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Hot-shooting Bulls get win over Bobcats when it matters most

Buffalo hits 14 3-pointers in 88-74 MAC semifinal win


CLEVELAND – Hot shooting Buffalo finally beat Ohio, making 14 3-pointers in an 88-74 victory in the semifinals of the Mid-American Conference Tournament on Friday night at Quicken Loans Arena.

After twice losing to the Bobcats in the regular season, the Bulls won when it mattered most, getting 22 points from Willie Conner and 20 more from Blake Hamilton.

Third-seeded Buffalo advances to take on No. 1 Akron in Saturday’s championship game at 7:30 p.m.

“They were a tough matchup for us in that we essentially play three forwards and they play four guards,” Ohio coach Saul Phillips said. “Twice this year it worked out in our favor, and we would trade those two for this one in a heartbeat, I can promise you that.”

For the second straight game in the MAC Tournament, all five Ohio starters reached double figures but it was not enough. Antonio Campbell had 16 points and 11 rebounds, and Jaaron Simmons finished with 15 points and eight assists.

No. 2 seed Ohio scored the game’s first six points, but Buffalo caught fire from deep after that, beginning with a Conner 3-pointer to get it on the board. Nick Perkins tied the game with two free throws at the 15:31 mark, and Perkins, who had 14 points, connected on a trey about two minutes later to put the Bulls up for good. Perkins completed the 11-0 run with a free throw that made it 14-8 with 12:16 to go.

Three times, the Bobcats cut their first-half deficit to one, but each time, the Bulls answered, and they closed the half strong to seize control. A 13-3 run put the Bulls up 41-27 before a Mike Laster bucket made it a 12-point game at the break.

Ohio made runs in the second half, only to have Buffalo answer. A 10-2 run, capped by a Treg Setty layup, made it 55-50 at the 14:35 mark. But that was followed by nine straight points by the Bulls, making it 64-50. Hamilton drained a 3-pointer to push it to 67-52 with 9:05 remaining.

Simmons and Kenny Kaminski hit back-to-back 3-pointers for Ohio, Jordan Dartis scored a layup, and Kaminski made a jump shot to get the Bobcats back to within five at 67-62 with 6:54 to go.

Again, Buffalo countered. After two Hamilton free throws and one by Simmons, the Bulls scored 10 of the next 11 to put it away. Lamonte Bearden’s 3-poiner with 4:15 remaining made it 79-64.

“I guess we just dug down deep,” Conner said. “We figured we didn't want to go home so we had to get stops.”

A pair of Kaminski free throws finally ended the run, but that was as close as Ohio got.

The Bulls went 14 of 27 from beyond the arc and at one point in the second half were shooting 62 percent from deep. They connected on 48.4 percent of their shots overall.

“Pretty frustrating,” Campbell said. “You know, we couldn't clamp our heels down and get stops. They were (33) percent on the season for 3 and they came out and they shot the lights out.”

By contracts, the Bobcats were not sharp offensively, going 29 of 72 (40.3 percent) from the floor, including 9 of 29 on 3-pointers. They were 7 of 12 on free throws, missing all three first-half attempts – all of them on one-and-one tries.

Buffalo’s bench outscored Ohio’s by a 28-5 margin, and the Bulls had 10 fast-break points to none for the Bobcats.

Campbell had 11 points in the first half and five in the first two minutes of the second half and did not score again.

“I missed a lot of layups, a lot of hook shots, and a lot of 3s,” said Campbell, who finished 7-of-17 shooting, missing his final six shots.

Bearden was just 5-of-15 shooting for Buffalo, but finished with 15 points and added nine assists. Massinburg and Rodell Wiggington paced the Bulls on the boards with nine.

Dartis was 4 of 6 for 13 points for Ohio, and Setty had 13 points and eight rebounds. Kaminski finished with 12 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

It was not the finish the Bobcats were hoping for, but the season was a huge step forward from last year’s 10-20 mark, and there is a chance for it to continue in some type of postseason tournament.

“There are years that it's right to play in those events and there are years where honestly, you need to be euthanized,” Phillips said. “This is not a euthanization here. This is move forward and keep playing with this group, get some into some postseason. They deserve to play, they do. They earned it, they earned that right.

“Listen, they've got 80 jillion 1-A football bowl games, why can't we have ours?”








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