Second Half Pressure Leads Bobcats to Win over Syracuse

BUFFALO, NY - It wasn't pretty, but a balanced scoring attack and some second half defensive pressure pushed the Bryant & Stratton Buffalo Bobcats to a 78-71 victory over Bryant & Stratton Syracuse on Wednesday night inside the Burt Flickinger Athletic Center.

Five different players scored in double-figures for Buffalo with senior Jordan Street recording his second straight double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds and fellow senior Jonathan Range scoring a team-high 15.  Buffalo overcame some poor shooting to win the second half by nine en route to the victory.  

THE FAST BREAK

• The first half was back and forth with Syracuse holding a two-point edge after 20 minutes.
• Buffalo jumped out to an early 6-0 lead after back-to-back triples by Mick Snowden and Damone Brown Jr.
• Syracuse answered with four straight points to cut the deficit to two before eventually taking a 9-8 lead moments later.
• The two teams traded blows for most of the half before Syracuse was able to extend the lead to five, 35-30, after a Tim Rouse three with 2:56 left in the half.
• Range scored the first bucket of the second half to tie the game at 40 but Syracuse answered right back.
• Brown Jr. and Jabari Hibbert scored the next five points of the game for Buffalo which sparked a 13-2 run to give Buffalo a 53-44 lead.
• The largest lead of the game came with just over 11 minutes left when sophomore Jeriah Williams turned a Davon Ware steal into two points to increase the lead to 60-49.
• Syracuse was able to get back within three points but never closer as Buffalo iced the game with some clutch shots down the stretch.

BOBCAT NOTES

• Buffalo forced 24 Syracuse turnovers which led directly to 25 points.
• To go along with a team-high 15 points, Range added nine rebounds, four assists and two steals.
• Hibbert was a perfect 5-of-5 from the floor and made his only three point attempt, scoring 12 points and adding six steals and five assists.
• Snowden made four triples and finished with 12 points.
• Brown Jr., the fifth starter, was a point away from double-figures, scoring nine points. He also added eight rebounds and two blocks.
• Taijay Williams had his second consecutive productive game off the bench, finishing with 10 points, five rebounds and four assists in 19 minutes.
• Sophomore Jason Mixon was instrumental on defense in the second half which saw Buffalo force 13 turnovers.  Mixon came off the bench to add four rebounds, two steals, a block and two points in 17 minutes.
• Buffalo edged out Syracuse on the glass (47-41) and in second chance points (17-6).  The bench of Syracuse was able to add 36 points.  Buffalo had 16.

WHAT THEY SAID

"Syracuse came in here ready to play tonight and my hats' off to them," BSC Buffalo Head Coach Damone Brown said.  "We did enough to get the win in the second half.  We need to get better on the defensive end of the floor and have better execution.  We have some time to get better, and for some of our guys to get healthy before we play a relentless ECC team next Wednesday."

UP NEXT

The Bobcats will play their first technical road game of the season next Wednesday, Nov. 13 when they take on Erie Community College at 7:30 p.m.  ECC advanced to the NJCAA National Final Four last year.

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