Even with an additional 10 minutes of play, the Buffalo Bulls men's basketball team could still not achieve its first win over a Mid-American Conference opponent this season. Buffalo fell to the Western Michigan Broncos, 100-90, on Tuesday night at the Alumni Arena in a game that took two overtime periods to decide a winner.
The defeat marked the Bulls' eighth consecutive loss and its first 0-7 start in MAC play in five seasons.
"When we come out to practice the next day, we'll tell them that today another day for us to get better," said Buffalo head coach Reggie Witherspoon. "We're not that far away and if we keep at it and stay at it and stay determined to get better than it will take care of itself."
Buffalo was led offensively by sophomore guard Rodney Pierce who had a career-high 23 points and junior guard Andy Robinson who scored 22 points. However, their efforts were eclipsed by WMU's guard David Kool who had a career-high 35 points and center Joe Reitz's 29 points and nine rebounds.
Both teams started out of the gates slow, with the first basket not being scored until the 17:27 mark in the first half on a jumper by Reitz. The Broncos extended their lead to six before the Bulls eventually took their first lead of the game on a three-pointer by Pierce at the 11:53 mark to go up 11-9.
Things remained tight in the first half with the lead changing hands five times before going into the intermission tied up 30-30.
The Bulls controlled most of the second half, taking a lead by as much as nine points on three separate occasions. Yet, the Broncos were able to chip away at the Buffalo lead and eventually tied the game 74-74 with 17 seconds to go in regulation on a pair of free throws by Kool. Kool's trip to the charity stripe was preceded by a controversial jump ball call that went in WMU's favor. Pierce then missed a potential game winner shot with four seconds left, forcing over time.
"I tried to get a layup but (the WMU defender) cut me off so I pulled up and took the shot," Pierce said.
Buffalo got the first points of the first overtime on a three-pointer by sophomore guard Calvin Betts, the Bulls' largest lead in the extra time. However, the teams would trade the lead three times in the last 2:30 minutes of the first overtime period with WMU going up by two after another pair of free throws by Kool with just under a minute remaining. UB responded with a Robinson layup to tie things up, 84-84.
"Going into over time, we felt like we had a second chance," Kool said. "We focused on our game plans and started over."
After a missed three-point attempt by Kool, Pierce had another shot to put the game away but missed a jumped with three seconds left, leading to a second overtime period.
"I thought we started off pretty good in that first overtime," Witherspoon said. "They're a good team. We just got to get better."
Western Michigan dominated the second overtime, taking the lead on the first basket of the period on a three by guard Andre Ricks and then never relinquished it. The Broncos closed out the contest by going on a 7-2 run and ended the game with its biggest lead of 10 points.
"(Buffalo) played with so much heart and determination," said Western Michigan head coach Steve Hawkins. "They just weren't able to find a way to win, to get over the hump."
Along with points, Pierce also led the team in assists with four while Robinson led the team in steals with four. Sophomore forward Max Boudreau led the team in blocks with three and tied a career-high with 11 points. Betts led the team in boards with 12.