Men's Basketball

Feeding off of the anticipation of the season opener against the Canisius Golden Griffins, the atmosphere may feel a little like March Madness inside of Alumni Arena tonight.

Well, maybe it will not be that crazy, but it's a start for UB athletics.

The UB Bulls men's basketball team will kick off their 2003-04 campaign tonight at 8 p.m. when they play host to Canisius in the second half of a doubleheader which also features the respective women's teams from both schools in the 6 p.m. game.

"We're just looking forward to getting the season started," said UB head coach Reggie Witherspoon. "We are not going to come out and win thirty games tomorrow but we are just looking forward to getting started."

The Bulls are coming off a season in which they finished with a record of 5-23, but were deceptively competitive in almost every game.

Tonight's game will mark the return of the Bulls' best player in Turner Battle. The point guard, who was named to the All-MAC preseason team prior to this season, comes off a season in which he played the first 20 games but miss the final eight due to a finger injury.

When Battle was healthy however, he was very exciting to watch. He averaged 12.7 points a game and grabbed 4.6 rebounds per contest. The Bulls will look to Battle in hopes of starting off the season with a win.

"We are just hoping to calm his adrenaline down a little bit," said Witherspoon. "I am sure he has missed enough games where he has been looking forward to this game since February 13, when he hurt his finger. We just want to make sure he is calm enough to execute and have the kind of poise necessary to be successful."

Canisius comes off an up and down emotional season where they went 11-17 overall while playing in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. Witherspoon certainly doesn't look at the game as an easy one.

" Canisius is going to come prepared," said Witherspoon. "They play very well together as a team. For us, it's more a bigger battle being the first game than it being who it is. Canisius is a good opponent and they will play very well."

Last season, the Griffins went through too much drama for one season. Two of their players, Toby Foster and Dewitt Doss, were lost for the season because of injuries before any games were played. Another one of their other players, Kevin Downey, lost his father to cancer after playing his first game.

The list goes on and the physical and mental anguish took their toll on the team.

Foster and Doss are two players making their returns Friday night, and they hope to regain their forms from before the debilitating injuries. Doss is the primary ball handler of the team and comes off his last full season from 2001-02 where he averaged 8.7 points and three assists a game. He can take his man off the dribble and shoot the three if necessary.

Downey will be the other starter at guard and is probably the most fundamental player on the team. He is an excellent shooter and can find the open man.

The backcourt battle will definitely be the key component of the game. Whichever backcourt plays better will probably be the team that will come out on top.

The two teams played last season at the Koessler Athletic center at Canisius. The Griffins came out on top, with a close 71-65 win over the Bulls.

As far as the starting lineup is concerned, Witherspoon had the following to say.

"In all likelihood it will be Turner Battle, Jason Bird, Danny Gilbert, Mark Bortz and B.J. Walker."

All five of those players saw a major amount of minutes last season, and should be experienced and ready for the go around in 2003-04.