What a difference a week makes for the men's basketball team. After losing two games over Thanksgiving break, the Bulls bounced back with three consecutive wins at home.
On Saturday night, Buffalo (5-3) extended its winning streak by defeating Evansville (1-4) 81-60 at Alumni Arena. The Bulls had a balanced offensive attack as 12 different players made contributions.
"I thought it was a great team win," said head coach Reggie Witherspoon. "We got contributions from everyone and I think it is good to have that. We were sluggish in the beginning of the game, but we are working on that. Defensively, we had a great presence against a team that's offense really challenged us with their motion."
The beginning of the game was sloppy for both teams. Buffalo committed 10 turnovers in the first 13 minutes of play, after which the score was 17-17.
With 3:30 left to go in the first half, the game was tied at 23-23. The Bulls closed the out the half with a 14-5 run. Sophomore guard Sean Smiley hit a three-pointer with six seconds left to send the Bulls into halftime leading 37-28.
"We were getting good shots on the offensive side of the court," Smiley said. "We are really working on being more patient on offense and getting more passes playing back and forth across the court to keep the defense off-balanced."
Buffalo came out strong in the second half, hitting their first four shots with sophomore forward Max Boudreau hitting a jumper to extend the lead to 15 points. The Purple Aces would try to get back in the game, cutting the lead down to eight points with 14:32 remaining. But they would get no closer as Smiley hit one of his four three-pointers of the night to put the Bulls up by 11 points and they never looked back.
Sophomore forward Kambi Laleye scored a lay-up with 4:48 left in the game to give the Bulls a 20-point advantage. Laleye finished the game with a career-high eight points and had two blocked shots.
The Bulls were very balanced on offense. Six players scored eight or more points for Buffalo. Smiley led the team scoring 14 points, followed by junior guard Andy Robinson, junior forward Greg Gamble and sophomore guard Byron Mulkey, all with nine, and junior center Vadim Fedotov with eight points.
"We had so many people that feel like they had such great contributions to the game," Witherspoon said. "This helps especially when you have a young team, they feel a big part of it and are looking forward to do it again. We are an interchangeable team, so if we get in situations where there is foul trouble or fatigue, we can get someone else in there, and everyone can be a part of it and know what they are doing. Today we showed that."
The three-game winning streak is the longest of the season for the Bulls. Not to mention, they bounced back from double-digit losses last week by dominating the last three teams they played.
"I hope the confidence level is high. Confidence can be defined as doing the things you do well and doing them instinctively without thought," Witherspoon said. "We are going to do that at home or on the road, and that's when we are really going to be confident."
The Bulls were brilliant on the defensive side of the court; they held Evansville to 39.6 percent shooting for the game. Buffalo shot an impressive 59.2 percent from the field and shot 84.2 percent from the free throw line.
"The trust and confidence is there on the court," Gamble said. "I know that if I come off the court, my teammates are going to pick it up - there won't (be) a drop-off and everybody is going to play the entire forty minutes of a game."
Buffalo will look to keep its momentum going as they travel to Florida International this Wednesday, Dec. 5. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
