BUFFALO, NY – Senior Ashley Wallace (Lockport, NY/Starpoint) poured in a team-high 23 points to lead Buffalo State (4-4) to a 74-66 non-conference victory over RIT (5-3) on Saturday afternoon in Sports Arena.

Olivia Luciani (Syracuse, NY/East Syracuse-Minoa) started things off for the Bengals with a three pointer in the opening minute of play. The score remained close until Buffalo State took full advantage of the fast break and went on a 16-4 run, giving the Bengals a 12 point lead with 9:07 left in the first half.

Buffalo State remained in control for the majority of the time remaining in the half. RIT did make a 9-3 run in the final two minutes, but the Bengals managed to hang onto a four point lead heading into the locker room.

In the second half, Buffalo State quickly pushed its lead back out to 10. Despite scrappy defense, the Tigers could not overcome their deficit. The closest RIT would come to the Bengals was four points at 15:33. Strong shooting in the closing minutes of the game helped the Bengals stay on top.

Wallace led the way offensively, while Luciani added 16 points and five assists. Jordan Yastremski (Bath, NY/Bath-Haverling) pulled down nine rebounds and chipped in 12 points. Keyonte Edwards (Buffalo, NY/O'Hara) recorded a career-high 12 rebounds, pacing the Bengals defense and tallied eight points.

Buffalo State finished the night shooting 39.1% (25-64) from the floor, 44.4% (4-9) from long range and 55.6% (20-36) from the charity stripe. The Bengals also recorded 14 fast break points and outrebounded the Tigers 58-38.

The Bengals return to action at Pitt-Bradford on Monday evening for a 6 p.m. matchup.