BUFFALO — Lovell Smith (Buffalo/McKinley) led Buffalo State with 31 points as the highest-scoring offense in the SUNYAC struck again with the Bengals outshooting Oneonta to a 101-94 conference win tonight at the Buffalo State College Sports Arena.
Smith scored 31 points on 14-of-18 shooting and chipped in three steals. Mike Henry (Syracuse/West Genesee) netted 25 and added a team-high nine rebounds. Nico McLean (Buffalo/Amherst) finished with 19 points and five assists. J.O. Spence (Brooklyn/Bayard Rustin) rounded out the Bengal attack with 11 points and five boards. The conference contest matched up the No. 1 SUNYAC offense in Buffalo State and the No. 4 Oneonta attack. Both team did not disappoint coming out of the gate, with Buffalo State taking a 58-49 lead into halftime.
The Bengals shot 57.5 percent as a team in the opening half, but the Red Dragons matched it, shooting 58.8 percent from the field. Buffalo State’s lead came from getting three more steals and six more shots up then Oneonta, as it looked like both offenses would reach the 100-point plateau.
Each team continued to shoot the lights out of the gym, and Oneonta was able to tie the game at 90 with under two minutes to play. Buffalo State answered with two made free throws by McLean and a three-pointer by Henry to retake a 95-90 lead with 42 seconds left. Oneonta would come no closer than three points, as Buffalo State escaped with a 101-94 victory. Buffalo State shot 52.8 percent as a team for the game while Oneonta hit 54.7 percent of its shots. The Bengals finished with a 36-10 edge in points off turnovers. Each team also took high percentage shots from the paint for most of the evening, as the Bengals finished with a slight 56-48 advantage in points in the paint.
Buffalo State is right back at it tomorrow as it hosts New Paltz in a SUNYAC game at 2 p.m. at the Buffalo State Sports Arena.
from BuffaloStateAthletics.com via IFTTT
All WNY is made possible thanks to coffee and sleep deprivation.
We appreciate your readership. We like money, too.
