When a team lives by the three, as the men's basketball team does, it doesn't usually pull off a victory shooting nine percent from beyond the arc.
On Sunday, Buffalo men's basketball overcame shooting 1-for-11 from the three-point line to defeat Bowling Green 81-67 at Alumni Arena. It was the second time this season that the Bulls defeated the Falcons.
"It was interesting that we were able to play and just hit one three," said Bulls head coach Reggie Witherspoon. "Obviously we're a team that has made a lot of threes, and in a game where we hit one three, we scored over 80 points. I think that's a sign of what's really important for us."
The biggest play for the Bulls was one of their three-point plays that they earned the hard way. With 1:36 left on the clock, and a 10-point lead, senior forward Mario Jordan recorded a resounding block on Bowling Green's leading scorer, Martin Samarco. Jordan finished the play off by grabbing the ball in the backcourt and electrifying the crowd with a slam-dunk while being fouled.
"Coaches told us in the huddle that No. 25, Samarco, he was a shooter so his first instinct was to put the ball up," Jordan said. "So when they threw it in, I just automatically thought, 'Okay I know they're shooting this ball and I think there were just a few minutes left.' I closed out with my high hand and I happened to get a hand on it. It went into the backcourt and I just chased after it."
On that play, Jordan was not actually supposed to be guarding Samarco, who finished with a game-high 23 points.
"I actually was supposed to get Samarco, I got screened and I was yelling for somebody to get out there," said senior guard Calvin Cage. "Rio got a good high hand on it and knocked it into the backcourt and from there it was just a foot-race and Rio's a pretty fast dude so I knew he was going to run it down."
Cage recorded 21 points without the aid of a single three-point shot, and led the Bulls in scoring. He finished 4-11 from the field and 13-14 from the free-throw line. Yassin Idbihi and Mario Jordan both finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds.
With his 21 points, Cage became just the fifth player in Buffalo history to score over 500 points in a single season. John Blalock holds the school record for most points in a season, when he scored 590 points during the 1991-1992 season.
Despite all the high scoring for the Bulls' players, the only three-point shot made by the Bulls was by Eric Moore with just under five minutes remaining in the first half.
Going into the game, the Falcons knew that the Bulls were dangerous from behind the three-point line, so they put extra defenders around the perimeter to limit the Bulls' shooting opportunities.
"We were going to give up some back-door cuts because we were taking away the three," said Bowling Green head coach Dan Dakich.
According to Dakich, the Falcons had bigger problems than back-door cuts. Bowling Green had two long scoring droughts. The first was at the start of the game, and the second was at the start of the second half. Combined, the Falcons were held scoreless for eight minutes and 45 seconds.
During that stretch the Bulls scored 20 points, but both times they let the Falcons creep back into the game. After their 8-0 run to start the game, the Falcons answered back with 21-6 run to take their first lead of the game.
"I like the way our team competed for the first half," Dakich said. "It was awful in the second half, until we changed up the lineup and started pressing and had a chance to get back in."
One of the Bulls' biggest achievements in this game was their ability to limit Bowling Green's fast-break points, in fact they gave up only four fast-break points for the entire game. Buffalo also won the battle in rebounding with a 38-29 advantage.
"I thought we rebounded the ball better, and I think that was a tremendous help for us, especially on the defensive end, they only got seven offensive rebounds," Witherspoon said.
The win raised the Bulls' record to 17-11 overall and 7-9 in the Mid-American Conference. Bowling Green dropped to 9-18 overall and 5-11 in the MAC.
Buffalo will play again on Wednesday against Akron at 7 p.m. at Alumni Arena.
Photo: Meredith Forrest Kulwicki
