MAC ROUNDUP Ohio wins title with final shot

Leon Williams' shot gave the Bobcats an 80-79 overtime win over Buffalo.
CLEVELAND (AP) -- Just call him the comeback kid.
Freshman Leon Williams dropped in a layup in the final second as Ohio, down by 19 points in the second half, rallied for an 80-79 overtime win against Buffalo in the Mid-American Conference championship on Saturday night.
Williams, the MAC's top newcomer, grabbed a miss by freshman Jeremy Fears and went back up with his game-winner with five-tenths of a second left. The ball hung on the edge of the rim for a tantalizing split second before dropping through.
Buffalo's desperation heave at the buzzer was short -- just like the Bulls' remarkable season.
Career-high game
Williams finished with a career-high 29 points and 15 rebounds and was named the tourney's MVP. Fears had 21 and Sonny Troutman 12 for the Bobcats (21-10), who earned their first NCAA berth since 1994.
The drought between trips won't be nearly as long with Williams and Fears, who played as if they were in their fourth title game not their first.
Turner Battle had 22 points and Calvin Cage 20 for the Bulls (22-9), who led 57-38 before the Bobcats came storming back.
Battle's 15-foot jumper with 11.5 seconds remaining put Buffalo ahead 79-78, giving thousands of Bulls fans who made the three-hour trip from Western New York their last thrill in a season of them.
Game winning play
After an Ohio timeout, Fears drove the right side and got off a layup with about two seconds left. It was short, but Williams was in perfect position underneath and grabbed the ball before he softly put it back up.
When the horn sounded, Ohio's comeback season was complete and players tackled each other near center court. The Bobcats went just 10-20 a year ago and were picked last in the media preseason poll.
It was the first overtime game in MAC final history, and a fitting conclusion to a season in which the distance between the league's ninth-place and first-place teams was smaller than ever. Six schools went 11-7 during the regular season.
The Bulls, who have never been to the NCAAs, will now have to hope for an at-large berth. That's unlikely, though, since the MAC has only had one representative in the tourney each year since 1999.
Missed in regulation
Ohio, which swept three games from Buffalo this season, had a chance to win it in regulation.
After Buffalo's Yassin Idbihi missed a 3-pointer from the baseline with 4.5 seconds to go, Ohio rebounded and called time. Fears made a nice length-of-the-court pass to Troutman, who had a good look from 12 feet but was a little short as the horn sounded to end regulation.
Buffalo seemed to be in control when Jason Bird drilled a 3-pointer -- the Bulls' fourth in 3:40 -- to make it 57-38 with 16:20 left, prompting UB's student section to bust out chants of "This is our house!"
But the Bobcats weren't done and ripped off nine straight points to get within 57-47. Cage's 3-point play slowed the OU onslaught for a moment, but Green hit a 3-pointer, Fears scored on two drives and fed Williams for a layup to cap a 22-3 run that tied it 60-all.
Buffalo called timeout, and on his way to the huddle, Fears did a cartwheel and back flip at center court.