Devils nip Worcester State at RIT
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Men's Basketball
FREDONIA STATE 75, WORCESTER STATE 73
ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Brad Cooper (Monticello) had 28 points and Julius Bryant (Buffalo/Hutch Tech) had 24 to lead Fredonia State past Worcester State, 75-73, and into the championship game of Rochester Institute of Technology's Brodie Tournament.
Cooper was 4 of 4 from three-point range and 8 of 10 from the line. Bryant was 10 of 15 from the field. He also grabbed seven rebounds. In addition, James Kane (Buffalo/Timon-St. Jude) came off the bench to add eight points and a team-high 10 rebounds.
It was the Blue Devils' third straight win after three losses to open the season. They'll meet Fisher College (Mass.) in the tournament title game 3 p.m. Sunday. Fisher rallied from a 22-polnt deficit to defeat R.I.T., 69-68, in the second game Saturday.
Worcester State, now also 3-3, led in the early going, but never more than by four points. The Blue Devils took their first lead, 13-12, on a basket by Cooper. Fredonia State's Kyle Mitchell (Lake Luzurne/Hadley Luzurne) gave his team its largest lead of the first half, 35-24, and the Blue Devils remained ahead 45-37 at the break.
Worcester State battled back to tie, 47-47, on a basket by Raynaldi Voyard early in the second half. His team finally retook the lead, 65-63, on a three-point basket by Dave Douillette with 2:18 left. The Blue Devils pulled even at 67-67 on a basket by Bryant and took the lead for good, 69-67, on a jumper by Cooper with 38 seconds to go. Fouled on the play, Cooper missed the free throw but Bryant rebounded. Worcester State was forced to foul and the Blue Devils responded by hitting their final six free throws -- two by Leonard Smith (Brooklyn/Nazareth Regional), and four straight by Cooper sandwiched around one of his team-high six steals.