Senior guard Rodney Pierce started the game out with a traveling violation, but after 40 minutes of basketball, he walked out of Alumni Arena with the game-winning shot.
Coming off of a thrilling one-point win over the Miami RedHawks, Ohio was looking to take the momentum from its last game into Saturday night's contest at Alumni Arena. The Bulls, on the other hand, were trying to forget their Wednesday night loss to Akron and wanted to give their seniors a memorable good bye.
Buffalo (17-10, 9-6 Mid-American Conference) got its wish as a pair of senior guards, Pierce and John Boyer, willed the Bulls to a three-point victory, 72-69.
'[The game was] another MAC dog fight to the end,' said head coach Reggie Witherspoon. 'We were a little jumpy offensively, but we stayed in there defensively long enough to give ourselves a chance to be there at the end.'
And they seized that chance.
With just over two minutes remaining in the game, Pierce hit a 3-pointer that tied the score, 67-67. The Bulls followed up the trey with a defensive stop and had their first chance to take the lead in the second half. On the ensuing possession, senior forward Calvin Betts had an open look at a 3-pointer, but strong-armed it off the back rim.
After a long possession, the Bobcats' leading scorer, Armon Bassett, knocked down a mid-range jump shot that put Ohio (16-14, 6-9 MAC) up by two-points. On the next play, however, Pierce hit another 3-pointer to give the Bulls a one-point edge, 70-69, with 25.2 seconds remaining.
Betts committed a foul that forced Ohio to inbound from the baseline, where they had struggled to get the ball in play all night. Pierce knocked an errant pass into Boyer's hands and was then fouled with just over 10 seconds to play.
Buffalo struggled from the free throw line all game long – shooting 38.5 percent (5-for-13) – but Boyer knocked down the free throw tries to put his team up by three. Bassett got a good look on the ensuing possession, but his 3-point tried hit the rim and into the hands of sophomore forward Mitchell Watt, essentially capping the game for Buffalo.
But Boyer's clutch free throws were key in the win and continued his best stretch of basketball as a Bull. He is second in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (4.6), and in the past six games has had 31 assists to just two turnovers.
'You run [the plays] that many times in practice [and for] that many games, you finally get a handle on it and you know what you're doing out there,' Boyer said. 'The game has slowed down for me. [I've been] making the easy pass. If [my teammates] didn't make shots, I wouldn't be getting assists.'
Buffalo seniors Sean Smiley, Pierce, Boyer, Betts, Adekambi Laleye and Max Boudreau were honored before tip-off. They were each walked onto the floor by their parents and were presented with a few gifts from the Athletic Department, including a framed jersey and a box of flowers.
The best present of the night, however, was the win. With the victory, the Bulls have now won 10-consecutive senior day games.
'I always say senior night is not just for the seniors,' Witherspoon said. 'This is another group leaving here having never lost on senior night…It's a way of binding our program and we can say we sent [the seniors] out right.'
The seniors did everything they could to get the win. Pierce poured in a game-high 26 points and five steals while Boyer canned four 3-pointers and dished out seven assists. Betts played stellar defense as well.
Ohio received balanced scoring from their team as five players finished in double figures. Leading the team was freshman guard D.J. Cooper, who filled up the stat sheet with 12 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds. Senior center Kenneth Van Kempen played big minutes for the Bobcats. He hit a few big mid range jump shots and finished the night with a double-double (16 points and 10 rebounds).
'It's big to get a win on senior night,' Boyer said. 'We didn't want to be the first group in 10 years not to leave on a win. We'll be going into [Millett Hall at Miami (OH)] and it's going to be another dog fight like every other game in the MAC.'
The Bulls will conclude their season Thursday night when they visit Miami (OH). Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. If Buffalo wins, they receive a first round bye in the MAC Tournament, which will be held in Cleveland, OH from Mar. 11-13 at the Quicken Loans Arena.
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