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Team collapses in weekend pair to miss out on postseason
By A.J. Speier
On February 20, 2013
With two games to play and its playoff hopes hanging in the balance last weekend,
the Buffalo State men's basketball team faltered.
The Bengals were eliminated from playoff contention Friday night after squandering
a 10-point lead with less than three minutes remaining at home against Brockport,
losing to the Golden Eagles in overtime, 92-84. They followed with another loss
Saturday in Geneseo, trailing 49-19 heading into halftime before the Knights went
on to win, 83-67.
"After the Brockport game, it became about rebuilding for next season," head
coach Fajri Ansari said. "We have to improve on defense and turnovers that cost us
this year. I'm proud of the seniors and the contribution they made in turning the
program around in the last four years. Our future looks promising."
Friday night was a tale of two halves for the Bengals and seniors Jake Simmons, Seth
Runge, Anthony Hamer and Ken Owusu, who had their last chance to play in front of
the home crowd at the Sports Arena.
After Brockport jumped out to an early 7-2 lead, the Bengals responded with two
separate 11-0 runs, eventually pushing their lead to as many as 12 before taking a
43-36 lead into the half.
In the first half, the Bengals shot 51.4 percent from the field and 100 percent from
3-point range. Simmons netted 14 points and Roderick Epps tallied 12 to help the
Bengals establish the lead.
"We came out strong in the first half because we wanted it more," point guard
Anthony Hamer said. "We wanted to get out to an early lead because last time
we faced Brockport, they blew us out and we didn't play well. Everybody played
together this time as a team."
Coming out of the break, the Bengals scored the first five points and managed to
hold the lead for the majority of second half, but Buffalo State's defense collapsed
after taking a 71-59 lead with 3:40 left.
The Bengals turned the ball over eight times and committed seven fouls during the
final three minutes and 40 seconds, as they struggled to get past the Golden Eagles
full-court press.
Brockport finished the second half on a 12-2 run and forced overtime after guard
John Ivy made one of his two free throws with 14 seconds remaining.
"The ref making the calls was giving us a hard time," Hamer said. "The other refs
were even telling us he was doing a bad job."
In overtime, the Bengals got on the board first with a Ryan Carney layup, but the
Golden Eagles scored nine of the next 11 points. The Bengals were unable to make a
comeback, despite guard Brad Doyley's effort with three quick layups.
"They turned up the intensity and were pressuring us," Doyley said. "They were
face-to-face with us holding us tightly and we just folded at the end. They took our
heart from us."
Simmons led the Bengals with 26 points and eight rebounds. Doyley scored a career-
high 19 points to go with five assists and four steals. Epps had 16 points and eight
rebounds, while Carney added nine points and nine rebounds.
The Bengals held the Golden Eagles to just four-of-22 from 3-point range, but
surrendered 24 turnovers, including 15 in the second half and overtime.
Following the loss, Buffalo State entered Saturday night's game with nothing to play
for. Even if the Bengals were able to get the win against Geneseo and tie New Paltz
in the standings, the Hawks owned the sixth-place tiebreaker.
Heartbroken and tired from the loss the night before, the Bengals failed to show up
in the first half, as the Knights headed into the break up 49-19.
Hamer and Runge were each charged with two fouls within the first six minutes of
play and Ansari was left with no choice but to go through his entire bench to try and
stop the Geneseo run.
By the end of the half, the Bengals were shooting just 25 percent from the field while
the Knights shot 55 percent.
In the second half, the Bengals looked like a different team that could possibly make
a comeback. But a 15-4 run was ended when Runge was charged with his fifth foul
after Buffalo State cut the deficit to 53-34 with 14:19 left.
With Runge fouled out and a lack of a dominant center to replace him, the Knights
went on a 20-5 run to take their largest lead of the night, 73-39, with 6:27 left.
"It affected the team because we were feeding him the ball and he was scoring,"
Simmons said. "Every time we gave him the ball he was killing them down there, so
it really affected us when he fouled out."
The Knights gave their starters the rest of the night off soon after, but there wasn't
enough time for the Bengals to mount a comeback. Simmons tried to bring them
back, scoring his first bucket with 4:40 left and finishing the game 15 points.
Epps led the team with 16 points, Runge scored 12 and Hamer had 10. The Bengals
were out-rebounded 46-31 and allowed Geneseo to shoot 53.3 percent from the
field.
Simmons, who previously became Buffalo State's all-time leading scorer, ended his
career with 2,079 points and is a candidate for the SUNYAC Player of the Year award
after leading the conference with an average of 21.4 points per game.
"If I can get SUNYAC Player of the Year, that's an accomplishment I never had,"
Simmons said. "I feel like I had a great season though. I was nominated our
championship year, but they ended up giving it to Oswego's Chad Burridge.
Hopefully they give me the award because I really want it."
A.J. Speier can be reached by email at speier.record@live.com.
Follow staff writer A.J. Speier on Twitter @Ajbisons.
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