Bulls fall in title quest
Buffalo's magic hoops ride fails in loss to Akron
CLEVELAND - The University at Buffalo's magical ride captured the imagination and gripped the attention of many.
It was at times as mesmerizing and captivating as it was unexpected and impressive. It glowed as a testament to perseverance, unselfishness, defense and a work ethic that never wavered. But Saturday night at the Quicken Loans Arena, UB faced the greatest challenge to its desires and dreams.
Akron, the No. 5 seed in the Mid-American Conference Tournament, was the opponent and it was only fitting that UB made a late push before losing, 65-53.
The Zips won their first MAC title and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1986. The Bulls are likely headed to the National Invitation Tournament, beaten by a team that rebounds and defends as well as they do. Only better.
"Overall, it was a great season," said UB coach Reggie Witherspoon. "We had a chance to win almost every game and we played against some great programs like UConn and Temple and our guys fought, even in this one, right until the end."
Throughout this season in which the Bulls reached the 20-win mark for the first time since 2005, UB found a variety of ways to win. This time, it didn't happen and they were denied their first league title.
This was the third title appearance in as many seasons for Akron, which was drilled by Kent State in last year's final and lost on a buzzer-beater to Miami (Ohio) in 2007. To make matters worse, the '07 Zips weren't invited to the NIT despite winning 26 games.
They don't have to worry about a postseason destination this time around. Akron has a ticket to the Big Dance. The last time Akron danced, its coach was Bob Huggins, now at West Virginia.
UB was led by Calvin Betts with 12 points but he made only two field goals. Greg Gamble (Niagara Falls) added 11 on 5-of-6 shooting. No other Bull finished in double figures, on a night in which they shot just 35.7 percent overall and connected on just 3 of 16 three-pointers.
The Bulls, in only their second championship game appearance, had difficulty figuring out Akron's defense.
Four Akron players finished in double figures led by Brett McKnight's 16 points off the bench. Chris McKnight had 12 points and Darryl Roberts and Anthony "Humpty" Hitchens had 10 each for the Zips.
Akron won this game with defense. They were aggressive and hedged hard on UB's ball screens. At times, they doubled-teamed in the corner and shut off the passing lanes.
"They were taking away our easy shots and a lot of us are good at taking easy pull-ups," Betts said. "They just took it away from us."
Rodney Pierce, the team's leading scorer, was 1 for 9 from the field and finished with just four points.
"They pretty much slowed everything down," Pierce said. "In our offense, the ball has to keep moving. Everything has to be moving at once. They slowed us down and took us out of rhythm."
Akron led, 36-27, when Pierce missed an NBA-range three-pointer near the UB bench. That ignited a fast break which was finished with a pretty reverse layup by Nikola Cvetinovic. Another missed three by Pierce led to another layup, this one by Nate Linhart, and the Zips led, 40-27.
The Zips took their biggest lead at 47-20 with 13:01 left on a basket by Cvetinovic before UB began crawling back into the game as Akron went cold from the field.
The Bulls cut Akron's lead to 54-45 on a basket by Max Boudreau with 3:13 left, but Akron's Darryl Roberts answered with a three-pointer. After a turnover by Gamble (Niagara Falls), Steve McNees drove to the basket and scooped and pass to Chris McKnight who scored. After Betts hit two free throws, Brett McKnight settled matters with a three-pointer which gave the Zips a 62-47 advantage with less than a minute remaining.
It was a game where something had to give - either UB or Akron would win its first league championship. Akron finally broke through. UB is still waiting.
"No one gave us a chance at the beginning of the season," Pierce said. "But we fought until the end. That's the least we could do."
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