FORT MYERS, Fla. – Daniel Freitag hit a running bank shot as time expired, lifting undefeated Buffalo to a 73-71 win over Bucknell on Wednesday afternoon at the Skechers Fort Myers Challenge at Suncoast Credit Union Arena. The last-second shot spoiled a big second-half charge from a 13-point halftime deficit along with a career-high 20-point night from Brandon McCreesh, who went 6 for 10 from 3-point range.

Three Bison newcomers also scored in double figures. Amon Dörries tallied 13, Pat Curtin had 12, including two clutch game-tying free throws with 5.5 seconds left, and Grgur Brcic tallied a season-high 10 points to go with seven rebounds.

Angelo Brizzi scored 25 points for Buffalo, which moved to 7-0 on the season. Freitag, a Wisconsin transfer, finished with 18 points and nine rebounds, and Noah Batchelor added 11 points.

After the Bulls ended the first half on a 17-1 run to take a 45-32 lead at intermission, Bucknell played some of its best basketball of the season in the opening 14 minutes of the second stanza. McCreesh splashed three 3-pointers in less than two minutes as part of a run of six straight made attempts, and the Bison quickly slashed the deficit to a manageable range.

Five straight points from Curtin made it 54-52, and then a great defensive possession led to a forced shot at the end of the timer, and Achile Spadone gathered the long rebound and fed McCreesh for a breakaway layup to tie the game at 54.

After Ryan Sabol made two free throws for Buffalo, McCreesh hit his fourth triple of the half at the 10:24 mark to give the Bison their first lead since 5:00 remained in the first half. Brcic followed with an and-one put back, and his free throw made it 60-56.

Brcic scored on another tip-in for a 66-62 lead with 5:57 left, but the Bison couldn’t capitalize on a few chances to extend the lead past four. They missed three straight free throws in one key stretch, and then Brizzi hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key to give Buffalo the lead back with 3:48 to go.

Curtin shot right back with a 3-pointer of his own, and Mikhail Pocknett answered with a layup to tie the game at 69-all with 2:56 left. Bucknell got three straight stops but also came up empty at its end, and Buffalo took the lead back on Brizzi’s driving layup with 20 seconds to go.

After a timeout, Curtin drove from the right wing and drew a foul with 5.5 on the clock. The freshman avenged a couple of earlier misses from the line with two clutch free throws this time around, but Buffalo won it when Freitag caught a pass on the run near the right sideline, split two defenders and arced a shot over Dörries, off the glass and in as time expired.

Bucknell shot 52% in the second half and 47.4% for the game. The Bison went 10 for 27 from the 3-point arc and 7 for 12 from the foul line. Buffalo finished at 44.4% overall, 11-for-28 from deep, and 14 for 19 from the line.

Bucknell outrebounded Buffalo 35-29 and had 11 turnovers to the Bulls’ eight. Spadone tied for the team high in rebounds with seven to go along with nine points, and Jayden Williams set a new career high with seven assists. McCreesh’s 20 points surpassed his previous high of 14, set last year at Lafayette.

Buffalo 73, Bucknell 71

BUFFALO (7-0)

Angelo Brizzi 6-9 10-10 25, Daniel Freitag 6-15 2-4 18, Noah Batchelor 4-7 0-0 11, Ryan Sabol 1-6 2-2 4, Tim Oboh 2-3 0-2 4, Mikhali Pocknett 3-7 0-0 6, Ezra Mckenna 2-3 0-1 5, Derrick Talton Jr. 0-3 0-0 0, Kyle Jones 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-54 14-19 73.

BUCKNELL (2-6)

Brandon McCreesh 7-13 0-0 20, Amon Dorries 6-11 0-0 13, Grgur Brcic 4-4 2-4 10, Achile Spadone 4-8 0-0 9, Jayden Williams 0-8 0-0 0, Pat Curtin 3-8 5-8 12, Josh Fulton 2-2 0-0 4, Aleksander Pachucki 1-2 0-0 3, Quin Berger 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 27-57 7-12 71.

Halftime: Buffalo, 45-32. 3-point goals: Buffalo 11-28 (Freitag 4-9, Batchelor 3-6, Brizzi 3-6, Mckenna 1-2, Sabol 0-5), Bucknell 10-27 (McCreesh 6-10, Pachuski 1-2, Curtin 1-4, Spadone 1-3, Dorries 1-3, Berger 0-1, Williams 0-4). Fouled out: Buffalo-none; Bucknell-none. Rebounds: Buffalo 29 (Freitag 9), Bucknell 35 (Brcic 7, Spadone 7). Assists: Buffalo 11 (Freitag 3), Bucknell 16 (Williams 7). Technical fouls: Buffalo-none; Bucknell-none. Total fouls: Buffalo 16, Bucknell 15.