Bengals extend win streak to four games with victories over New Paltz and Oneonta.

The Buffalo State men's basketball team is playing the best basketball of its season right now.

The Bengals (15-3, 8-3 SUNYAC), currently in the middle of a four-game winning streak, defeated New Paltz (7-10, 4-7 SUNYAC), 95-67, on Friday and followed up with a 102-65 thrashing over Oneonta (2-16, 1-10 SUNYAC) on Saturday at the Sports Arena. The Bengals have outscored opponents by an average of 30 points per contest over the four-game span.

Buffalo State led 28-27 over New Paltz late in the first half before a Maurice Miles' layup with 5:44 to go helped spark a 15-3 run that featured a three-pointer and a dunk by Roderick Epps. The Bengals took a 45-34 lead into halftime.

"We were just working together as a team and I just made open shots," said Epps. "It started off in practice because we haven't been playing like us, defensively. We just came out with intensity in this game and played together."

Buffalo State went on a 13-0 run in the beginning of the second half and never looked back as Jake Simmons made three of his five three-pointers in the second half. Each player saw time in the game to contribute to the 40 points scored off the bench for the Bengals.

"It was crucial for our team because everybody on our team has talent," said Simmons. "We can use anybody in any given situation. When they're stepping up and playing big like that, it just shows how much we can use them later on in games."

Head coach Fajri Ansari thought the Bengals played much better defensively as well. The Bengals forced 25 turnovers and had 15 steals.

"We communicated a little better and we've been working on defense," said Ansari. "Our defense for that one stretch this season was terrible. We're in a habit of committing a lot of fouls, probably a few more than we needed to do tonight, but we improved, so hopefully it will get better."

It was an all-around team victory as five players hit double digits in points and the Bengals finished with only seven turnovers -- the team's second-lowest total of the season.

Epps and Simmons each finished with 15 points while Ahmed Nagaya and Anyar Majak added 12 points apiece. Norman Simmons finished with 10 points and eight assists and Maurice Miles had eight points to go with a team-high eight rebounds.

The streak continued into Saturday's game against Oneonta. The Red Dragons jumped out to an early 3-0 lead on a Dan Lee three-pointer 20 seconds into the game.

But the Bengals wouldn't trail for the remainder of the game as the team went on a 33-10 to give them a 53-37 lead heading into halftime. Nagaya and Jake Simmons combined for 31 of the Bengals' first-half points as Simmons went to work early and made all three of his three-pointers in the first half.

"I've got confidence in my jump shot and I've been working on that a lot more," said Simmons. "I've cleared my mind. Earlier in the season I kind of had some things going on and Coach told me every day just to separate that from basketball and just focus right now."

Simmons finished with 17 points to give him 1378 in his career. He currently sits eleven points shy of tying Jerry Young for second place on Buff State's all-time scoring list.

However, Nagaya stole the show in Saturday's game, scoring a career-high 30 points to go along with nine rebounds. Nagaya shot a perfect 13-of-13 from the field and finished the game with a dunk before subbing out and allowing the bench to close out the second half with a 23-4 run.

"It feels wonderful," said Nagaya. "I'm glad to get it at home and I'm glad to have a dunk with it too. I'm very happy we got the win though because it puts us one step closer to our goal which is 20 wins and hosting the playoffs."

The Bengals are set to play two road games this weekend and will travel to face Plattsburgh (6-12, 4-7 SUNYAC) at 8 p.m. on Friday and then to Potsdam (4-14, 2-9 SUNYAC) at 4 p.m. on Saturday.

A.J. Speier can be reached by email at speier.record@live.com.