After months of darkness, the lights were turned on, and the basketball chants returned to Alumni Arena. As many students were preparing to return home to a turkey feast this past Tuesday, the men's basketball team opened its home schedule against the Iona Gaels.
Thanksgiving came early for the Bulls (5-2), as they were able to defeat the Gaels (0-3), 65-54. It was the team's fourth game in five days. But after enjoying pie, the Bulls had plenty of leftovers and were able to defeat the Temple Owls (0-2), 64-62, in a game that went down to the wire on Monday.
The Mighty Maniacs were out in full force, and so was sophomore guard Greg Gamble led the team in scoring and rebounding against the Gaels. Gamble notched 15 points and recorded 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the season. The Niagara Falls, N.Y. native went 4-8 from the field and the Bulls shot 43 percent from the floor.
Alumni Arena did not see many fireworks in the early on, as the Bulls scored only two points the first six minutes of play, falling behind 7-2. But the Bulls went on a 14-2 run, and scored the last 10 points of the first half to take a 34-22 lead into the locker room.
"I was concerned with the energy level having played so much basketball but I knew we needed to get over those circumstances," said Buffalo head coach Reggie Witherspoon.
Buffalo came out in the second half on fire, and was able to quickly extend its lead to 20 after senior forward Yassin Idbihi hit a three pointer. This spawned a seven minute scoring drought for the Bulls, which allowed the Gaels to creep back into the game. Yet, Buffalo came charging back and was able to hit eight free throws in the last minutes to secure the victory.
Igniting the students was the play of sophomore guard Andy Robinson who scored seven points in 35 minutes of play. The guard to put down two electrifying dunks, one that helped change the momentum, ending the second half scoring drought.
"Andy has a lot more of that in him and he can be very explosive to the basket," Witherspoon said. "He has a lot more then what people have seen."
Iona was not able to convert against the Bulls' defense and turned the ball over 27 times. The Bulls also recorded 10 steals and out rebounded the Gaels 37 to 35. Iona also struggled from downtown shooting only 25 percent behind the arc. The Gaels also had trouble at the foul line where they went 7-16.
"On the road you can't win if you have problems shooting free throws," said Iona head coach Jeff Ruland. "You also can't win turning the ball over 27 times"
With the Thanksgiving naps over, the Bulls visited Temple on Monday, and recorded their first ever win against the Owls. The game was a welcome home party for the New Jersey native Eric Moore, the sophomore guard who grew up near Philadelphia.
Moore came out firing and a career-high 21 points. Moore also hit a career-best five three pointers. The point guard shot 50 percent from the floor and gathered three rebounds, one of which iced the win.
Buffalo trailed the Owls heading into halftime after the Bulls committed 14 fouls, which forced Witherspoon to go deep into his lineup. The Bulls had 12 players see action in a game, which featured seven ties and 12 lead changes.
"Because of the foul trouble we needed a lot of people to play some minutes," Witherspoon said. "We were very locked in and very concentrated."
After trailing heading into halftime, the Bulls were able to pull away in the second half, as Robinson hit a three pointer with four minutes left to give the Bulls a 62-53 lead. Robinson went 2-5 from downtown and scored eight points in 32 minutes.
The game looked like it would be easily won by the Bulls with four minutes remaining but the Owls were able to forge back scoring six unanswered points cutting the Bulls lead to three points with 38 seconds left. However, the Bulls were able to convert on their free throws as Gamble extended the lead to five with 25 seconds remaining, yet then committed a costly foul that sent Temple to the line for three shots.
After hitting all the free throws Temple was down two points with ten seconds left when the Bulls turned the ball over after a jump ball. The turnover allowed the Owls a chance to win the game with a three-point attempt. Temple passed the ball to its top shooter Dustin Salisbury who at the top of the key missed the mark and the ball was rebounded by Moore as time expired and the Bulls celebrated the win.
Idbihi had a solid game for the Bulls recording his 11th career double-double scoring 12 points and grabbing 14 rebounds. The senior forward dominated the defensive boards pulling down nine.
Freshman forward Calvin Betts also had a career-best day as he recorded six rebounds to go along with three points, two assists and two steals. The Bulls also saw quality time from freshman forward Kambi Laleye, who played 14 minutes off the bench and scored four points. The Bulls dominated the foul line by hitting 87 percent of their free throws.
"We shot well from the three-point line and from the free throw line," Witherspoon said. "We work on free throws a lot especially over the past couple of years."
The Bulls, who are on a two game win streak, look to continue their success when they host local foe Niagara in Alumni Arena on Saturday evening at 7 p.m.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
