GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Green Bay (10-4) fell to Buffalo (6-3) by a 71-65 final Tuesday night at the Resch Center. Green Bay had won 29 of its previous 35 home games dating back to the start of the 2007-08 season.
Green Bay played well in the early going, but trailed 37-35 at intermission after Buffalo closed the stanza with a 14-3 run. It was the third straight time that Green Bay found itself down at the half after trailing at intermission just once in the first 11 games of the year.
The Phoenix was able to take its first lead of the second half at the 8:20 mark (51-50), but Buffalo responded with back-to-back 3-pointers and two lay-ins to take a nine-point advantage just two minutes later.
Green Bay got as close as two on three occasions the rest of the way, including with :24 left after a conventional three-point play by Bryquis Perine (Milwaukee, Wis.). Buffalo converted all four of its free throw attempts in the final 18 seconds to seal the victory, however.
Troy Cotton (Milwaukee, Wis.) drained four first-half 3-pointers during the early Phoenix uprising. His third trey, which came at the 14:59 mark of the opening half, gave him 1,000 career points. He became the 22nd member of the school's 1,000-point club.
Rahmon Fletcher (Kansas City, Mo.) had a team-high 19 points for the Phoenix, while Perine totaled 14 and Cotton finished with 12. Rodney Pierce, who had 29 points, was the only Bulls player in double figures.
Buffalo picked up 21 offensive rebounds and won the battle on the boards 43-32 overall.
Green Bay has more than a week off from competition prior to playing at top-25 Butler on Thursday, Dec. 31. Game time is set for 7 p.m. (ET)/6 p.m. (CT).
--www.GreenBayPhoenix.com--
