Published: November 15, 2008 11:13 pm      

COLLEGE ROUNDUP (Nov. 16): UB basketball wins opener

Niagara Falls native Greg Gamble had 19 points, eight rebounds and five assists in 38 minutes of action as the Buffalo men’s basketball team opened the season Saturday night with a 70-62 win at Youngstown State.

Rodney Pierce led the Bulls with 21 points and keyed a pivotal second-half run. Calvin Betts contributed 13 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks.

The Bulls shot 42 percent, compared to Youngstown’s 35 percent shooting. They also held a 51-39 edge on the backboards.

Coach Reggie Witherspoon lamented his team’s 15 turnovers and several missed layups, but was content with starting 1-0 for the fourth straight year.

“We’ve got a lot to improve on,” Witherspoon said in a radio interview after the game. “But we’ll take (the win), and we’re not giving it back.”

UB played without last year’s leading scorer, Andy Robinson, who is serving a three-game suspension for violating team rules. Byron Mulkey (Niagara-Wheatfield) played just three minutes, as he has fallen behind Gamble and John Boyer on the point guard depth chart.

The Bulls open with three straight road games, but play locally on Tuesday when they visit Canisius. The Golden Griffins lost 56-46 at Akron on Saturday.

Cayuga CC 74, NCCC 70

Freshmen Queran Walker and Franklin Harris each had 19 points and five assists, but the Trailblazers squandered a late lead in the opening round of the Cayuga Tip-Off Tournament. Leading by one with just over 40 seconds left, Cayuga’s Vance Kelly hit a 3-pointer off a pick-and-roll play to put CCC ahead. Clutch free-throw shooting down the stretch sealed the win.

“The first half really cost us because we should’ve easily been up 10 or 12 points at the half, but we didn’t score in the first three minutes of the game,” NCCC coach Frank Rotundo said. “We still had ourselves in position to win at the end, but we blew it.”

Kelly finished with a game-high 24 points, including 20 in the second half, for CCC (3-2 overall). For NCCC (0-3), which plays Tompkins-Cortland CC in today’s consolation game at noon, Dyrell Dolson (Niagara Catholic) had his third consecutive double-double with 12 points and 15 rebounds and Kenmore West graduate Mike Maritato added 10 points and five rebounds in his first collegiate start.

Women’s Basketball

Cross Country

Volleyball

Rowing

Wrestling