Bulls fall to in double OT

It took two overtimes to do it, but the Golden Flashes managed to leave Alumni Arena with a 111-107 win over the Buffalo men's basketball team Wednesday night.

"We lost our concentration," said Bulls head coach Reggie Witherspoon.

After allowing the Kent State to accumulate a 14-point lead early in the game, the Bulls rallied with two three-pointers in a row to put themselves within two at the half.

Buffalo capitalized on the momentum and came out with guns blazing. Attacking the basket from all angles, senior guards Calvin Cage and Roderick Middleton both had career days against the Mid-American Conference leader.

Shattering their previous bests of 26 and 22 points respectively, the two seniors dropped 37 and 30 points in the losing effort. Cage's point total places him in a sixth-place tie with three former Bulls for most points scored in a game in Buffalo men's basketball history.

With Kent State's defense unable to stop the twosome, Cage and Middleton lead the Bulls to a 13-point lead with just over five minutes to play in regulation.

With 5:15 left in the second half and what looked like an insurmountable lead, Kent State's Kevin Warzynski proved that looks can be deceiving. He drained three clutch three-pointers in four possessions, cutting Buffalo's lead down to four.

"We were just looking for something to get us started and it just happened," Warzynski said. "It was three good looks in a row and it was my job to put them down. We weren't going to lose that game."

Another unanswered three-pointer by Kent State guard Jay Youngblood put the Golden Flashes (18-7, 12-2 MAC) within two with 1:15 remaining.

With one minute on the clock, Cage turned the ball over to Omni Smith on a pass to junior guard Darwin Young. Smith broke away for a lay-up, was fouled by Young and made the free throw to complete the three-point play.

"Right when I took the hand off, I was supposed to come off the two screens at the top," said Cage about the failed play. "Right when they handed off, they trapped me. So I believe I saw Darwin and so I tried to bounce pass it to him and (Omni) Smith shot the gap."

Following a missed three-pointer by Cage on the next Buffalo possession, and then a pair of missed free throws from Young, Kent State's Warzynski drained one of two foul shots.

With 13.7 seconds left, Buffalo (16-9, 6-8 MAC) had possession and Middleton drove to the lane with just five ticks left in regulation. The senior sank the shot to send the game into overtime, tied at 81 points

Starting with a 5-0 run in the first overtime, Kent State was in control until a Middleton three-point shot put the Bulls right back in it. With both teams over the limit, there were plenty of foul shots and the Flashes held the lead 93-90.

Faking a three, Cage put his head down, sunk a floater and drew a foul from DeAndre Haynes. Cage's 32nd point of the night tied it up and forced a second overtime.

Not wanting to extend the game any further, Kent State came out strong, taking the lead and never giving it back.

"We didn't run the floor well enough defensively," Witherspoon said. "We didn't execute on the ball screen at all. We just weren't strong enough with the basketball to win."

The game had seven ties and six lead changes, but more impressively, the Bulls scored 92 bench points thanks to a second straight shakeup by Witherspoon.

Four freshmen and junior center Yassin Idbihi started the game, only to be replaced minutes later by Cage, Middleton, Young, senior forward Mario Jordan, and junior forward Parnell Smith.

Despite the difficult loss, Middleton said the Bulls still have their most important basketball ahead of them.

"Overall I think the guys played pretty hard," he said. "We can't hold our heads down. We've got to stay up. We've got another game this weekend. So we just got to get after it tomorrow in practice, and don't show any signs of negativity or doubt."

The Bulls will have a chance to improve their Relative Percent Index (RPI) and strength of schedule this Saturday by participating in ESPN's Bracket Buster weekend. ESPN created the Bracket Buster games four years ago to give national credit to mid-major teams that could be a threat come tournament time in March.

Playing at Iona (19-5) Saturday at noon, the Bulls will be able to showcase their abilities nationwide on ESPN360, ESPN's online channel. The broadband stream is available via Buffalo's official athletics site, .