TORIN O’BRIEN
Special to The Leader
Men’s basketball fell to 1-13 overall (0-10 in SUNYAC) after hosting SUNY New Paltz on Friday, and SUNY Oneonta on Saturday. Two words can sum up not just this past weekend, but the entire season: ball security.
Through their 14 games played thus far, the Devils have only managed to win or tie the turnover battle four times. Last weekend’s games were no exception to the dismal trend.
Friday’s game against New Paltz seemed like it was over before it started. Fredonia would take a 3-2 lead early on with a 3-pointer by Alexander Grace, but that’s the only time they would be on the top side of the scoreboard. Through seven minutes of play, the Blue Devils found themselves down by a score of 20-5.
Ian Helps, a freshman standout for the Blue Devils, scored seven straight points to end a five minute scoring drought which cut the lead to 20-12, but New Paltz was not having any of that. A layup, along with a three pointer at the horn, left the first half score at 25-12.
At the beginning of the second half, though, Fredonia showed some life. The Blue Devils were able to rally behind junior guards Kyree Hull, Grace and Robert Lyles. Lyles didn’t see the court in the first half of play.
After mustering a 9-3 run to open the half, the Devils brought it to within seven, and following another 7-0 run, the score was 31-28 in favor of New Paltz. Sadly, for the home team, this is the closest the game would be in the second half.
New Paltz would buckle down after that, putting in eight straight, to take a lead of 39-28. Although the Devils would make another push, it wasn’t enough. New Paltz walked out of a melancholy Steele Hall with a 65-51 victory over the home team.
While rebounding, shooting percentage and free throws were all pretty close and, again, the battle was decided by turnovers. New Paltz finished with 14, and was able to convert Fredonia’s 23 turnovers into 24 points. They also won the battle in the paint 26-22, as well as bench points, 25-15
Compared to Friday’s game against New Paltz, Saturday’s affair could actually be called a contest. Fredonia gave its fans their money’s worth by fighting tooth and nail, and giving everyone hope that they’d get their first conference win.
While this was one of the four games this season in which Fredonia didn’t lose the turnover battle (both teams ended with 14) they still showed some gaping holes defensively, as well as in the rebounding department.
The Devils were outscored in the paint 36-32, and out-rebounded 31-24. The rebounding was particularly noticeable on the offensive glass, with Oneonta grabbing ten offensive boards, which they were able to convert into 14 points.
The Devils also lost the bench battle, again, by a score of 25-18, but the biggest discrepancy, and deciding factor in Saturday’s game, had to be free throws. While Oneonta shot 75 percent on 15-20 from the line, Fredonia managed 25 percent … on four foul shots.
Despite all of the bad aspects, Fredonia was surprisingly able to play a great and close game. It shows hope that this young team might be able to do something next year with a little offseason work.
After a slam by Helps late in the second half, Fredonia found themselves knocking on the door, and behind by only one point with 16.1 seconds to play. The situation called for a foul to send Oneonta’s Zach Mager to the line to shoot free throws.
Mager nailed both of them to give Oneonta a three point lead, 66-63. On Fredonia’s next possession, a near turnover by Robert Lyles turned into a jump-ball in Fredonia’s favor. With 4.1 seconds remaining, the Blue Devils had one last shot to tie it up and force overtime.
The task was given to Lyles, who ended the game with 12 points, but his shot didn’t find nylon, and the game ended in a final score of 66-63.
After getting hot behind the arc in the second half, Hull finished with 16 points to lead Fredonia. Helps put in 12, along with Lyles and Justin Tapper adding 10.
In a season like this, it’s hard to find any bright spots. Looking at the Blue Devils roster two thirds are either freshmen or sophomores, and there isn’t a senior on the team, meaning there’s a lot of talent to be developed.
In the remaining games, the Devils should be focusing on winning the turnover battle, shoring up their lackluster defense and attacking the basket to create foul shooting opportunities.
There isn’t much to salvage in a year like this, but there’s plenty of room for improvement moving forward into next year.