BUFFALO, NY – The University of Rochester men's basketball team used a dominant second half, scoring sixty points, enroute to a 99-57 win over host Buffalo State College on Wednesday evening.
Rochester (8-2) was playing for the first time in nearly a month due to the holiday break, with the Yellowjackets last contest coming on December 7th, a win at Ithaca. The loss sent Buffalo State's record to 1-9 overall on the season.
UR, winners of five straight, saw 18 players get in the game and 15 of those individuals record at least one point. Brian Amabilino Perez kept his strong season going, leading UR with 25 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 blocks. The 25 points were a new career-high for the senior.
Dan Masino, making his first start for Rochester, finished with 14 points and a team high eight rebounds, while Mitchell Kershner added 11 points, including a pair of 3-pointers.
Rochester as a team shot 54.8% from the field, including a magnificent 69.4% in the second half, making 25-of-36 attempts from the floor.
UR's defense was just as strong, holding the Bengals to just 36.7% (22-60) shooting overall and forced 19 turnovers which led to 20 Yellowjacket points.
Offensively, Rochester's 99 points were the most scored by a Yellowjacket squad since the 2016-17 season, when UR defeated NYU 101-58 on February 3, 2017, over 100 games ago.
On Wednesday, UR held a slim lead at 19-18 midway through the first half. Rochester scored eight of the next ten points of the game to edge up by seven, six came from Amabilino Perez, while Matt Wiele chipped in a layup.
The lead built up to as many as 14 in the first half following a Kershner old-fashioned 3-point play with 1:48 left, with Rochester eventually heading to the locker room up 39-28 at halftime.
A 12-2 spurt over 3:39 during the second period ended up being the back breaker, ballooning the lead to 24 as the teams neared the midway point of the half. Wiele and Ross Gang scored four points in the run which ended with Rochester up 64-40.
Rochester's depth kept the pedal to the metal later on in the game, going on another extended run, this time 16-2, to finish the game in style. Andrew Jackson and Logan Jagodzinski were UR's leading scorers this time, each scoring four points along with Masino.
Other top scorers in the contest were Gang with eight points, Josiah Knight with seven and three players, Trent Noordsij, Jackson and Wiele each with six.
Buffalo State was led by Sheldon Adams who had a game-high 26 points. Robert Richards added 10 points while DaRong Hughey and Philbert Weekes each had six.
The Yellowjackets now turn their focus to the University Athletic Association portion of the schedule which begins on Saturday at the Palestra against Emory University. UR's men tipoff at noon, with the women's team to follow at 2 pm.