AKRON, Ohio - Take a three-game winning streak. Add a healthy amount of knowledge about the opposition. Throw in a 30-foot kangaroo and a dash of revenge. Put it all in a J.A.R. and what do you get?
One tough road game for the UB men's basketball team.
The Bulls' (10-11, 5-5 MAC) trend of losing to teams they had beaten before continued when they fell to the Akron Zips (8-13, 4-6 MAC), 89-81, before a sparse crowd of 2,105 at the James A. Rhodes Arena Saturday afternoon. Buffalo had beaten the Zips back on Dec. 8 at Alumni Arena.
In each rematch game UB has played this season, the team that lost game one is 3-0 in game two. Buffalo defeated NIU in their second meeting after losing to them on the road, and the Bulls were beaten by Kent State in their rematch.
"[Buffalo] had beaten us by 20, we had a little payback on our minds," Akron's Rashon Brown said. "We learned a lot from the first game."
Two Browns led the scoring on the afternoon as Akron's Brown matched his career-high with 28 points. Robert Brown paced the Bulls with 25 points.
"My teammates have confidence in me and they saw that Akron couldn't stop me in the post so they were looking for me and I was trying my best to finish for them," Robert Brown said.
The Bulls were hampered defensively when senior guard Gabe Cagwin was injured - and left the game - after being pushed from behind by Akron's Brian Wood while attempting to execute a lay-up near the end of the first half.
Cagwin stole an inbounds pass and went in for the open score when Wood caught up and fouled him. Cagwin, who has struggled this season shooting the ball, lay on the baseline at the feet of Zippy, Akron's giant inflatable kangaroo mascot, for about 10 minutes before being helped from the floor by trainers. The injury was said to be of the lower right leg, and Cagwin was taken to a local hospital. Further details on the extent of the injury were not available at press time.
Rashon Brown had been having a difficult time when matched up against the pesky Cagwin. But with the guard out of the game, Brown was able to propel the Zips to their fourth-straight win.
"Gabe came in the game because [Rashon Brown] was hurting us," Bulls Head Coach Reggie Witherspoon said. "I'm not going to sit here and say that Gabe was going to shut him down but I don't think he would have done any worse than the guys we were using on him. I think that he would have helped us a little but at both ends of the floor."
"The turning point of the game was when Gabe went out with that injury," Robert Brown said. "I wanted to pick it up for him, he has been going through a lot lately ... I had him in my heart."
After an evenly played first half that featured 10 lead changes and seven ties, the Zips took the lead for good with 15:54 to go in the second half after David Falknor hit one of his four three-pointers of the afternoon.
The Bulls offense had no trouble scoring points, but UB failed to get any key defensive stops that would have allowed them to make a run and regain the lead in the tight ballgame.
"We didn't get any stops in the second half at all," Witherspoon said. "When we don't play good defense we're not going to win. It wasn't about shooting or three point shooting or any of that, we just didn't buckle up and play."
Akron's Andy Hipsher made a lay-up with three minutes to go to give the Zips a seven-point lead. The possession was a microcosm of UB's troubles in the second half as Akron got two offensive rebounds before making the basket, which stopped the momentum of Robert Brown's three-point play for the Bulls on the other end of the floor.
"The big play might have been the offensive rebound ... it was a five-point game and that spread us out ... which gave us a little window," Akron Head Coach Dan Hipsher said.
Darcel Williams and Louis Campbell were the other two Bulls besides Brown to finish in double figures. Williams posted 21 points while Campbell chipped in with 15.
Akron had four players score in double digits including Brown, Hipsher with 21, Falknor with 14, and Darryl Peterson with 12.
UB returns home to face Miami, Ohio - for the first time this season - Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Alumni Arena.
Junior forward Clement Smith missed his second-straight game with a stress fracture in his right ankle. Smith is not expected to play Wednesday against Miami, Ohio.
Akron's Rashon Brown never left the game, playing all 40 minutes.
As a team the Bulls had 15 assists while turning the ball over 17 times. Akron had 18 assists and 13 turnovers.
