BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The Fredonia men's basketball team led for much of the second half, but could not hold on down the stretch, falling 70-67 at Medaille on Wednesday. Ian Helps and Richard De La Cruz had 16 apiece to pace the Fredonia offense.

Medaille tied the game at 60-all with 6:48 left to play, then took the lead following a jumper on the next possession for its first lead since early in the first half. From there, two lead changes and three more ties took place before the Mavericks prevailed down the stretch.

The final tie came at the 2:01 mark when Helps converted a layup to make it 66-all. Medaille regained the lead on the next possession with a basket by Meghale Ford. 

With three seconds left, Helps was fouled and converted the front end of two foul shots to make it a one point game, 68-67.

On the rebound, the Devils immediately fouled Medaille's Johnathan Belton, who missed the one-and-one free throw. Following the miss and rebound by Helps, Fredonia attempted to call a time out, but was called for a technical instead as they were out of time outs.

Justin Fagan completed the scoring with one second left, hitting both charity shots.

The game was close throughout. Fredonia's largest lead of eight came at 60-52 at the 9:05 mark of the second half. The Mavericks immediately rattled off eight straight to tie the game at 60.

Medaille's biggest lead of seven came at 25-18 midway through the first half.

Fredonia held a 39-37 lead at the break as both teams shot an identical 14 of 28 from the field. 

For the game, the Devils held a 43-31 advantage on the boards. Medaille shot 44 percent from the floor compared to 41 percent for Fredonia, and both teams connected for six three-pointers.

Kareem Brown also finished in double digits for Fredonia with 12 points, and Dante Williams had 10 rebounds.

Medaille (2-3) was led by Fagan with 21 points and Belton with 18 points, four blocks and four steals.

Fredonia (2-3) opens conference play at home this weekend. They take on Potsdam at 5:30 Friday evening.