By: by Matt Palisin, Asst. SID
BOXSCORE
BOX SCORE
FREDONIA, N.Y. – The Fredonia State men's basketball team fell to Cortland, 61-57, on Saturday as the Devils' late rally fell just short.
Cortland opened the game with a 9-0 run before
Damien Goodwin II put the Blue Devil offense in motion with a hard-nosed lay up at 15:58.
Late in the half, Fredonia State's
Amir Billups nailed a three then a mid-range jumper on consecutive possessions to tie the game at 25-all with 3:39 left in the first. Cortland ran off the next six points to carry a 31-25 lead into the half. Billups led all scorers with 11 points.
The Devils pushed the pace to open the second half with seven straight points taking a 32-31 lead. The rally was capped with an alley-oop to
Kevin Mitchell at 17:44.
Julius Bryant followed with a layup on the next possession to make it 34-31.
Cortland regrouped with a 12-0 run using four consecutive three pointers – three form Jesse Winter and one from Brian Manning -- to take a 45-37 lead they would not relinquish. The closest the Devils would get was four points at the game's conclusion.
The Devils top performers included
Kevin Mitchell with 16 points and 10 rebounds, Billups with 13 and
Dalton Kashmer with 11 rebounds.
Cortland (7-2, 4-1 SUNYAC) was led by Winter with 20 points and Dan Sternkopf with 11. The Red Dragons shot 8 of 12 from three-point land for the game. Seven of those came in the second half.
The Devils (6-4, 1-3) are off until Jan. 9 when they travel to Buffalo State.
