SABRES STRIKE LATE TO DEFEAT BRUINS IN OVERTIME, HEAD TO UTAH
The Buffalo Sabres are starting to find a way to win, as they went into Boston on St. Patrick's Day and came away with an overtime victory, 3-2.
Peyton Krebs finished off a nice passing sequence for the blue and gold just over four minutes into the game, putting Buffalo up 1-0. The Bruins would work around the Sabres defense to strike twice in the first, giving Boston a 2-1 lead after a penalty-laden first period. In the second, Owen Power sniped, and I mean sniped a wrister from the face-off dot past Boston goalie Joonas Korpisalo to tie the game at 2. Scoreless through the rest of the second and the entirety of the third, Luukkonen, who ended the game with 18 saves, helped get the game to overtime. As the 3-on-3 period wound down, Ryan McLeod drew a tripping penalty to give the Sabres a 4-on-3 man advantage. On the power play, Alex Tuch tipped home an Owen Power point shot, with just 13 seconds left in overtime, to win the game for Buffalo. Power ended the night with three points, for the second time this season.
The Sabres still sit last in the Eastern Conference with 60 points, which is thirteen points back of the final playoff spot and just sixteen games to play. Buffalo kicks off a three-game western road trip with a game in Utah tomorrow night at 9PM.
BIG FOUR TRANSFERS IN THE BIG DANCE
While none of the Big Four basketball teams made the NCAA Tournament this season, there are some former players that transferred from WNY that will be playing on the big stage of March Madness.
A pair of former local players have teamed up at Bryant University. St. Bonaventure transfer Barry Evans and Canisius transfer Devean Williams will take on Michigan State in the First Round. Evans has been terrific for the Bulldogs, averaging thirteen points and six rebounds per game. Williams has only played one game this season. 15-seed Bryant takes on 2nd seeded Michigan State on Friday at 7PM in Cleveland.
One player in the tournament traded in Niagara purple and white for a new uniform, seven-footer Harlan Obioha went from NU to UNC-Wilmington. Now, Obioha averages 11 points and a team-high seven rebounds per game for the Seahawks. UNCW is a 14 seed, taking on Texas Tech in the First Round on Thursday night in Kansas.
Three former UB Bulls have found their way onto Tournament team rosters:
Sean Fulcher’s Alabama State Hornets won their First Four game over Saint Francis (PA) last night on a miraculous play to score at the buzzer, winning 70-68. Fulcher dropped five points and dished out three assists last night in just 12 minutes of action. The Hornets advance to the First Round as a 16 seed to face top-seeded Auburn tomorrow afternoon in Kentucky.
Norfolk State scooped up UB transfer Kuluel Mading in the portal two years ago, and now the big man has helped lead the Spartans to a MEAC Championship, and a trip to the big dance. Mading, now a senior, is the everyday starting Center for Norfolk State, and leads the team with 43 blocks this season. The Spartans are a 16-seed, set to take on 1-seed Florida on Friday evening in North Carolina.
Finally, the most notable transfer from WNY that will be prominently displayed in the Tournament is Iowa State’s Curtis Jones, who was named an Honorable Mention AP All-American as one of the best 6th men in the country. Jones, who repped UB Blue and White from 2021-23, leads the Cyclones with 17 points per game, shooting 42% from the field while coming off the bench this season. Iowa State is a 3 seed and matches up with 14 seed Lipscomb in the First Round on Friday afternoon in Milwaukee.
BONA MBB SEASON ENDS AT HOME VS KENT STATE IN NIT
The St. Bonaventure Bonnies’ men’s hoops season came to an end last night at the Reilly Center, suffering a 75-56 loss to Kent State in the First Round of the NIT.
The Bonnies came out strong, something we haven’t seen since the regular season, with the Brown and White jumping out to a 16-4 lead through the opening six minutes of play. Slowly, Kent State chipped away at the BONA lead, until they tied the game at 24 with just under four minutes left in the first half. Ending the half on a 17-6 run, the visiting Golden Flashes silenced the hometown crowd heading into the locker room, with a one-point lead. Kent State came out of halftime blistering hot, knocking down four straight triples, ballooning their lead up to twelve points in a flash. KSU wouldn’t look back, as they kept pace over the Bonnies from there on out to close the game and win it by 19. St. Bonaventure’s Chance Moore ended his senior season with a 16 point, 5 rebound performance in the loss.
The only remaining college hoops team to be playing is the University at Buffalo’s Women’s team, who will face the winner of UMass Amherst and Stonehill early next week in the Second Round of the WNIT.
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