There's nothing better in sports than a good old-fashioned home stand to break a losing streak.
After losing two straight games by over 15 points, the men's basketball returned to Alumni Arena to pick up a pair of victories over cross-town rival Canisius and Lousiana's Tulane of Conference USA.
"It's always encouraging to be at home," said head coach Reggie Witherspoon. "You can't always rely on that and say we are going to play well. We have to rely on ourselves to execute on plays. We need the same focus and concentration wherever we play."
Junior center Vadim Fedotov was the star for the Bulls (4-3) on Tuesday and helped them defeat the Golden Griffins, 68-59. He scored a career-high 17 points and pulled down a season-high nine rebounds.
"It was good to see him (Fedotov) step up and take control of his minutes," Witherspoon said. "He just enjoys playing and he needs to not think about certain things to be effective."
The score was close early on in the game. The Bulls took control of the game with 7:31 left in the first half when Buffalo was leading 22-20. Canisius(0-5) did not score another field goal in the half. Freshman forward Jawaan Alston capped off the half with a tip-in as time expired to put the Bulls ahead 35-23 at halftime.
Buffalo would not relinquish the lead in the second half as junior guard Andy Robinson hit a three-pointer to put the Bulls up by 15 with 17:44 left in the game. After Canisius went on a 10-1 run pulling within six points, sophomore guards Sean Smiley and Calvin Betts hit back-to-back threes to seal the victory for Buffalo.
Along with Fedotov's 17 points, the offense was led by Robinson scoring nine points, Betts getting eight, Smiley with seven, and Greg Gamble with seven on 4-4 shooting.
"The most important thing is that we won the game," Fedotov said. "I couldn't care less if I played well or not if the whole team is not there. It is more fun if we win and I have a productive game."
Buffalo's defense was strong in the game. it held the Griffs to a 33.3. field goal percentage, including shooting 4-21 from three-point range.
"It's good to get on the winning side and the guys have been working hard," Witherspoon said. "I don't think we shot the lights out, but it wasn't a sloppy game in the standpoint of turnovers. We have to do a better job of getting to the glass. We had a lot less hesitation on the offense and this helped our defense because they had to attack our set defense."
It was Smiley's turn to steal the show on Thursday night against Tulane (3-2). Cashing in a career-high 26 points, Smiley led the Bulls to a 65-51 victory over the Green Wave.
"I came out there just like every other game, tried to prepare before hand, and just try to take the shots that were coming to me. Fortunately they were going in tonight," Smiley said.
The Bulls picked up a 13-12 lead eight minutes into the game and never looked back. Smiley went 8-10 from the floor, scoring four of his five three-pointers in the first half.
Tulane trailed by just six points with eight minutes remaining in the game, narrowing the 15 point hole they found themselves in at halftime. With his team only up 48-42, Witherspoon called a time out to make adjustments. The Bulls then went on a 10-0 run to put the game out of reach.
"In that timeout we just went to a different zone look, offensively, and tried to utilize the fact that Sean was hot and it might get some other people open," Witherspoon said. "I think once we got some good looks at the basket, we got back to playing defense."
Smiley contributed for eight of those ten points after the time out, including his fifth trey of the night. Smiley was also fouled during that run while shooting his sixth deep ball, and nailed all three shots from the free throw line.
Guard Kevin Sims led the way for Tulane with 15 points and center Robinson Louisme blocked a game-high four shots.
Sophomore guard Rodney Pierce finished second in scoring for the Bulls with seven points. Sophomore guard Byron Mulkey led the team with seven assists, but also committed seven turnovers. Betts led the Bulls with just four rebounds, but Buffalo ultimately won the battle of the boards, 32-26.
"Tonight I think, what showed was that the guys started to enjoy it a little bit, playing defense," Witherspoon said. "That first half, that bench was as loud as I've heard (all season)."
The Bulls wrap up their three-game home stand with a match-up against Evansville on Saturday. Tip-off from Alumni Arena is set for 7 p.m.
