In a battle of the Queen City, the Bulls dominated the Buffalo State Bengals on Friday evening.
In an exhibition game versus the Bengals to open the season, the men's basketball team earned a decisive 113-48 win Friday night in Alumni Arena.
"We knew we'd be a little anxious," head coach Reggie Witherspoon said. "It's the first game in this arena for this team. With some new guys, that added to the anxiousness so we wanted to get the jitters out, and hopefully we got most of them out. We wanted to work on some different combinations, and we started off a little shaky, but hopefully we got some of the kinks out."
With the first basket of the game, a three pointer from junior guard Andy Robinson, the Bulls acquired a lead that they held on to for the entire game. The Bulls scored 13 of the first 15 points of the game. They closed out the first half with a 55-19 advantage following a 39-10 run.
With such an extensive lead, the Bulls decided to change their defensive strategy in the second half of play.
"We didn't want to be in a position where it looked like we were running up the score and being unsportsmanlike," Witherspoon said. "In a game like this we didn't want to be pressing them while we're up 40 points, so we stopped pressing and really tried to work on our half court defense."
Buffalo State scored a quick basket to open the second half, but the Bulls followed with a 16-0 spurt to extend their lead to 73-21 with 16:03 remaining. A 19-4 run late in the match gave Buffalo its biggest lead of the match, 71 points, following a free throw shot from senior forward Andrew Atman with 2:49 left in the game. The Bengals ended the match with an 8-2 run.
The Bulls were able to force 53 turnovers, which they converted into 66 points. Buffalo also outscored the Bengals in the point 52-18, in second-chance points 28-14 and on fast break points 16-0.
The Bulls had 13 players rotate in and out throughout the game, with five recording double-digit point totals. Junior guard Sean Smiley led the Bulls with 24 points, as he went 3 of 6 from three-point range. Robinson added 21 points and five steals. Sophomore guard Greg Gamble had five steals while notching 14 points and Atman had 10 points, five rebounds and two blocks.
To round out the double-digit scorers, junior forward Brian Addison had 10 points, eight rebounds and four steals in his debut for the Bulls.
Buffalo State scorers were led by Dion Mozelle and C.L Greene, who each had eight points, while Glenroy Carr had 11 rebounds.
With one game under their belt, Witherspoon has a positive outlook on the potential of the team.
"It's a start, it's a good beginning for us," Witherspoon said. "I know they'll play better and they'll shoot better...I know we'll get better."
The Bulls begin their regular season at the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic Benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer in Storrs, CT. Buffalo faces Ohio Valley on Nov. 7 with tip off set at 4 p.m.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
