Drew Stafford picked the right time to make the best individual play of the game, taking r a loose puck, outmuscling defensemen Brent Burns and slamming a puck past goaltender Jose Theodore to give the Buffalo Sabres a huge 3-2 victory at Minnesota in overtime.
With the win, Buffalo moved into sole possession of eighth place in the Eastern Conference over idle Carolina.
After blowing a two goal lead built early in the second period that saw the Wild score two of their own before intermission, the teams skated to a scoreless third period. Then early in overtime, Stafford picked up the puck near the blue line, skated around Burns, who unsuccessfully tried to knock him off away from it, and moved in front of Theodore before jamming the puck past his right pad just inside the goal post for the game-winner at 46 seconds.
It was billed as the Ali vs. Frazier of boy’s high school basketball Saturday evening as the top two programs in Western New York battled with the Section VI, Class-AA championship on the line. In the end it was Jamestown closing the show in grand fashion; finishing the game with a 13-2 run to knock out Niagara Falls, 56-48 at Buffalo State College in front of approximately 2,500 fans.
Not only did the Red Raiders get the satisfaction of earning their second straight Class-AA title, they did so at the expense of beating top ranked Niagara Falls; a team they hadn’t defeated since 1999.
‘It’s just so hard to put into words,” Jamestown coach Ben Drake said. “I’m so proud of the resiliency of this team. Things weren’t going well for us in the fourth quarter and they really had the momentum when we called that time out. I can see that they (his players) were upset, but in a good way. We came back and finally started playing a little smoother on offense.”
For the first time in school history, the University at Buffalo men’s swimming and diving team claimed the Mid-American Conference championship as the league meet concluded at Southern Illinois University’s Edward J. Shea Natatorium on Saturday night. The Bulls won the meet by 78.5 points over second-place Eastern Michigan as they took two races and set three school records on Saturday.
The Bulls won the meet’s final event, the 400-yard freestyle relay, setting a school record and clinching the crown. The UB foursome of Simon Proudfoot, Mike Dugan, Jared Heine and Matt Hogan touched the wall in 2:56.60, lowering the 2010 record by three seconds. The time also earned the Bulls an NCAA B cut and set the MAC Championship record while tying the pool mark. It also meant that UB had swept all five relay races during the three-night championships, setting new school records in all five.
Jake Simmons (Rochester/School for the Arts) netted 28 points to lift Buffalo State (23-6) to its first “Sweet 16″ appearance since 1996, as the Bengals cruised past Johnson & Wales (21-9), 96-72, in an NCAA Second Round game this evening at the Bradley Center on the campus of Ramapo College.
Buffalo State extended its winning streak to 13 games, and its 23 victories are the most in a season since winning 24 in 1991-92.
Four other Bengals joined Simmons scoring in double-digits, led by Justin Mitchell (Buffalo/Bishop Timon) with 14 points, and he added nine rebounds. Glenroy Carr (New York/Sweet Home) added 13 points and 16 boards. Chris Cartwright (Binghamton/Binghamton) and Norman Simmons (Rochester/East) pitched in 10 points each.
The leading scorer in Division III Lamonte Thomas finished with 26 to lead the Wildcats, playing the entire second half with four fouls. He was averaging 31.4 points entering the game. Louis Ferreras added 14 points and six rebounds for JWU.
The Canisius College hockey team lit the lamp six times as the Griffs ran away with a 6-3 victory at Niagara in the first round of the Atlantic Hockey Tournament on Saturday night. Canisius, who improves to 12-17-6 on the season, advances to the Atlantic Hockey Quarterfinals to face Holy Cross next weekend.
“Tonight was an excellent win in a tough building against a very good hockey team,” said Canisius head coach Dave Smith. “We stuck to our game plan and played a very disciplined match.”
Seniors Eric Rex and Vincent Scarsellaled the Griffs with two goals apiece. Rex also added an assist to match his career high with three points on the night. Junior Scott Moserand sophomore Preston Shuperounded out the scoring for Canisius, each adding a goal.
Rider University shot 56 percent in the second half, and made four 3-pointers in a four-minute stretch, to pull away from the Canisius College men’s basketball team as the Golden Griffins lost 79-64 in the quarterfinals of the 2011 Spark Energy MAAC Championship at the Webster Bank Arena at Harbor Yard on Saturday. The Golden Griffins finish the season with a 15-15 record.
Senior Elton Frazier led Canisius with 17 points on 8-for-13 shooting. Senior Greg Logins had 12 points and six rebounds while seniors Robert Goldsberry and Julius Coles each had 11 points, combining for five 3-pointers.
“We cut it to three points, fighting and scrapping to get back into the game. They made some pretty opportune 3-pointers and you have to give them credit,” Canisius head coach Tom Parrottasaid.“They took away some of our offense and we had some costly turnovers early. I think we deserve some credit for not folding. We just couldn’t get over the hump. We got a lot of shots tonight, and just didn’t make them.”
Check in here to follow all the action with Zach Zielonka with live updates all game long as the Buffalo Bandits are hosting the Rochester Knighthawks. The action starts at 7:30pm.
The Canisius College women’s basketball team was on the verge of defeating Loyola in the quarterfinals of the MAAC tournament, until Mirian McKenzie hit a three-pointer in buzzer-beater fashion to send the game into overtime. Sadly, Canisius lost in extra time and saw their season come to an end.
Fifteen-time Lumber Liquidators Professional Bowlers Association Tour champion Jason Couch and hometown star Ryan Ciminelli hold down the top two positions after three rounds in the PBA Mark Roth Plastic Ball Championship Friday at AMF Thruway Lanes.
Couch and Ciminelli both had 7-2 records in the first round of match play Friday and are among the 16 players who will advance to this evening’s final match play round which will determine the top four who will advance to Sunday’s finals to be telecast live on ESPN at 1 p.m. Eastern.
Couch, of Clermont, Fla., has a 5,639 pinfall total including bonus pins, and leads Ciminelli of Cheektowaga, N.Y., in second with 5,478. Rounding out the top four going into tonight’s final nine-game round are Ronnie Russell of Marion, Ind., in third with 5,416 and PBA Hall of Famer Parker Bohn III of Jackson, N.J., in fourth with 5,390.
About a year ago with a roster full of super seniors led by WNY Player of the Year Will Regan, Nichols head coach Greg Plumb was commanding his troops towards a historic run that culminated with Nichols winning the New York State Federation title; the highest achievement for boy’s high basketball in New York State.
Less than 12 months later, Plumb is stepping down as the school’s basketball coach.
I spoke to Plumb, who’s been coach at Nichols for the past eight years on Friday. He’s not leaving his post to take another job with a different school. In fact, he’s going to remain as Nichols. Plumb said the reason for the decision was based on his family, more specifically his desire to start one.
Last night the Ultimate Fighting Championship visited Louisville, Kentucky as UFC Live 3 – Sanchez vs. Kampmann, kicked off a great night of Mixed Martial Arts. The headlining bout was between the fighter formerly known as Diego “The Nightmare” Sanchez, whose new moniker has been toned down to simply “The Dream”, as he took on The Danish Muy Thai expert Martin “The Hitman” Kampmann. Also on the card was former member of The Ultimate Fighter cast, CB Dollaway, as he fought the ever durable Mark Munoz. Another notably bout included WEC former bantamweight champion Brian Bowles as he took on the hard hitting Damacio Page.
In the first fight on the card both competitors, Bowles and Page needed a win to stay relevant at 135lbs. As soon as the fight started, Page was attempting to make a short night for his opponent, winging huge punches. Bowles did well to scatter out of the way and land a few jabs of his own, however he looked down right frantic doing so. Bowles eventually found his rhythm as he cracked Page with a vicious uppercut. Page fell sprawling to the mat as Bowles dived in firing punches trying to finish his opponent. Page was able to survive briefly, but Bowles was too savvy as he grabbed the neck of Page locking in a guillotine choke. Page, too prideful to tap out, went limp as the chokehold drained away his consciousness. The referee intervened, stopping the fight at 3:30 into round one, handing Bowles a huge win over a very game opponent.
Buffalo Bandits Director of Lacrosse Operations Scott Loffler today announced that fewer than 1,500 tickets remain for tomorrow’s 7:30 p.m. match-up with the Rochester Knighthawks.
By taking advantage of the Bandits’ “Pack the House” ticket offer, fans can enjoy the action of one of the NLL’s hottest rivalries for just $12 per ticket, with all 300 Level tickets for the game 50% off their regular price of $24.
Every game counts this year in the tightly-contested Eastern Division. The winner of the game will move into third place in the East. Buffalo also plays Sunday in Boston, and would move into second place with a win in both games.
To take advantage of the Bandits’ “Pack the House” ticket offer, just provide the password “Bandits” at checkout when purchasing tickets. Tickets can be purchased in person at the HSBC Arena Box Office, by calling 1-888-467-2273 or online at www.bandits.com or www.tickets.com.
Anthony Nelson capped off his record-setting senior season by earning the MAAC Defensive Player of the Year award, as voted on by the league’s coaches, to become the second Purple Eagle to win the award. Nelson’s 3.4 steals per game leads the nation.
Nelson, who earned All-MAAC Second Team honors on Monday, is having a record breaking season for the Purple Eagles. He became the first player in program history to have over 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 600 assists and 200 steals in his career, while setting the school’s all-time career assists record with 646.
His 3.4 steals per game and 96 steals this season are school records, breaking former teammate Tyrone Lewis’ records of 2.6 steals per game and 91 total steals set during the 2008-09 season. Lewis became the first Purple Eagle to win the MAAC Defensive Player of the Year award during that season. Nelson’s 228 career steals are second behind Lewis’ 250.
♦ Is Niagara Falls big man Jordan Street a contestant on American Idol this season?
♦ On Tuesday night, Buffalo State’s pizza oven “broke”. Blogger McShea is God suggested we order a pizza, so I pointed out the Mister Pizza advertisement on the front of the scorer’s table. Forty-five minutes later, Keith McShea, his devotee MIG, and myself were enjoying a freshly delivered pizza in the front row.
♦ Cleveland Hill’s name was abbreviated on the Buffalo State scoreboard as CHILL.
♦ The winner of Saturday’s Class B2 title game between Wilson and Cassadaga Valley will earn its first ever sectional title.
The Buffalo Sabres blew a golden opportunity to move into eighth place in the Eastern Conference, losing to the Carolina Hurricanes in overtime Thursday night, 3-2.
Jamie McBain scored just 26 in extra time for Carolina to secure the victory after burying a slap shot past Ryan Miller.
Brad Boyes scored for Buffalo for the second consecutive game since being acquired from the St. Louis Blues last Sunday. Steve Montador also scored for Buffalo.
With the loss, the Sabres fell to three points behind Carolina in the playoff race, though Buffalo still has two games in hand.
Buffalo remains on the road for weekend games in Philadelphia on Saturday and Minnesota on Sunday.
Lancaster entered their Section VI semifinal with Jamestown Thursday night brimming with confidence. They played the Red Raiders close in two games already this season. They were on the heels of a five-game winning streak and disposed of Kenmore West to get to Buffalo State College for the Class-AA final four.
It was starting to seem Lancaster was poised for a huge upset Thursday in their third try with Jamestown, but Jaysean Paige personally made sure the clock struck midnight on their fairy tale hopes.
The Jamestown junior put on arguably the best performance of anyone in Western New York this season, pouring in 42 points from literally all over the floor to lead Jamestown to a 68-53 and a date with Niagara Falls Saturday night for the Class-AA championship.
How does a team go 7-for-18 from the free throw line, get only four points from their star center, connect on just a pair of three-pointers, and still blow the game open with a 19-point lead by the end of the third quarter?
The answer is when you play defense and rebound like top-ranked Niagara Falls does.
The Wolverines couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn from the perimeter or the free throw line. But a swarming defense and the offensive prowess of Marcus Feagin made up for it. Niagara Falls advanced the Class-AA Section VI final with a 50-43 over McKinley at Buffalo State College.
Niagara County Community College’s Head Baseball Coach Matt Clingersmith will hold a press conference Friday, March 4 at 3:30pm in the Athletics lobby for the signing of nine High School Seniors to National Letters of Intent.
In attendance will be RHP-Brandon Bielecki from Clarence High School, SS/RHP Michael Elwood from Clarence High School, RHP-Angelo Harkins from John F. Kennedy High School, OF-Nicholas Kellner from Grand Island High School, OF-John Knauth from Orchard Park High School, 3B-Matthew Krettek from Cortice Secondary School, OF-Matthew Notaro from Williamsville East High School, OF/RHP-Michael Orlowski from Iroquois High School, and RHP-Paul Tronolone from St. Joseph’s High School.
I spoke to several people affiliated with St. Joe’s high school including Connor Rehbaum himself, and turns out at the Western New York Player of the Year candidate played the final three quarters last night with a broken nose against Canisius in the finals of the Manhattan Cup.
Canisius won the game, 57-53 after trailing by 14 at halftime to win the Cup for the second time in three years.
Rehbaum said he got hurt on the final play for the first quarter when he went up for a rebound and caught with an incidental elbow in the face. He said it was not intentional and “just part of the game.”
It’s undeniable the injury to Rehbaum, who averaged nearly 19 points per game this season, slowed him down as he played three quarters with cotton in his nose to stop the bleeding. Rehbaum exploded from the gate with eight points in the first quarter but finished with just 12 points. Joe’s was also hurt by center Reggie Agbeko’s ankle injury. Agbeko hurt it on the opening tip in the semifinal against Timon last Saturday and would sit the whole game.
The No. 7 seed Canisius College women’s basketball team defeated No. 10 seed Niagara University 63-51 in the first round of the 2011 Spark Energy MAAC Championship at the Webster Bank Arena at Harbor Yard on Thursday. Canisius improves to 11-19 on the season and advances to Friday’s quarterfinal round, where the Golden Griffins will face No. 2 seed Loyola University at 9:30 a.m.
Senior Micayla Drysdale led Canisius with 13 points and a game-high eight rebounds. Sophomore Ashley Durham had 12 points and four assists in 24 minutes off the bench while freshman Jen Lennox had eight points in 19 minutes. Junior Steph MacDonald had 10 points, seven rebounds (five offensive) and three assists while sophomore Melissa Gardner had seven points, three blocks and three steals.
Here comes my third crack at a mock draft since the NFL season ended; admittedly a figure that is probably three too many. I’ve always thought it was a joke people with few, if any intimate knowledge to an organization enter the business of predicting what each team in the NFL will do with their first draft picks to improve their respective teams. Factor in we’re merely into the first few days of March and there’s 32 general managers who don’t have much of an idea themselves yet of what they’ll do, and it becomes even more laughable.
Then again… it’s also fun.
At the same time, mock drafting is like an addiction for any writer. Minds run rapid with possibilities as each armchair GM with a laptop slaps a mock together in hope fans look back at and marvel at your prognostication prowess. That is unless, of course, your name is Mike Mayock and you’re the only analyst in the country to nail down Donte Whitner with the eighth overall pick in 2006. But I digress.
The parking lot on West Delevan and Main Street was jammed pack well a full hour in advance of the game. Inside the Koessler Athletic Center at Canisius College, fans from rival schools did their best to blow the roof off the place. School chants and taunting of the opposition were as common as a Charlie Sheen meltdown. Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly was among the supporters, albeit a biased on in the stands.
About the only thing missing from the Manhattan Cup final between bitter rivals St. Joe’s and Canisius high school was any drama during the first half as the Marauders dominated their enemy for two full quarters.
Don’t worry—- the second half more than made up for it.
Chris Collins of Savannah, Ga., Averaged 235.43 to lead a field of 10 players who advanced out of the Professional Bowlers Association Tour Qualifying Round Wednesday completing the field of 64 for the Mark Roth Plastic Ball Championship which gets underway with the first round Thursday at AMF Thruway Lanes.
Collins, a former exempt player who won the 2006 Pepsi Championship for his lone PBA Tour title, completed the seven-game qualifying round with a 1,648 pinfall total with games of 179, 237, 257, 259, 191, 246, and 279 finishing 77 pins ahead of Mitch Beasley of Puyallup, Wash., in second with 1,571. All 49 players in the qualifier were required to use PBA-approved plastic balls.
“The key today was to play straight with a little speed—kind of like I would on a broke down Cheetah pattern,” Collins said. “I got off to a slow start with a lot splits but I made a slight adjustment with my feet and increased the speed. These are examples of the types of adjustments we’re all going to have to make because we’re not going to have our usual (bowling) equipment to go to.”
For anyone who’s followed a moment’s worth of Monsignor Martin Association boy’s high school basketball in 2010-11, this is the way it has to end. The two best teams, which happen to comprise Western New York’s most fierce high school rivalry, square off Wednesday with the Manhattan Cup hanging in the balance as St. Joe’s faces Canisius.
Playing for and winning the league’s biggest prize is nothing new to either institute. Canisius has 11 Manhattan Cups to their credit, including two since 2005 and have won as recently as 2009. St. Joe’s has been even more prominent though their storied history; winning 21 titles, including four since 2002.
Two times in recent years these enemies squared off with the Cup on the line. Canisius upended Joe’s in 2005 while the Marauders returned the favor one year later.
Brad Boyes scored a goal in his first game with the Buffalo Sabres and Ryan Miller made a sensational glove save in the final 1:05 to preserve a key 3-2 Sabres win over the New York Rangers in the first of a seven-game road trip.
With Buffalo up a goal and just over a minute left in regulation, a crazy bounce off the boards found the puck on the stick of Rangers forward Mats Zuccarella, who was alone in front on Miller. Zuccarrela faked a shot and tried to go to his backhand, but Miller made the biggest of his 29 saves to prevent the Rangers from tying the score in the waning moments.
Boyes, in his first game since coming in a trade from St. Louis, scored on the power play exactly seven minutes into the second period to give the Sabres a 2-0 lead after Tyler Myers scored the lone goal of the first, his 10th of the season, also on the power play.
Drew Stafford picked the right time to make the best individual play of the game, taking r a loose puck, outmuscling defensemen Brent Burns and slamming a puck past goaltender Jose Theodore to give the Buffalo Sabres a huge 3-2 victory at Minnesota in overtime.
It was billed as the Ali vs. Frazier of boy’s high school basketball Saturday evening as the top two programs in Western New York battled with the Section VI, Class-AA championship on the line. In the end it was Jamestown closing the show in grand fashion; finishing the game with a 13-2 run to knock out Niagara Falls, 56-48 at Buffalo State College in front of approximately 2,500 fans.
For the first time in school history, the University at Buffalo men’s swimming and diving team claimed the Mid-American Conference championship as the league meet concluded at Southern Illinois University’s Edward J. Shea Natatorium on Saturday night. The Bulls won the meet by 78.5 points over second-place Eastern Michigan as they took two races and set three school records on Saturday.
The Canisius College hockey team lit the lamp six times as the Griffs ran away with a 6-3 victory at Niagara in the first round of the Atlantic Hockey Tournament on Saturday night. Canisius, who improves to 12-17-6 on the season, advances to the Atlantic Hockey Quarterfinals to face Holy Cross next weekend.
Rider University shot 56 percent in the second half, and made four 3-pointers in a four-minute stretch, to pull away from the Canisius College men’s basketball team as the Golden Griffins lost 79-64 in the quarterfinals of the 2011 Spark Energy MAAC Championship at the Webster Bank Arena at Harbor Yard on Saturday. The Golden Griffins finish the season with a 15-15 record.
Fifteen-time Lumber Liquidators Professional Bowlers Association Tour champion Jason Couch and hometown star Ryan Ciminelli hold down the top two positions after three rounds in the PBA Mark Roth Plastic Ball Championship Friday at AMF Thruway Lanes.
About a year ago with a roster full of super seniors led by WNY Player of the Year Will Regan, Nichols head coach Greg Plumb was commanding his troops towards a historic run that culminated with Nichols winning the New York State Federation title; the highest achievement for boy’s high basketball in New York State.
Last night the Ultimate Fighting Championship visited Louisville, Kentucky as UFC Live 3 – Sanchez vs. Kampmann, kicked off a great night of Mixed Martial Arts. The headlining bout was between the fighter formerly known as Diego “The Nightmare” Sanchez, whose new moniker has been toned down to simply “The Dream”, as he took on The Danish Muy Thai expert Martin “The Hitman” Kampmann. Also on the card was former member of The Ultimate Fighter cast, CB Dollaway, as he fought the ever durable Mark Munoz. Another notably bout included WEC former bantamweight champion Brian Bowles as he took on the hard hitting Damacio Page.
Buffalo Bandits Director of Lacrosse Operations Scott Loffler today announced that fewer than 1,500 tickets remain for tomorrow’s 7:30 p.m. match-up with the Rochester Knighthawks.
Anthony Nelson capped off his record-setting senior season by earning the MAAC Defensive Player of the Year award, as voted on by the league’s coaches, to become the second Purple Eagle to win the award. Nelson’s 3.4 steals per game leads the nation.
The Buffalo Sabres blew a golden opportunity to move into eighth place in the Eastern Conference, losing to the Carolina Hurricanes in overtime Thursday night, 3-2.
Lancaster entered their Section VI semifinal with Jamestown Thursday night brimming with confidence. They played the Red Raiders close in two games already this season. They were on the heels of a five-game winning streak and disposed of Kenmore West to get to Buffalo State College for the Class-AA final four.
How does a team go 7-for-18 from the free throw line, get only four points from their star center, connect on just a pair of three-pointers, and still blow the game open with a 19-point lead by the end of the third quarter?
I spoke to several people affiliated with St. Joe’s high school including Connor Rehbaum himself, and turns out at the Western New York Player of the Year candidate played the final three quarters last night with a broken nose against Canisius in the finals of the Manhattan Cup.
The No. 7 seed Canisius College women’s basketball team defeated No. 10 seed Niagara University 63-51 in the first round of the 2011 Spark Energy MAAC Championship at the Webster Bank Arena at Harbor Yard on Thursday. Canisius improves to 11-19 on the season and advances to Friday’s quarterfinal round, where the Golden Griffins will face No. 2 seed Loyola University at 9:30 a.m.
Here comes my third crack at a mock draft since the NFL season ended; admittedly a figure that is probably three too many. I’ve always thought it was a joke people with few, if any intimate knowledge to an organization enter the business of predicting what each team in the NFL will do with their first draft picks to improve their respective teams. Factor in we’re merely into the first few days of March and there’s 32 general managers who don’t have much of an idea themselves yet of what they’ll do, and it becomes even more laughable.
The parking lot on West Delevan and Main Street was jammed pack well a full hour in advance of the game. Inside the Koessler Athletic Center at Canisius College, fans from rival schools did their best to blow the roof off the place. School chants and taunting of the opposition were as common as a Charlie Sheen meltdown. Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly was among the supporters, albeit a biased on in the stands.
Chris Collins of Savannah, Ga., Averaged 235.43 to lead a field of 10 players who advanced out of the Professional Bowlers Association Tour Qualifying Round Wednesday completing the field of 64 for the Mark Roth Plastic Ball Championship which gets underway with the first round Thursday at AMF Thruway Lanes.
For anyone who’s followed a moment’s worth of Monsignor Martin Association boy’s high school basketball in 2010-11, this is the way it has to end. The two best teams, which happen to comprise Western New York’s most fierce high school rivalry, square off Wednesday with the Manhattan Cup hanging in the balance as St. Joe’s faces Canisius.
Brad Boyes scored a goal in his first game with the Buffalo Sabres and Ryan Miller made a sensational glove save in the final 1:05 to preserve a key 3-2 Sabres win over the New York Rangers in the first of a seven-game road trip.
