# Buffalo Blue Hawks

The Buffalo Blue Hawks were a basketball team based in Buffalo, New York. The team was a member of the American Basketball Association from 2015 to 2017, and later the North American Basketball League in 2019.

## History
### 2011–2014: Franchise acquisition

The Buffalo Stampede played their final season in 2010–11 as part of the American Professional Basketball League (ACPBL) before folding, leaving the city without a professional team.
Franklin Jackson founded a new ACPBL franchise called the Buffalo Warriors, but his team folded midway through the 2011–12 season.
Jackson then partnered with Tawan Slaughter to purchase an American Basketball Association (ABA) franchise for the city in November 2012. Slaughter went on to found the Buffalo 716ers in the Premier Basketball League after Jackson left the partnership.
Amateur teams were fielded by Jackson under the Buffalo Blue Hawks name beginning in 2013, and in December 2015 the club joined the American Basketball Association's Northeast D2 Division. It was the second ABA franchise in city history, following the Buffalo Sharks.
Home games were to be played at Bishop Timon – St. Jude High School.

### 2015–2017: Failed seasons in ABA

In its inaugural game of the 2015–16 ABA season, the team lost on the road to the Steel City Yellow Jackets by a score of 61–147 on December 12, 2015. Franklin Jackson coached the team to a 0–2 record, at which point their season ended prematurely in January 2016.
The team played in the Northeast Division for the 2016–17 ABA season, and in January 2017 their campaign once again ended early after an 0–7 start.

### 2019: Final season in NABL

The team was awarded entry into the North American Basketball League (NABL) in January 2018, and began play in the Northeast Division of the East Conference for the 2019 NABL season. Darel Goodwin was hired as head coach, and Delavan Grider Community Center was named as their new home venue.
Franklin Jackson sold the club mid-season to Robert Cornelius in April 2019 after the team started 0–4, leading to Cornelius taking over as head coach and changing the roster.
Lovell Smith was named NABL Player of the Week after scoring a triple-double in the team's 113–106 victory over the Lancaster Thunder on May 18, 2019. Smith was again named NABL Player of the Week after scoring 38 points, 20 rebounds, and 7 assists in the team's 135–102 victory over the Detroit Cobras on June 1, 2019.
The team's late-season success led them to qualify for the playoffs with a 3–5 record, where they were eliminated in the quarterfinal round by the Lancaster Thunder.
Dialo Rivera-Stevens was named to the 2009 All-NABL Team for his performance during the season.
Robert Cornelius announced in October 2019 that the franchise would rebrand as the Buff City Braves and once again join the American Basketball Association (ABA), but instead the team was folded. Lovell Smith and Jamaal Carter would go on to play for the Buffalo eXtreme, an ABA team that formed in 2023.

## Season-by-season record

| League champions | Conference champions | Division champions | Playoff berth |
| Season | Conference | Finish | Division | Finish | Wins | Losses | Win% | GB | Playoffs | Awards | Head coach |
| 2015-16 | — | — | Northeast D2 | 3rd | 0 | 2 | .000 | — | Did not qualify. | | Franklin Jackson |
| 2016-17 | — | — | Northeast | 11th | 0 | 7 | .000 | — | Did not qualify. | | Franklin Jackson |
| 2019 | East | 6th | Northeast | 4th | 3 | 5 | .375 | — | Lost quarterfinal (Thunder) 99–121 | Dialo Rivera-Stevens (All-NABL) | Darel Goodwin Robert Cornelius |

## Game log
### 2015–2016
#### Regular season

2015–16 game log Total: 0–2 (Home: 0–1; Road: 0–1) :
December: 0–1 (home: 0–0; road: 0–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
1
December 12
@ Steel City
L 61–147
Greentree Sportsplex
0–1 :
January: 0–1 (home: 0–1; road: 0–0)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
2
January 9
Bronx
L 111–113
Bishop Timon – St. Jude High School
0–2 :

### 2016–2017
#### Regular season

2016–17 game log Total: 0–7 (Home: 0–4; Road: 0–3) :
November: 0–2 (home: 0–1; road: 0–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
1
November 5
@ Rochester
L 132–139
Thomas P. Ryan, Jr. Community Center
0–1
2
November 19
Rochester
L 85–115
Bishop Timon – St. Jude High School
0–2 :
December: 0–3 (home: 0–1; road: 0–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
3
December 3
Western New York
L 101–110
Bishop Timon – St. Jude High School
0–3
4
December 10
@ Elmira
L 112–155
Family Fitness Center
0–4
5
December 11
@ Western New York
L 107–126
Niagara Catholic High School
0–5 :
January: 0–2 (home: 0–2; road: 0–0)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
6
January 15
Elmira
L 113–128
Bishop Timon – St. Jude High School
0–6
7
January 28
Atlantic Coast
L 116–123
Bishop Timon – St. Jude High School
0–7 :

### 2019
#### Regular season

2018–19 game log Total: 3–5 (Home: 3–1; Road: 0–4) :
March: 0–3 (home: 0–1; road: 0–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
1
March 9
@ DuBois
L 59–137
Central Catholic High School
0–1
2
March 16
@ Kentucky
L 59–143
Thomas More University
0–2
3
March 23
Chautauqua
L 76–138
Delavan Grider Community Center
0–3 :
April: 0–2 (home: 0–0; road: 0–2)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
4
April 6
@ Chautauqua
L 84–104
Brocton Central School
0–4
5
April 27
@ DuBois
L 84–104
Central Catholic High School
0–5 :
May: 2–0 (home: 2–0; road: 0–0)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
6
May 4
DuBois
W 103–100
Lovell Smith (23)
Lovell Smith (10)
Delavan Grider Community Center
1–5
7
May 18
Lancaster
W 113–106
Lovell Smith (33)
Lovell Smith (15)
Lovell Smith (10)
Delavan Grider Community Center
2–5 :
June: 1–0 (home: 1–0; road: 0–0)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceRecord
8
June 1
Detroit
W 135–102
Lovell Smith (39)
Lovell Smith (16)
Jamaal Carter (12)
Delavan Grider Community Center
3–5 :

#### Playoffs

2019 playoff game log Total: 0–1 (home: 0–0; road: 0–1) :
Quarterfinals: 0–1 (home: 0–0; road: 0–1)
GameDateTeamScoreHigh pointsHigh reboundsHigh assistsLocation AttendanceSeries
1
June 22
@ Lancaster
L 99–121
Lancaster High School
0–1 :