Seniors make day of it at UB
Come halftime at Alumni Arena on Sunday afternoon the University at Buffalo looked resigned to a season gone astray. The Bulls trailed Miami by 13 and seemed headed for the prequarterfinals in this week’s Mid-American Conference Tournament. The regular-season conference title they once had at their disposal was parked at curbside, waiting for Waste Management to haul it to the landfill.
The students-on-break crowd of 2,303 seemed unsure how to react to the latest episode in the Bulls’ resounding fall from prominence. This would make six losses in seven games, a third straight defeat at home.
Wasn’t it only three weeks ago that an NCAA at-large bid was a viable subject? Western New York hadn’t seen an athletic decline of this magnitude since, well, OK, the Bills.
But there were a couple of UB players motivated beyond the competitive norm to find rapid solutions to the team’s humbling plight. Their names are Greg Gamble and Andy Robinson, a pair of seniors who during pregame walked onto the court accompanied by their mothers, as is the custom on Senior Day. Gamble dared not lift his head during the ceremony, so moved was he by both the experience and the realization that, yes, this was the final home game in the journey. The second half against Miami spoke to the depths of their determination to make things right.
UB rescued a share of the conference regular-season championship by following the example of its senior leadership. Robinson scored 11 of his team-high 17 points in the second half. Gamble came up with nine of his 13 points and four of his eight rebounds. And UB solved the puzzle of the MAC’s best defense, securing a 70-67 overtime win over Miami that will send the Bulls to the quarterfinals in Cleveland with their confidence renewed.
The situation amounted to win or bust. The victory tied UB with Bowling Green, both 11-5, for the MAC regular-season crown, with Bowling Green receiving the tournament No. 1 seed based on its season sweep of the Bulls. UB gained the No. 3 seed (West Division winner Ball State is slotted No. 2) and will play the winner of Tuesday’s Kent State-Northern Illinois game at 2:30 Thursday afternoon in Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena. Had UB lost, it would have finished outside the top four overall and been placed in the prequarterfinals, requiring it win four games instead of three to secure the MAC’s automatic NCAA berth.
A co-championship? The first time the Bulls have received a bye into the tournament quarterfinals? Given Miami’s first-half dominance, it’s an improbable achievement.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Gamble said. “You just think about all the days in the summertime you could have spent your time at the beach or hanging out, but we spent the long, hot summer days in the gym working out. And it just paid off today and it feels great.”
“They put it to us in the first half,” said UB coach Reggie Witherspoon. “And I thought our determination was the difference.”
The second half was a reversal of the first, when Miami infiltrated the paint at will to shoot 68 percent. The Red- Hawks also stymied UB with their defense, limiting the Bulls to 30.3 percent from the floor. With Gamble and Robinson taking the reins, UB shot 52 percent in the second half and turned up the defensive intensity to hold Miami to 36.8 percent shooting.
Senior Day, indeed. Gamble hit two free throws with 27.9 seconds left to send the game to overtime. Robinson, fouled on a three-point attempt, hit them all to put UB ahead for good, 66-63, with 48.6 left in OT.
While the seniors were top performers, the supporting cast figured prominently. Freshman Mitchell Watt had a career-high 14 points to go with five rebounds and three assists. Junior Calvin Betts struck for 13 points and eight boards.
“It’s a relief,” Robinson said.
Instead of boarding a bus for Cleveland today, the Bulls have a couple of days to recover from back-to-back overtime decisions and prepare for the games that matter most.
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