BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The Fredonia men's basketball team went to overtime for the second consecutive game, but this time would come up short, falling 75-67 to Buffalo State.
Ian Helps finished with 22 points and 15 boards, while and
Dante Williams had 15 points and nine rebounds.
Kareem Brown added 11 points and six rebounds.
The Devils drew first blood on a layup by Brown to open the game. The teams then traded scores to tie the game a 4-4, then 6-6. Buff State then used a three pointer by Jordon Glover to take the lead.
The Devils tied the game several more times in the half, the last coming at 28-all following a pair of free throws by Brown. The Bengals closed the half with the final six points for a 34-28 halftime advantage.
The Bengals dominated play early in the second stanza and would lead by as many as 17. Kevin Marmolejos nailed a three pointer at the 9:43 mark to put the Bengals up 53-36.
Fredonia would not give in.
With 4:38 left to play, Buffalo State clung to a 59-49 lead following a pair of free throws by Kevin Chateau. Fredonia then went on a 9-0 run to make it a one-point game, 59-58. Helps started the rally with a pair of free throws, and finished it by hitting a jumper. Brown nailed a three and
Jared Fish converted a layup.
After a Buffalo State layup upped its lead to three, Jackson made one of two free throws for the Devils, leaving them down by two, 61-59, with 10 seconds left.
The Devils fouled Nico McLean who missed both charity shots. Helps grabbed the rebound and kicked it out to Jackson who drove the length of the floor for the equalizer and sent the game into overtime.
Unfortunately, the Devils ran out of offense, with the Bengals outscoring Fredonia 16-6 in the overtime.
Lovell Smith had 21 points and 12 rebounds for the Bengals.
Fredonia won the battle under the boards, 48-42. They also held a significant advantage at the free-throw line, shooting 67 percent (12 of 18) compared to 38 percent (6 of 16) by the Bengals. Buffalo State held a slim edge from the floor, shooting 43 percent to Fredonia's 42 percent.
The Devils fall to 4-10 overall and 3-5 in the SUNYAC. Buffalo State moves to 10-5 and 4-4.
Fredonia travels to Oneonta and New Paltz this weekend.
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