| Box Score 2 JCU/JWU Box Score

BUFFALO, NY—Buffalo State (2-1) erased an 11-point deficit in the final minutes, but Branden Rushton (Columbus, OH/Reynoldsburg) hit a slashing layup with 20 seconds remaining to give visiting Ohio Northern (1-0) a 79-77 victory tonight in the Bengals Coles Classic. John Carroll (3-0) led wire-to-wire and defeated Johnson & Wales (1-2), 87-74, in the opening game.

Dominique Royal (Columbus, OH/Pickerington) led the Polar Bears with 21 points and 10 rebounds, and Rushton finished with 18 points. Jordan Martin (Gahanna, OH/Lincoln) added 12 points and Lucas Pennington (Lyons,OH/Evergreen) chipped in 10 points and seven boards.

Justin Mitchell (Buffalo/Timon) had 17 points, 10 rebounds and five assists to lead Buffalo State. Bradley Doyley (Brooklyn/Sports Management HS) and Roderick Epps (Uniondale/Uniondale) scored 17 points each, and Legree Kirkland (New York/Frederick Douglas VII) netted 14 off the bench and added five blocks.

The Polar Bears used a 17-5 run in the latter parts of the first half to take a 42-31 lead into the intermission. Buffalo State cut the lead to four early in the second half, but Ohio Northern pushed the lead to as many as 14 and still led 76-65 with just over four minutes remaining. The Polar Bears struggle to break the Bengals' press, and Buffalo State mounted a 12-1 run, knotting the score at 77-77 with a Mitchell layup off a turnover with just 44 seconds left. Rushton pushed the Polar Bears ahead with an aggressive drive on the next possession and Mitchell missed a short jumper to tie with four seconds remaining.

Ohio Northern finiished with a 41-28 advantage in rebounding, and outscored the Bengals 24-15 from beyond the arc. Buffalo State was 14 of 22 from the charity stripe, and the Polar Bears were just 5 of 9.

Six players scored in double figures for John Carroll in the opening game, led by 19 from David Hendrickson (Saline, MI/Saline). Jake Hollinger (Chardon, OH/Chardon) added 14 points, and Danny Wallack (Mentor, OH/Mentor) had 13. David Linane (Euclid, OH/Gilmour Acad.) chipped in 10 points and had seven assists and five steals.

Quarry Greenaway (Westchester, NY/Archbishop Stepanic) paced Johnson & Wales with 28 points and 18 rebounds. Curtis Lucas (Providence, RI/LaSalle) netted 14 points and Frank Robinson (Providence, RI/Putnam Science) scored 13.

John Carroll forced 22 Wildcat turnovers and converted them into 27 points. The Blue Streak outscored Johnson & Wales 21-12 from 3-point range and 36-7 off the bench. John Carroll led 43-31 at halftime and never let the Wildcats get closer than nine points in the final 20 minutes.

Buffalo State will face John Carroll tomorrow at 4 p.m., and Johnson & Wales and Ohio Northern will open the session at 2 p.m.