The Buffalo State men’s basketball team entered the weekend with a good chance to move up the standings, but they moved down instead.
The Bengals were in fifth place when the weekend started, but New Paltz moved past Buffalo State with an 86-81 victory on Friday night and then Oneonta handed them their third consecutive loss in a 72-67 upset. Buffalo State ended their skid with a win over Fredonia Tuesday.
“It was a little bit of a letdown the night before when we gave the game away,” said head coach Fajri Ansari.
“New Paltz put themselves in position to get the crowd into it with momentum and it got they’re players hyped.
“In Oneonta, the difference was we wanted to get the game over with and go home. We were thinking they were in last place and were going to lie down. We weren’t ready, but they were and we dug a big hole for ourselves.”
Against Oneonta, Jake Simmons became the first Bengal to score 2,000 career points, but the result from the weekend overshadowed his big day.
Buffalo State now needs to win their final two games or face elimination from playoff contention.
“It actually doesn’t mean anything to me right now because the loss overbears everything,” Simmons said.
“Maybe when the season is over I can look back and be happy for another accomplishment, but right now I’m just focusing on how to get into the playoffs. The 2,000 points are great, but I’ve got something more in my heart right now.”
Simmons scored 31 points Friday night, but the Bengals failed to close out the final eight minutes.
The Bengals took an early 12-3 lead with Simmons exploding for eight points right out of the gate, but the Hawks clamped down on defense after that. Buffalo State’s lead was down to 41-37 at the half.
The Bengals collapsed on defense in the second half, allowing 49 points and held their final lead of the game at 66-65 with 8:48 left. New Paltz followed with a 12-2 run, but Buffalo State got back to within 79-75 with 2:03 remaining.
“They had a good crowd and they started to get into it with a couple of dunks,” forward Ryan Carney said. “A couple of blocks on the defensive end for them and it changed the momentum. We just needed a bucket in any way that we could.”
Carney scored Buffalo State’s final six points, but it wasn’t enough, as the Bengals were forced to foul and the Hawks made their free throws down the stretch.
Roderick Epps had 15 points, Carney added 10 points and three blocks and Seth Runge chipped in with nine points and seven rebounds. The Bengals shot just 19.2 percent from 3-point range and were outrebounded, 62-39.
Saturday, the Bengals went into Oneonta overlooking the Red Dragons, finding themselves down 42-26 as the teams went into the break.
Simmons showed up with a 10-point, six-rebound first half, but the rest of the team failed to produce. Buffalo State was 0-for-6 from 3-point range and allowed guard Zach Mager to knock down four 3-pointers for 19 points before intermission.
“It wasn’t hard to shut him down. It was just miscommunication,” Simmons said. “Our guys came out a little lethargic. When we were guarding him, we were in the zone and they were setting screens, we miscommunicated on who was going to switch and he was left open to knock down shots.”
Buffalo State exploded with a 25-11 run out of the break, with forward Chris Castren scoring nine of the Bengals’ first 13 points.
“We just had to work harder and pick it up on defense,” Castren said. “We weren’t really too concerned with our offense. We just showed no effort on defense in the first half, so our goal was to come out and pick it up on the defensive end.”
The Bengals kept the momentum rolling and cut the deficit to 53-51 with 10:18 left in the game. They scored just two points over the next six minutes and the Red Dragons were eventually able to retake a double-digit lead in the final minute.
Down 70-60 with 31 seconds left with both Castren and Anthony Hamer fouled out, the Bengals showed signs of life. Epps made a layup and Simmons hit a 3-pointer to get to within five with 18 seconds left. The late push wasn’t enough, however, and time ran out on the Bengals’ comeback bid.
Simmons scored a team-high 19 points, Epps had 15 and Castren added eleven. The Bengals shot just 18.2 percent from 3-point range and were out-rebounded, 45-42.
“I think we’re forcing it a little bit too much,” Castren said. “I feel like our shooting percentages would go up if we could work the ball around more and get a few more open shots.”
The Bengals faced a must-win situation in Fredonia Tuesday, and they responded with a 92-74 win to keep their postseason hopes alive.
Epps led the way for the Bengals with 30 points, five assists and three steals, while Simmons added 23 points.
The Bengals will return home for Senior Night Friday against Brockport before playing their season finale on the road against Geneseo Saturday.
“We’ve got our last home game,” Ansari said. “It’s Senior Night and we’ve got to defend the home court. If we can defend the home court and get another victory, then we give ourselves a chance to secure a playoff position.”
A.J. Speier can be reached by email at speier.record@live.com.