The University of Rochester men's basketball team raced out to a big lead in the first half and cruised to its second straight victory to start the season, winning 94-56 over visiting Buffalo State at the Louis Alexander Palestra on Friday evening.
 
Rochester's win moves the Yellowjackets into the championship game of the 42nd annual UR Chuck Resler Invitational, set to be played on Saturday at 6 pm. In that one, Rochester will take on Utica University, who defeated Springfield College 76-69 in the other semifinal matchup.
 
The scoring output for URochester (2-0) on Friday was the teams best since a 91-80 win at Wooster, back in December of 2022. Overall, 14 of 17 players that entered the game for the Yellowjackets scored points, with eight finishing at six points or more.
 
Graduate student Sam Henderon led all players in the game with 19 points, chipping in five rebounds. He shot 8-of-9 from the floor and sank a pair of 3-pointers. Senior Corvin Oprea was the only other Yellowjacket player in double-figures, scoring 12 points while securing six rebounds.
 
Tomiwa Adetosoye, Nate Beitel and Jordan Owusu each scored nine points, Theo Murray scored eight, while Luke Razi and Justin Odibo scored six points apiece. Raze handed out a team-high 5 assists on the night, with the 'Jackets combining for 25 assists on 39 baskets.
 
After two minutes, the score was 3-2 Rochester before the Yellowjackets embarked on a 13-0 run, spanning less than five minutes, to vault into the lead. Odibo and Adetosoye scored four points each during the run, with Henderson sinking his first bucket of the night to put Rochester up 16-2.
 
The lead extended to 20 after Owusu hit a right wing 3-pointer, with Rochester continuing to pile on later in the half. Both Owusu and Adetosoye ignited the crowed with fast break slam dunks, and the Yellowjackets were up 38-15 with 7:30 left in the half.
 
Down the stretch in the first half, Rochester sank three straight 3-pointers, including two from Henderson in the right corner to continue the hot shooting half.
 
Overall in the first 20 minutes, the 'Jackets shot 58% from the field and made five of nine attempts from distance, leading to a 52-30 lead.
 
The strong shooting continued after intermission, with all three of URochester's first baskets being 3-pointers. Oprea's triple boosted the lead to 27.
 
A 7-0 spurt a few minutes later, aided by three points from Murray and four from Henderson continued the onslaught. The lead got as big as 41 with under nine minutes to play following back-to-back three's from Razi and Beitel.
 
Beitel's nine points were a career-high for the senior, while Razi's five helpers also set a career-high for the sophomore.
 
Rochester finished the game shooting 50% overall, making 39-of-78 attempts. The 'Jackets were 10-for-25 from 3-point range, while the Bengals (1-1) ended at just 32% (19-60) overall and ended just 2-for-16 from distance.
 
Hali Shabazz led Buffalo State with 15 points, while Ephraim Strong scored 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds in the loss.