BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Buffalo freshman forward Nick Perkins took a pass from teammate Lamonte Bearden and slammed one home with 8.4 seconds left in overtime, and the Canisius Golden Griffins' last-second shot from 3-point land fell short as the final horn sounded, giving the host Bulls a 98-96 overtime win over Canisius Saturday afternoon in Alumni Arena. The win, Buffalo's third straight, improved the team to 4-2 on the year, while the Blue and Gold slipped to 2-3 with the loss.

Canisius had five players score in double-figures in the loss, led by sophomore guard Kassius Robertson, who poured in a career-high 24 points to go with five rebounds and three steals in 41 minutes of play. Senior Malcolm McMillan was credited with 16 points in the losing effort, while junior forward Phil Valenti recorded his second career double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Sophomore Jermaine Crumpton added 16 points and nine rebounds to the Canisius effort in a game where the Griffs shot 48.6 percent from the field, 37.9 percent from 3-point land and 73.9 percent from the free-throw line.

With the game knotted a 96-96 with 33 seconds to play in the overtime session, McMillan drove baseline and had the ball poked from his hand out-of-bounds. The officials originally gave the possession to Canisius, however, after a video replay, the officials reversed the call on the floor and gave Buffalo possession. Out of a timeout, Bearden had the ball and watched the clock tick down, but as he made a move to his left, he lost the handle. As both teams scrambled for the loose ball, Bearden picked it up and quickly made a pass to a wide-open Perkins, who dunked the ball through the hoop to put the Bulls up 98-96 with 8.4 seconds left to play. Canisius raced the length of the floor, but Robertson's 3-point attempt from just in front of the Blue and Gold's bench hit the side-iron as the horn sounded.

The back-and-forth overtime period, which saw three lead changes in five minutes, capped a crazy final 2:08 of regulation, which saw Canisius overcome a six-point deficit to take a 3-point lead, only to see that cushion erased by a long 3-pointer with eight seconds left in the second half. UB led 84-78 with 2:08 left after Bearden made a free-throw. Back-to-back buckets from Canisius senior Jamal Reynolds got the Griffs within two at 84-82 with 1:36 left on the clock, and then a steal by Reynolds set-up a 3-point field goal by Robertson to give Canisius an 85-84 lead with 52 seconds remaining. On the ensuing trip down the floor, Perkins tried to shoot a 3-pointer from the top of the key, but the ball was blocked by Crumpton, who grabbed the rebound and was fouled on his way to the hoop, where he proceeded to hit a pair of free-throws, giving Canisius an 87-84 lead with 20 seconds to play. Buffalo forced an extra-session, just the second overtime game between the two programs in 48 all-time meetings, when senior Jarryn Skeete hit a deep 3-pointer from just in front of the Buffalo bench with eight ticks left. The Griffs had a chance to win the game in regulation, but the Blue and Gold's shot from the paint as the final horn in regulation sounded hit the back-iron.

"That was one of the strangest games I have ever been a part of," Canisius head coach Jim Baron said. "Give [Buffalo] credit, but wow, that game was all over the place. We need to really focus on defending. Obviously, we can score points, but we need to communicate better on defense. We have seven new guys so there's some work that needs to be done to make sure we're all on the same page all the time. We can't just let guys get open looks and take us off the dribble. Buffalo is a big strong team and they broke us down defensively more than a few times. We kept battling for sure, but we need to do the little things better at both ends of the floor to be successful."

Buffalo had six players score in double figures, led by Bearden's team-high 18 points. He also added five assists and four steals. Junior Blake Hamilton came off the bench to record 14 points, seven rebounds and three assists, while junior Willie Connor was good for 14 points, two boards, two assists and three steals. The Bulls shot 48.6 percent from the field, 43.8 percent from 3-point land and 69.7 percent from the free-throw line while holding a 54-38 advantage on points in the paint and a 26-19 margin in points scored off turnovers.

Canisius will return to action Friday, Dec. 4, when the team plays host to Monmouth in the first MAAC game of the season for both schools. Tipoff in the Koessler Athletic Center is set for 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN3, and the live audio call can be heard on Timeless WECK 1230-AM and FM-102.9 in the Buffalo area and on GoGriffs.com.