CLEVELAND - Essentially an offensive non-factor through the Bulls' last 18 games, Calvin Cage tied a season-high in scoring, pouring in 23 points to lead the UB men's basketball team to an 85-72 Mid-American Conference Tournament quarterfinal victory over the Toledo Rockets on Thursday afternoon in Cleveland's Gund Arena.
The win over the No. 2 seed Rockets (16-13 overall, 11-7 MAC) placed the No. 7 Bulls (21-8 overall, 11-7 MAC) into the semifinal round of the MAC tournament, with UB set to face Western Michigan tonight at 9 p.m.
"Credit to (Toledo) for persevering, credit our guys for coming in here and fighting the fight," said UB head coach Reggie Witherspoon. "It was a great atmosphere and once again we had great support from our students who made the trip and our guys here gave them a lot to cheer about."
With 5:05 left in Thursday's game, Cage capped off a 7-for-10 shooting performance as he scored his final field goal of the afternoon, a hard drive through a crowded lane, converting an acrobatic lay-up to give the Bulls a seven point lead at 75-68.
"Turner Battle actually predicted (the big game). I was sick yesterday and he was telling me that a lot of his big games in his career came when he was sick," said Cage. "Mentally my confidence has always been there but I'm blessed to play on a team where we have players that can step up any night."
Behind Cage's 17 first half points, the energetic Bulls emerged from halftime with an eight point 45-37 advantage and never surrendered the lead.
"(Buffalo) out-hustled us, they came up with some boards, they got to the glass," said Toledo head coach Stan Joplin. "You've got to give a lot of credit to Buffalo, they had some spurts. When we needed an opportunity to get a stop, we just didn't do it to make them play, and that was probably the big difference."
Cage had the hot hand for much of the game, as the junior guard finished the afternoon shooting 3-for-5 from long range and a perfect 6-for-6 from the charity stripe.
"Calvin just played really aggressive today," said UB center Yassin Idbihi. "Calvin needs just a little bit of space and he'll knock down three's as much as he wants."
UB led by as many as 15 points in the second half, highlighted by a Daniel Gilbert steal and subsequent slam-dunk.
"This year we spent a lot of energy on the defensive end," said Witherspoon. "I think it's important that we really understand where our bread is buttered on the glass and on the defensive end of the floor and I think the other things take care of themselves."
A lay-up in the paint by Toledo's Allen Pinson with 5:28 left in the second half allowed the Rockets to close in on the Bulls' lead and set the score at 73-68.
"Toledo's a very tough basketball team, they're going to make some tough shots and they did," said Witherspoon. "We came into the game wanting to limit their ability to get to the basket and they made some shots early on, but we didn't want them to get to the basket."
Down the stretch, the Bulls outscored the Rockets 12-4 and sealed the 13-point victory over Toledo when Battle connected one of two free throws.
UB played stifling defense throughout the contest, led by Gilbert's five steals and five rebounds. The Bulls only allowed two Toledo players to reach double figures in scoring, with the Rockets' big gun Keith Triplett pouring in a team leading 17 points on the afternoon and Keonta Howell chipping in with 13.
"We just wanted (Triplett) to shoot contested shots," said Battle. "We had our post players like (Idbihi) and Mark (Bortz) cut off the baseline to try to contain him. We knew he would take a lot of shots and we didn't get discouraged by that."
Idbihi also collected eight boards on the afternoon, complimenting his 15 points, while Battle finished the afternoon with 12 points, six rebounds and three assists.
The Bulls will have over 24 hours to rest up for their semifinal contest against Western Michigan tonight, at 9 p.m. A victory would send Buffalo to its first ever MAC Tournament final, set to be played Saturday at 7 p.m.
