AMHERST, NY (AP) -- Finally, Buffalo gritted out a Mid-American Conference win.

The defending MAC champs, who entered the game winless in the league and missing their trademark turnover-creating defense, forced a fumble and intercepted two passes in a 21-17 win over Akron on Saturday.

"A win like this is great," said cornerback Domonic Cook, whose late interception sealed the win for Buffalo (3-4, 1-2).

"It starts with the turnovers on defense," Cook added. "We finally stepped up and came up with more than one turnover. Last year we were known for turnovers. This year we haven't been that good. So we practiced harder every day."

Mario Henry's 1-yard touchdown proved to be the winning points with 5:59 left. Henry, ran for 76 yards on 20 attempts in place of starter Ike Nduka, who left early in the second quarter with a right ankle injury.

"It's good to see a football team come together and have games like this where things are maybe a little bit rough. They're struggling," Buffalo coach Turner Gill said. "But then you find a way to win."

Akron rolled up 334 yards of total offense, but was just 5 of 14 on third downs and turned the ball over twice in the red zone.

"It's a disappointing loss," Akron coach J.D.Brookhart said. "With two red zone turnovers it's going to be a tough one to win and we still had an opportunity at that."

Buffalo set the tone early, as defensive tackle Anel Montanez stripped the ball from Akron's DeVoe Torrence at the Bulls 4, where it was recovered by Mike Newton.

Newton later snuffed out another Akron (1-5, 0-3) threat with an interception in the end zone in the second quarter.

"You get a touchdown there, we're not having this discussion now," Brookhart said.

Zach Maynard threw for 205 yards, completing 20 of 35 attempts with two touchdowns, both to Naaman Roosevelt. With 12 receptions, Roosevelt became Buffalo's all-time career receptions leader with 250 catches.

Patrick Nicely was 17 of 34 for 200 yards with two interceptions for Akron. Torrence added 94 yards on 13 carries.

Nicely rallied the Zips on their final possession with 3:26 left. With a 22-yard reception to Dashan Miller and an 18-yard strike to Jeremy LaFrance, Akron quickly advanced from its own 8 to the Buffalo 29.

Looking for LaFrance once more over the middle, Nicely threw the ball just behind him. The ball glanced off LaFrance's hand and into Cook's arms. The cornerback returned it 55 yards.

Akron opened the scoring in the second quarter. Nicely was scrambling from the Buffalo 8 when Scott Pettigrew forced a fumble. Akron guard Mike Ward jumped on the loose ball in the Bulls' end zone to give the Zips a 7-0 lead.

Buffalo tied it with 8:47 left in the first half when Maynard hit Roosevelt with a 7-yard scoring pass.

Maynard teamed with Roosevelt again with 4:34 left in the third quarter to give Buffalo a 14-7 lead with an 8-yard TD strike.

Alex Allen's 1-yard run with 12:56 left in the fourth quarter tied it at 14. Branko Rogovic gave Akron a 17-14 lead with a 30-yard field goal with 9:57 left.

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