CORTLAND, N.Y. -- The Fredonia men's basketball team trailed by as many as 21 points in the first half and mounted a furious second-half rally to tie the game, only to come up short in an 81-76 SUNYAC road loss at Cortland.

Ian Helps (Bronx, N.Y. / Greater New York Academy) turned in another stellar performance, with 29 points and six rebounds. He was 11 of 16 from the field an seven of 10 from the line. Jared Fish (Salamanca, N.Y. / Salamanca) and Richard De La Cruz (Washington Heights, N.Y. / Norman Thomas) added 10 points apiece, with Fish collecting a team-best seven rebounds. The Devils fell to 6-14 overall and 5-9 in the SUNYAC.

J.P. Reagan and Blair Estarfaa had 17 apiece for Cortland (14-6 / 8-5).

Cortland's biggest lead came at the 3:38 mark of the first half, 41-20. Fredonia closed the gap on a 9-2 run to finish the half as the Dragons took a 43-29 lead into the break.

The Devils' momentum continued early in the second half. Cortland open the frame with a layup from Justin Rivera. The Devils then went on a 12-0 run to pull within four points, 45-41. Over that span De La Cruz converted a layup and back-to-back threes. Helps finished the run with a pair of layups.

The Devils continued to keep the pressure on, finally catching the Dragons at the 5:13 mark. Down 65-60, Helps connected on a pair of free throws before Kareem Brown nailed a three to knot the game at 65-all.

Both teams exchanged a pair of layups, tying the game at 69 with 3:26 left to play.

Following a jumper by Fredonia's Brown with 2:02 left, the Devils trailed by one, 72-71. From that point on, Cortland would do all its scoring from the foul line -- going 11 of 13 -- while the Blue Devils only mustered a three pointer from Kareem Brown with 12 seconds left.

Cortland held a 47-37 edge on the boards, while Fredonia shot 44 percent from the field compared to Cortland's 42 percent. The Dragons had eight threes, while Fredonia connected on six long-range buckets.

From the line, the Devils were 14 of 23 (61 percent) and Cortland shot 19 of 30 (63 percent). Prior to their clutch shooting at the line in the final minutes, the Dragons had only hit on eight of 17 attempts.

The Devils travel to Brockport on Tuesday before playing host to Buffalo State next Friday.