By: by Matt Palisin, Asst. SID
BOXSCORE
BOX SCORE
OSWEGO, N.Y. – The Fredonia State men's basketball team used a quartet of players scoring in double figures to improve to 3-0 with a 75-70 victory over Ithaca College on Saturday. The Devil bench outscored the Ithaca reserves 44-13. The Devils were competing in the Max Ziel Tip-Off Tournament hosted by SUNY Oswego.
Julius Bryant led the charge with 18.
Amir Billups (17),
Damien Goodwin II (16) and
Leonard Smith (11) all came off the bench to spur the Devils. Smith and Bryant also totaled a team-high 7 rebounds.
All three of the Devils' victories this season have been on the road versus NCAA Tournament teams from last year.
The game featured 11 ties and 15 lead changes. Ithaca led for the final time, 62-60, with 3:40 left to play. From there, Billups, Smith and Bryant combined to score the Devils final 15 points. Billups nailed a pair of threes and converted a layup, with 8 of his 17 points in the closing minutes.
Once again, the smothering Blue Devil defense was key in the victory. They limited Ithaca to 36 percent shooting for the game despite being out-rebounded 47-36.
The Devils led 40-35 at the break. Both teams scored 35 points in the second half.
For the Bombers (0-3), Andrei Ozremel had 22 points and Marcus Jordan had 16. Frank Mitchell grabbed 12 rebounds.
Following the game, Bryant was named to the All Tournament Team.
Next up for the Devils is a women's/men's doubleheader at D'Youville on Tuesday.
