BUFFALO, NY – The Buffalo State men's basketball team picked up an emotional, thrilling win over the SUNY Canton Roos, 71-70, to keep their SUNYAC playoff hopes at an arm's reach!
 
GAME BASICS

FINAL SCORE: Buffalo State – 71, SUNY Canton – 70
LOCATION: Sports Arena – Buffalo, NY
RECORDS: Buffalo State: 7-14 (5-9 SUNYAC), SUNY Canton: 3-17 (3-10 SUNYAC)

INSIDE THE BENGAL BOX SCORE

• Matt Parkinson (Springfield Greens, NY/John Browne) led the Bengals in the scoring department, finishing the day with a 14-point performance, going 5-12 from the field, while making some clutch threes throughout the game. Brendyn Cheng (Huntington, NY/Commack) chipped on the scoring end with 11-points in tonight's matchup.
• A group effort among the boards saw Chisom Ani (Elmont, NY/John Browne) and Maley McCurty (Syracuse, NY/Nottingham) each pull down five-boards for the Bengals.  
• As a team, Bengals shot 34.8% from the floor, while going 33.3% from the three-point arc and 59.1% at the free-throw line.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Continuing their late season push into the SUNYAC playoffs, the Bengals looked towards a return to their home floor in a matchup with the SUNY Canton Roos. Opening the first half of play, things would look bleak for the Bengals as the Roos would open on a 10-0 run, stifling the Bengals on the defensive end. As the half would continue, the Bengals looked to gain some ground, bring down their deficit within single digits as the midway point of the half came. A 9-0 run from the Roos would increase the deficit back up to 16-points, but the Bengals would finish the half strong and enter halftime down 12-points.
• In the second half, things didn't look as better for the Bengals…with the Roos bringing their lead back to 16-points, pushing the Bengals towards defeat. However, tight defense and a desire to win brought the Bengals back to life as they would create havoc with their defense and reward themselves with easy baskets to bring this game back within two-possessions. With under five-minutes left in the second half, the Bengals found themselves down by four-points before each team began trading baskets as the final seconds neared. With 11 seconds left of play, Ani would tie this matchup before heading to the free-throw line with one second left of play to knock down a HUGE free-throw and get the Bengals a win over the Roos by one-point.  

FOR THE FOES

• Eli Larson led the Roos with a double-double performance, scoring 31 points while pulling down 17 rebounds in tonight's contest.

UP NEXT
The Bengals will look to bring their win streak to three-games, as they host the Oswego State Lakers tomorrow evening at 4:00 P.M.