The men's basketball team (17-13, 7-10 MAC) posted a 1-1 record in their last two games. The stretch started in a hard fought loss to Central Michigan University (10-19, 6-10 MAC) on Saturday. The Bulls dug themselves a hole too deep to climb out of in the second half, leading to a 75-70 loss. Buffalo was hoping to turn the week around in a home contest against the Eastern Michigan Eagles (10-20, 4-13 MAC). They were able to do just that, thanks to a scoring outburst from junior guard Ryan Sabol, resulting in a final score of 72-67, in favor of Buffalo.
The game started out with Eastern Michigan pulling ahead in the opening minutes, and some worry started to creep in. The Bulls had dropped their previous game due to their deficiencies in the first half. The Bulls quickly put those worries to rest, putting together an eight-point run when the score was 8-5 early in the game, to create a lead they would hold onto the rest of the game.
The tail end of the first half was dominated by the Bulls. They were able to expand their lead to 16 points going into the halftime break, with a score of 43-27. The Bulls were able to suffocate the Eagles offense, holding them to a .40 field goal percentage on 25 shots, while they were able to score on 48.5% of their shots on 30 attempts.
Eastern Michigan wasn’t going to go away in the second half. Right off the break, the Eagles went on a run of their own, rattling off eight straight points to cut the deficit in half. The Eagles battled back in this second half of play, flipping the script of the first part of the game. They were able to clamp down on defense in much the same way that Buffalo did in the beginning, while increasing their efficiency on offense.
The game was a dogfight the rest of the way down the stretch, with Buffalo being outscored by EMU in the second half by 11 points. This still wasn’t enough for EMU to make a comeback, and the Bulls were able to hold onto a five-point lead to win the game with a final score of 72-67.
Sabol was an integral part of the win for the Bulls. He posted a 27 point game, shooting 56.3%. Sabol’s efficient scoring throughout kept UB above water, even in a second half where scoring was harder to come by. His 14 points after halftime were the difference between a win and loss for Buffalo.
The Bulls look ahead to face the Toledo Rockets (16-14, 10-7 MAC) this Friday away from home. The game is available on ESPN+.
Drew Heckman is the assistant sports editor and can be reached at drew.heckman@ubspectrum.com
Photo: Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
