BUFFALO, NY – Stingy defense and a timely second-half run for the Buffalo State men's basketball team propelled it to an 84-75 victory over Division II D'Youville, from the College Center Monday night.

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Buffalo State – 84, D'Youville – 75
LOCATION: College Center – Buffalo, NY
RECORDS: Buffalo State (1-6), D'Youville (1-6)

INSIDE THE BENGAL BOX SCORE

• Sheldon Adams (Rochester, NY/Bishop Kearney) led all scorers with 31 points, his fourth 30-point game of the season.
• Daron Hughey (Hartford, CT/The Masters School) added a career-high 26 points, making 11-of-14 shots from the field, adding six rebounds and five steals.
• Marquell Boutwell (Liverpool, NY/Nottingham) added six points and a career-best 12 rebounds and four blocked shots.
• The Bengals shot a season-best 45.9 percent (34-of-74) from the field in the contest and tallied 23 fast break points.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Bengals came out firing on offense, as Adams scored 13 of the team's first 23 points to jump out to an 11-point lead.
• Mark Worthy, Jr. (Williamsville, NY/Williamsville South), Jeremiah Miller (Clinton, MD/Grace Brethren Christian), and Robert Richards (Williamsville, NY/Williamsville South) then made layups, as the Bengals extended its lead to 14, at 29-15.
• Down 14 in the final three minutes, D'Youville closed the gap, finishing the period on an 8-2 run, as the Bengals led 38-32 at the half.
• The Saints brought the deficit to four, before Hughey hit a 3-pointer from the corner and Aaron Davis (Beacon, NY/Beacon) went coast-to-coast for the layup, bringing the lead to nine at 45-36.
• D'Youville then worked to eliminate the deficit, as a Nelson St. Louis 3-pointer capped a 16-6 run, giving the Saints a one-point, 52-51.
• Down one, Adams drove to the lane and converted on the acrobatic layup while fouled. He converted on the traditional three-point play, kickstarting an 8-0 run to give the Bengals a 61-54 lead at the 5:51 mark.
• The Bengals added to the lead, as Davis found Tyron Smith (New York, NY/Thurgood Marshall) in the corner for the trey for the nine-point, 67-58 advantage.
• D'Youville made one final run, bringing the deficit to four (73-69) after a pair of Rod Johnson free throws with 1:43 to go.
• On the Bengals' next possession, Cheng grabbed a rebound of a missed Adams shot, finding Boutwell for the driving layup. Boutwell then blocked a St. Louis layup attempt on the other end, as Adams found Hughey in transition to take an eight-point, 77-69 lead with 1:16 to go in regulation.
• The Bengals then made crucial free throws down the stretch to preserve the nine-point victory.

 
FOR THE FOES

• St. Louis and Mason Putnam led D'Youville with 19 points apiece.
• Noah Denz added 12 points.
• Latrell Butler nearly tallied a triple-double, with seven points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists with four steals.

NOTABLES

• Adams 31-point performance pushed him past Ken Zak '72 for 11^th place on the all-time scoring list. With 1,261 career points, he needs just two points to break into the top-10 all time.

 
UP NEXT
Buffalo State will return to Division III and SUNYAC play, hosting Brockport from the Sports Arena on Friday at 7:30 p.m.