March 10, 2005

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CLEVELAND (AP) - Calvin Cage scored 23 points and Buffalo moved into the semifinals of the Mid-American Conference tournament for the first time with an 85-72 victory over Toledo on Thursday.

Yassin Idbihi added 15 points and MAC player of the year Turner Battle 12 for the seventh-seeded Bulls (21-8), who avenged a loss to the Rockets (16-13) in last year's quarterfinals.

Buffalo, which joined the MAC in 1998, will play the winner of the second quarterfinal between No. 6 seed Akron and No. 3 Western Michigan in Friday's semis. In the evening quarterfinal session, top-seeded Miami of Ohio plays No. 8 Bowling Green and No. 5 Kent State meets No. 4 Ohio.

Keith Triplett led Toledo with 17 points and Keonta Howell had 13.

Backed by five busloads of students who made the three-hour trip from Buffalo, the Bulls built a 15-point lead in the second half on Daniel Gilbert's dunk with 16:27 left. Howell hit a pair of 3-pointers as Toledo closed within 73-68.

But Cage scored on a runner, Battle made a basket and fed Gilbert with a nice pass for a layup as the Bulls pushed their lead back to 10 and held on.

Cage came in averaging just three points in his previous four games. But the 6-foot junior made three 3-pointers and scored 17 points in the first half.