UB FOOTBALL OVERCOMES MISTAKES, BEATS BALL STATE IN OT TO GO BOWLING
It certainly wasn’t a pretty win for the UB Bulls last night, but Buffalo found a way to come back and defeat Ball State, 51-48 in Overtime for their sixth win of the season, making them officially bowl eligible with two games remaining.
Even though ESPN Analytics had said that Ball State had a 98% chance to win late in the game, Buffalo never gave up, and fought back from down fourteen points in the fourth quarter to force Overtime. The Bulls held the Cardinals to a field goal in the first possession of OT, then Ogbonna found running back Lamar Sperling for the game winner.
Buffalo’s Head Coach Pete Lembo defeated the team he used to coach, and as a result, earned win number six this year, sending the Bulls Bowling. Buffalo heads to Eastern Michigan before wrapping up the regular season at home vs winless Kent State.
SABRES COLLAPSE AGAINST MONTREAL MONDAY, LOSE THOMPSON TO INJURY
The Buffalo Sabres collapsed on Monday afternoon, losing to the visiting Montreal Canadiens 7-5 at KeyBank Center. In the loss, their leading scorer Tage Thompson left the game with a lower body injury and did not return. Defesemen Mattias Samuelsson also left the game with injury.
It was a sloppy game to say the least, as Buffalo and Montreal traded the lead six times with weak goals allowed by three of the four goalies who played. The Sabres had a one goal lead with a minute left in the second period, 3-2, then proceeded to get outworked and let in two soft goals to give Montreal the 4-3 lead going into the intermission.
To start the third period, Coach Lindy Ruff changed his goalies, pulling Ukko-Pekka Luukonen, later referencing an “ailment” that was bothering the starting goalie on Sunday. Devon Levi saw the ice for just the second time in the last month, and for the first four minutes of the period, saw the Sabres tie the game on the power play and take the lead back again, 5-4. During that opening four minutes of the third, Tage Thompson took one shift and left the bench area, unnoticed at first to most in attendance. With the chance to hand the 32nd placed Canadiens their 7th straight loss, Buffalo blew it in the final eleven minutes. Montreal outworked the Sabres, won puck battles, and scored three straight goals on Levi to win the game in regulation.
The loss snaps a Sabres’ three game win streak, bringing their record back below even, down to 7-8-1. Buffalo hosts the St. Louis Blues on Thursday night at 7:30pm.
WNY COLLEGE HOOPS SEASON PREVIEW
The College Basketball season has already begun in WNY. With a handful of non-league games in the books, we’ve now gotten to see what each team is working with.
In Olean, the St. Bonaventure Bonnies men’s team has started the new season 2-0 with wins over Cal State and Canisius last week. The Bonnies have just one rotational player returning in 6’11 Center Noel Brown. Through the portal, BONA acquired some big time talent, most notably, Chance Moore, who was a key piece off the bench at Missouri State last year. Moore was electrifying against Canisius, posting a team-high 27 points from the small forward position. Rochester native Melvin Council, Jr. and Iowa transfer Dasonte Bowen will provide grit and poise from the Bonnies’ backcourt this season.
The St. Bonaventure women’s basketball program played the second game of their season last night, falling to Youngstown State 60-52, balancing their record at 1-1. BONA’s women’s team returns their leading scorer and WNY native Dani Haskall, along with Redshirt-Senior guard Isabellah Middleton. In year two under Coach Jim Crowley, the Bonnies brought in a Second-Team All-State guard from Pennsylvania in Mackenzie Pettinelli, who has already provided a spark.
The Buffalo Bulls men opened their season with two nail-biting wins over Old Dominion and Fredonia State, before giving the Fighting Irish a run for their money at Notre Dame on Monday. Now at 2-1, the Bulls are led by the pair of Canadian transfer Tyson Dunn and returner Ryan Sabol. With 14 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists vs Fredonia, Dunn is the only men’s player in the nation to record a triple-double so far this season. UB has a challenging non-conference schedule, playing the likes of Penn State, Georgia, and Temple, all on the road.
The UB Bulls Women’s team is coming off a run to the MAC title game, and they return three key players and their entire coaching staff. The Bulls are 2-0 to start Coach Becky Burke’s third year at the helm. Led by their returning leading scorer in redshirt-senior guard Chellia Watson, the reigning MAC Freshman of the Year Kirsten Lewis-Williams, and standout first year Alex Davis, UB opened the season with a close win over Troy at home, before breaking five team program records in a 123-44 win over Buffalo State last week. The Bulls will face Canisius, Niagara, and St. Bonaventure in succession to close the month of November. The Bulls are at Maryland Eastern Shore tonight at 7:00.
The Canisius Golden Griffins men’s hoops team started their season with quite the test, losing to top-10 ranked Arizona on the road. The Griffs then fell to the Bonnies at home, starting the year 0-2, but their junior transfer guard Paul McMillan IV has been a blast to watch since coming over from Central Michigan. McMillan IV is averaging 26 points per game thus far, with support from senior guard transfer Tana Kopa and California native Dylan Godfrey. Canisius is at Mercyhurst tonight at 7PM.
Similarly to the men, the Golden Griffins’ women's team began their 2024-25 campaign with two losses in the Keystone state, falling to Pittsburgh and Penn State consecutively. Canisius’ first year Head Coach Tiffany Swoffard, who was with Penn State’s staff last year, is relying on a balanced scoring attack so far, with Jaela Johnson, Shariah Gailes and two others that are averaging over 5 points per game on the young season. The Griffins play some closer competition this weekend, as they take on Saint Francis, before facing St. Bonaventure and Buffalo within the next week.
Up on Monteagle Ridge, the Purple Eagles men are currently 1-2 on the season, with losses at Michigan State and Detroit Mercy. In the fifth year of Head Coach Greg Paulus’ tenure, the Purple Eagle have been shooting the ball well, and are expected to be in the thick of the battle in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, picked 8th in the Coaches' Preseason Poll. So far, NU’s senior transfer from Division II Winona State Olumide Adelodun is their leading attacker, with Jahari Williamson and Jaeden Marshall providing secondary scoring.
Fresh off their programs’ first WNIT Appearance, the Niagara women’s basketball team didn’t schedule any cupcakes to open the season, falling at Syracuse and at ranked West Virginia. The signature ‘Hurricane Havoc’ high pressure defense can throw opponents into a loop and leads to high scoring affairs all year long. Niagara Falls native and O’Hara Hawks alum Amelia Strong leads the team with 14 points per game. The Purple Eagles will be at Penn State tomorrow morning for an 11:30 tip.
At the Division II Level, the Daemen Wildcats men were picked as one of two teams to finish atop the East Coast Conference, while the women were picked second. Also in the ECC, D’Youville were picked 8th in both the men’s and women’s polls.
