???
???The Bulls took to the court over the weekend hoping to journey back to respectability.
???Coming off a 10-20 record last season, the Bulls did just that, disposing of Youngstown State, 70-62. With the win, the Bulls have now won four straight season openers and have matched their win total on the road from a season ago.
???The Bulls (1-0) quickly jumped out to an early 14-7 lead behind the efforts of senior Greg Gamble. Gamble was dominant in the first half, going 6-or-11 from the field with 12 points and four rebounds. Gamble would finish with 19 points, eight rebounds and five assists in his first start at point guard.
???Youngstown State (0-1) came back strong, going on an 8-0 run to pull ahead 15-14.
???The teams went back and forth the rest of the half before UB answered with an 8-0 run of their own. Junior guard Rodney Pierce, who hit a jump shot as time expired to give the Bulls a 30-24 halftime edge, capped off the run.
"We started off anxious," he said. "Then it turned into nervousness. You're on the road, first game. We'll take it and we're not going to give it back."
???The Bulls maintained their lead throughout the first few minutes of the second half before the Penguins quickly closed the gap.
???Youngstown State senior forward Jack Liles hit a jump shot with 7:27 remaining in the game to give the Penguins back the lead for the first time since late in the first half.
???Pierce then answered with seven of the nine following points to give the Bulls back the lead 64-56 with 2:56 left on the clock.
???The team would not trail again, the victory equaling their road win total from last season.
???Head coach Reggie Witherspoon thought his team recovered well after a tentative start.
???Witherspoon noted that while the team played well in some instances, there is still work to be done.
???"We rebounded the ball very well," Witherspoon said. "We think we can do better than 15 turnovers. I believe that is a work in progress and we'll get better."
???The Bulls out-rebounded the Penguins 51-39 and with a 17-10 advantage on the offensive glass, and were able to capitalize on second chance points. The Bulls also defended well, restricting Youngstown State to a dismal 35 percent from the field.
Witherspoon knew going into the game that rebounding would be an area that the team would need to improve on from a season ago.
???"I think we did reasonably well with that, especially since they spread us out a lot," Witherspoon said. "We were really alert defensively, overall a little bit better."
???Junior guard Calvin Betts also turned in an outstanding game recording a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds.
???Pierce was the game's high scorer with 21 points, 16 of those coming in the second half.
???"[Pierce] got in foul trouble early," Witherspoon said. "[He] really had a tough time getting going in the first half. He came out in the second alert and ready to go and helped at both ends. Greg [Gamble] carried us in the first half and Rodney did the same in the second."
???Despite their success from the floor, they did miss some easy layups. However, Witherspoon sees that more as bad luck than anything else.
???"What happens with that is you miss some layups, which every great player has gone through at some point, and you know they're easy shots," Witherspoon said. "You know that they're shots you make in practice. So you get mad, then you start to aim them and you just can't aim layups."
???The Bulls will travel across town on Tuesday to battle local rival Canisius at the Koessler Center. Tip-off is at 7 p.m.
