg Gamble knocked down a long jump shot with the closing seconds remaining.

After the break the Bulls looked impressive as they were able to extend their lead to 17 in the second half. Buffalo was lead by sophomore guard Andy Robinson who was on fire from behind the arc.

Robinson scored 14 points and went 4-9 from no man's land to lead the Bulls in the three-point category. His four three-pointers were a career best and he was the only Buffalo player to see 40 minutes of action.

"It felt good tonight and we love our fans and they helped put momentum in the game," Robinson said.

Momentum was the slogan for the Bulls in the second half as Niagara was never able to get ahead of the Bulls and was only able to cut Buffalo's lead to eight. Niagara was out rebounded in the second half and struggled to defend the Bulls who hit 50 percent of their shots in the half.

In seven of the eight games this season Buffalo has been able to hold a team under 50 percent shooting. It was no different against Niagara as they held the Purple Eagles to 40 percent on the night shooting.

"I give all the credit in the world to Buffalo they have a style about them that is very good," said Niagara head coach Joe Mihalich. "We won't see a defense this good again this year."

The Bulls struggled passing the ball and committed 23 turnovers. Sophomore guard Eric Moore also had a rough night from the floor going 2-8 for seven points. Moore was coming off his best game of the season against Temple when he had a career-high five three-pointers. Against Niagara, he went 1-5 from the outside in 34 minutes of action.

"With a big crowd like tonight the adrenaline kicks in and can take over," said head coach Reggie Witherspoon. "It can help you on defense, but sometimes it can be your worst enemy on offense."

Gamble was able to score 15 points for the Bulls and finished with four rebounds and three assists. Senior forward Parnell tallied 12 and grabbed nine rebounds. Other Bulls who saw action were sophomore forward/center Vadim Fedetov who had four points and freshmen forward Kambi Laleye who had a basket.

"It's hard to get your team ready for UB," Mihalich said. "It was a battle and they were able to take us out of our element."

Buffalo will look to extend its three game win streak as it travels to Tulane this Wednesday in what will be the last non-conference road game for the Bulls. Saturday the team will be back at Alumni Arena to take on the No. 2 nationally ranked Pittsburgh Panthers at 4 p.m.