BUFFALO, N.Y.— Lovell Smith (Buffalo/McKinley) tallied his second double-double of the season with 23 points and 12 rebounds, helping to lead Buffalo State past visiting Alfred 83-75 in a non-conference matchup on Saturday afternoon.

THE BASICS

FINAL SCORE: Buffalo State - 83, Alfred - 75

LOCATION:  Sports Arena – Buffalo, N.Y.

RECORDS:  Buffalo State (5-2), Alfred (4-3)

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Smith got the Bengals on the scoreboard first with a quick jumper in the opening 10 seconds of play.  
• The Saxons answered back with a 3-pointer, going ahead 3-2, taking their only lead of the game at 19:19.
• Three 3-pointers in a row from three separate Bengals put Buffalo State back ahead 11-5 at 17:30.
• The Bengals pushed their lead out to 11, 26-15, with 8:27 left in the half.
• Alfred cut Buffalo States lead down to five points, 28-23 with two free throws at 6:55, but the Bengals finished on a 10-5 run to take a 38-28 lead into halftime.
• In the second half, the Saxons came out looking to score. Alfred took advantage of its fast break to open up with a 6-0 run and cut the Bengal lead to just four points, 38-34.
• With just over 15 minutes to play, Alfred cut the Bengal lead down again, this time to one point, 41-42.
• The game remained close during the first half of the period, however, an 8-1 run capped off by a 3-pointer from Ryniek Holloway (Corona/Bayside) put the Bengals ahead 52-44 at 9:54.
• With 7:17 on the clock, Buffalo State had pushed its lead out to 11, 61-50, but Alfred was not ready to quit. The Saxons slowly chipped away at the Bengal lead and a three at 1:14 tied the game, 73-73.
• A reaching foul followed by a technical follow from Alfred proved to be a big help for Buffalo State.
• The Bengals took advantage of four straight free throws, hitting all four and going up 79-75 with just over one minute remaining.
• Strong free throw shooting in the final minute of play sealed the win for the Bengals as they went 8-8 from the charity stripe during that time.
• Smith led the way for the Bengals offensively and recorded a team-high in rebounds. Mike Henry (Syracuse/W. Genesee) chipped in 14 points, while Jordan Glover (Buffalo/St. Joe's) and Nico McLean (Buffalo/Amherst) added 13 and 12 points respectively. Holloway tallied a career-high eight points and two assists.
• Buffalo State finished the game shooting 42.6 percent from the floor, 29.4 percent from long range and 72.2 percent from the free throw line. 

FOR THE FOES

• Dalton Cousin led the Alfred offense with 22 points. Nick Schmidt added 18 points and Tyler Seelman chipped in 17.
• From the floor, the Saxons shot 36.2 percent and went 28.6 percent from long range and 70.8 percent from the free throw line.  

UP NEXT

Buffalo State will return to action on Tuesday, December 29 for the first round of the Coaches vs. Cancer Tournament hosted by Lehman College in the Bronx. The Bengals will matchup at 4 p.m. against New Jersey City.