Men’s basketball (17-14, 10-8 Mid-American Conference) The Bulls finished their final game of the regular season with a dramatic victory.
Even though Loesing was forced to end her career a year early due to chronic ankle injuries and was not on the roster this season, she was still honored on Senior Day Saturday prior to the start of Buffalo’s regular season finale. Loesing, alongside fellow senior guard Karin Moss, received her encased No. 35 jersey amid cheers from the crowd.
The Bulls (15-13, 7-10 MAC) fell to Akron (16-12, 10-7 MAC) 62-49 at the James A. Rhodes Arena – which snapped a three-game winning streak. The Bulls faltered in the second half, scoring just seven points in the fourth quarter. Buffalo is still third in the MAC East and is tied for seventh place with Western Michigan (15-14, 7-10 MAC) in the overall conference standings.
For the second time this season, the Bulls (15-12, 7-9 MAC) defeated Ohio (22-5, 14-2 MAC), this time besting the Bobcats 70-58 in Athens, Ohio on Saturday afternoon.
The Bulls (14-12, 6-9 MAC) take on Ohio at the Convocation Center in Athens, Ohio Saturday hoping for a repeat of their 51-43 upset of the Bobcats on Feb. 3. After the Bulls play Ohio, it won’t get an easier. They face the second-best team in the MAC East, Akron (14-12, 8-7 MAC) on Wednesday. The Zips defeated Buffalo 69-61 in Alumni Arena on Jan. 16.
The Bulls (14-12, 6-9 Mid-American Conference) defeated Bowling Green (9-15, 5-10 MAC) 55-52 on a last-second block by Oursler, a native of Grans Island. The Bulls held a special promotion Wednesday – anyone from Grand Island could purchase a ticket for $5.
She watched on the sideline as the Bulls lost to eventual conference champions, Ohio, in the Mid-American Conference Quarterfinals in Cleveland last season. She watched at home when West Virginia defeated Buffalo in the program’s first-ever Women’s National Invitation Tournament appearance. She even had to sit out for the first 10 games of this season. And if she could have played in any of those games, there may have been a different outcome. “I think she continues to get better,” said head coach Felisha Legette-Jack. “She has a major presence about herself, she just has to slow her down in her head. Once we get her to slow it down in her head, you’re going to see a 20-10 kid.”
The men’s squad went 1-1 this past week and ended its three-game losing streak after an 88-74 home victory over Bowling Green (13-14, 4-10 MAC). Earlier in the week, Buffalo lost on the road to top-seeded Akron (21-6, 10-4 MAC) 80-70 before heading back home to take the victory over the Falcons.
The Bulls (13-12, 5-9 Mid-American Conference) had a great third quarter as they scored 23 points and kept Miami Ohio’s (9-16, 3-11 MAC) offense in check with a full court press en route to a 58-39 victory at Alumni Arena Saturday afternoon. The victory moved the Bulls to third place in the MAC East, surpassing Bowling Green (9-14, 5-9 MAC).
The Bulls (12-12, 4-9 Mid-American Conference) continued their downward slide with a 70-55 loss to Eastern Michigan (16-8, 7-6 MAC) that caused Legette-Jack to apologize to Buffalo’s fans and athletic director.
The Bulls (12-12, 4-9 MAC) gave up 70 points for the second time in three games and are slowly sinking to the bottom of the conference. After automatically advancing to Cleveland for the MAC Tournament the past two seasons, Buffalo will likely have to play a first round campus game.
The Bulls left the Stroh Center with a 63-50 win over Bowling Green (8-13, 4-8 MAC) on Saturday afternoon. Reid had a game-high 21 points and was 4 of 7 from behind the arc on a day where junior guard Joanna Smith struggled to find her shot.
Buffalo hosts Ohio (15-8, 6-5 MAC) Saturday in hopes of creating more separation between second and third place. The Bulls then look to close the gap on a red-hot Akron team (20-4, 9-2 MAC), that is winners of its last seven games, next Tuesday on the road.
On Wednesday, the Bulls (11-11, 3-8 Mid American Conference) fell to Toledo (13-9, 8-3 MAC) 71-60 at Savage Arena in Toledo, Ohio after a big second half for the Rockets erased an impressive 29-28 halftime lead for Buffalo.
Both the men and women look to starting winning streaks on the road this weekend.
The Buffalo men’s basketball team is sitting at 11-9 overall and 4-3 in Mid-American Conference play. The women’s team is 10-8 overall, 2-5 in MAC play and in the midst of a four-game losing streak. Clearly, both teams will need to make adjustments to make it to Cleveland, come March and have any amount of success there.
Eastern Michigan (10-2, 1-0 MAC) defeated Buffalo 67-56 Saturday at the Convocation Center in Ypsilanti, Michigan. The Bulls shot 32 percent from the field and went 5 of 21 from the beyond the arc. Buffalo’s two-game winning streak was snapped.
Both the men's and women’s teams ended the non-conference schedule with convincing victories Tuesday night. The men’s squad (7-6) defeated Delaware (5-6) 99-79 in Alumni Arena while the women (8-3) defeated Sacred Heart (2-9) 66-53 in Fairfield, Connecticut.
It’s games like Sunday that make you realize this team needs major help in the post. Buffalo controlled the game in the first half, but then it allowed nearly 30 rebounds in the second half, nine on the offensive glass. Players like Baccas would have prevented a performance like that.
Behind a third quarter in which it outscored Buffalo 29-10, Duquesne defeated the Bulls (6-2) 79-62 in Alumni Arena to give Buffalo its second straight loss after a 6-0 start. The Bulls allowed the Dukes to shoot 48 percent from the floor and were outrebounded 43-32.
Solutions by The State News
