Buffalo State’s men’s basketball program (0-20, 0-13 SUNYAC) is yet to earn a tally in the left column as they fell to Fredonia (6-15, 3-10 SUNYAC) 57-52 on Saturday at Dods Hall.
The program has managed an abysmal one win in the last 44 matches. The Bengals fought hard until the last buzzer, but ultimately were not able to withstand Fredonia’s play in the final moments.
Maley McCurty led the team with 15 points, seven rebounds and three steals while Nigel Burch added 12 points, seven boards, two blocks and four steals. Matt Parkinson netted 11 points and both Bryce Williams and Corcel Smallhorne had six points.
The game was briefly tied at two apiece and four apiece before a 7-4 run by the Blue Devils gave them a 12-8 advantage over the Bengals. Williams netted a jumper and Smallhorne drained a three to give Buffalo State a 13-12 advantage with 8:55 until the break.
The game was tied at 15-apiece before Parkinson hit a triple and sparked an 11-4 run to close out the first half 26-19 in favor of the Bengals.
A bucket from behind the arc, courtesy of Parkinson, gave the Bengals an eight-point advantage before the Blue Devils responded and tied the game up at 32 apiece with 13:55 left in the match. From there, Fredonia went on a 13-5 run to claim a 43-37 lead over Buffalo State with just under 10 minutes to play.
A 7-1 run by the Blue Devils made it a 10-point game until the Bengals netted a few to trail 52-48 at the 2:43 mark. A pair of free throws from Burch made it a one-point game (53-52) with one minute left, but Buffalo State was unable to hang on and lost by five.
The Bengals made 32.2% of their shots from the field and a mere 28.6% of their shots from behind the arc and went 10-of-18 from charity stripe.
The Bengals outrebounded 36-30 and scored 11 points off of Fredonia’s 23 turnovers. They had 11 second chance points, 18 points in the paint and nine fastbreak points.
Buffalo State returns to action on Tuesday night against New Paltz. The game will be in Cortland, NY and tipoff is set for 7p.m.
