FREDONIA, N.Y. -- The Fredonia men's basketball team fell to Buffalo State, 88-78, in the SUNYAC opener on Saturday. A pair of freshman led the team in scoring -- Matt Perez (Miami, Fl. / Florida Christian) topped the Devils with 11 points, and Chad Biersbach (Depew, N.Y. / Depew) added 10. Isaiah Ice (Bronx, N.Y. / Iona Prep) and Abdullah Yusuf (Brooklyn, N.Y. / Bedford Academy) had 9 apiece.

Buffalo State brought the offense early, jumping out to a 20-5 lead. They would carry that momentum to a 57-36 lead at the half. Ice and Tyler Roberts (Rochester, N.Y. / Wheatland Chili) led the Devils with 7 points apiece at the break. Ryniek Holloway led the Bengals with 7 points.

In the second half, Buff State would lead by as many as 25. However, the Devils continued to plug away.

With the Bengals up 85-60, Fredonia went on an 11-0 run that concluded with 3:35 left to play.

Late in the half, a long three from Bediako Nyasa (Bronx, N.Y. / Walton Campus) cut the lead to nine points, 87-76, with 1:36 remaining, but that would be as close as the Devils would get.

Fredonia held a few statistical edges, outrebounding the Bengals 41-40, and shooting 45 percent from the floor, compared to 44 percent for Buff State. The Devils were 15 of 20 (75 percent) from the line, compared to 16 of 24 (67 percent) for the Bengals. Buff State made 12 threes, while Fredonia converted on 7 long-range attempts.

Kay Grant had 13 points and Sheldon Adams had 12 for the Bengals (3-2 overall / 1-0 SUNYAC).

Fredonia drops to 0-4 overall and 0-1 in the conference. The return to the hardwood next week when they take on Cortland on Friday and Oswego on Saturday.