February ups and downs

By CHRISTY SUHR and CHRIS LAW
Asst. Sports Editor and Staff Reporter

After losing their first game in February, the men's basketball team was looking to bounce back in hopes of having a successful final month before March Madness. Though the Bulls had a rough start, they saw the light at the end of the tunnel.
Thursday night, the Bulls (12-9, 5-5 Mid-American Conference) ran into foul trouble at the Rose Center as they faced the Central Michigan Chippewas (11-10, 6-3 MAC) in a game that saw a total of 50 personal fouls. Buffalo committed a season-high 27 fouls with three of their players fouling out, which led to the loss of 88-82.
Head coach Reggie Witherspoon was displeased with all of the fouls that were called.
'We obviously put them on the line a lot. I think they scored 16 of their final 20 points in the first half at the free-throw line,' Witherspoon said. 'I mean when that happens, you're [going to] have a hard time having any success, and we certainly had a hard time here.'
With 6:55 left in the first half, the Chippewas made a rally mostly from the free throw line, scoring their next 11 points from the charity stripe. Central Michigan went ahead of the Bulls by seven with just over two minutes to play. The Bulls then cut the lead to four and the Chippewas took a 41-37 lead going into the locker room.
CMU gave the Bulls their fair share of open looks in the first half, but they stepped it up defensively in the second half and never returned the lead to the Bulls.
Buffalo was able to pull within two points with 16 minutes left in the game and a score of 51-49, but the next two minutes belonged to Central Michigan. They went on an 8-0 run and never looked back. From then on, the Bulls found themselves stuck in foul trouble and Witherspoon saw things falling apart.
'Once you get too many guys in foul trouble, then you're playing guys that don't normally play in those situations and they're trying not to foul,' Witherspoon said. 'So they essentially get out of the way, and you can't play good defense if you're getting out of the way.'
Senior guard Rodney Pierce scored 22 points and had a career-high seven assists. Senior forward Calvin Betts followed with 15 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Both players, along with senior forward Max Boudreau, fouled out in the final minute of the game.
Justin Bitzer led the Chippewas with 22 points and eight boards.
After dropping their first two games in February, the Bulls traveled to Toledo to try to pick up the team's first ever win at Savage Arena. Buffalo would soon find out that there is a first time for everything.
On Saturday, Buffalo bested the Rockets (3-22, 0-11 MAC) by ending the game on a 6-0 run to win 65-59, adding to Toledo's 14 game losing streak.
The win for the Bulls was far overdue, although the first half looked like the game would go down to the final buzzer. Toledo played Buffalo very tough for the game's first 20 minutes. The Rockets managed to control the paint throughout the first half, scoring 24 of their 38 points in the key. Toledo shot 61.5% from the field, but only managed to build a one-point lead, 38-37 at halftime.
Toledo looked poised to pull off their first MAC win of the season as the Bulls came out in the second half relatively flat. Buffalo turned the ball over numerous times in the beginning of the second period allowing Toledo to hang around in a tight game.
And the game remained tight until Pierce stepped up big in a clutch spot for Buffalo. With 3:05 left in the game, Pierce drove to the basket, pulled up just outside the key and drilled a jumper to break the 59-59 deadlock. Buffalo followed up with a stop on the defensive end. Boudreau and senior guard Sean Smiley added four free throws respectively to seal the Bulls' win, 65-59.
Sloppy play in the first half plagued Buffalo, almost leading them to their third loss in four games but the Bulls was able to show resiliency on the defensive end in the second half that helped propel them to their first ever victory at Toledo.
'I was upset with the first 25 to 28 minutes,' said head coach Reggie Witherspoon. 'To start, we were in a hurry offensively and scored some points but then we opened the second half in a worried state of mind. In the final 12 to 15 minutes, we were back to a determined style of defense, which we are accustomed to.'
Buffalo was led by their captain Pierce who scored 16 points and recorded four assists, while making clutch plays that were essential to the Bulls' win. Betts added 11 points and Boudreau, whom added a big presence in the key defensively for Buffalo, scored 11 points and recorded four rebounds.
Toledo was led by a duo of freshmen. Center Jordan Dressler led the Rockets with a career-high 19 points, shooting 9-13 from the field while adding five rebounds. Standout freshmen guard Jake Barnett poured in 14 points with two 3-pointers. Junior forward Justin Anyijong scored 10 points as well while adding four rebounds.
The Bulls return home from their two-game road trip when they face Eastern Michigan (12-11, 4-6 MAC) on Wednesday. Tip-off is set for 7p.m.

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