FREDONIA HOLDS OFF EXPRESS

OSWEGO, N.Y. - The Wells College men's basketball team fell 52-44 to the Fredonia State Blue Devils in game one of the 2011 Max Ziel Basketball Classic Friday at Oswego State University in Oswego, N.Y. Mabior Mayen (Syracuse, N.Y.) paced the Express with a game high 15 points and 13 rebounds. Leonard Smith led the Blue Devils with 12 points. The loss drops the Express to 0-2 on the young season while Fredonia improves to 2-0.

The Express came out and took an early lead on a lay-up by Mayen but, the Blue Devils responded with an 8-0 run to take a lead they would never relinquish. The two teams struggled to find a rhythm as the Blue Devils built an 11 points lead (19-8) with 6:26 left to play in the first. However, Three pointers by Luke Thomas (Kernersville, N.C.) and Erich Kaempffe (North Rose, N.Y.) sparked a late run by the Express as they pulled to within four points (24-20) at the half.

Wells continued to battle in the second half, trimming the lead to within two points four separate times but were unable to find the go ahead basket as Fredonia pulled away late to secure the eight point victory.

It was a low scoring affair for each team with Mayen and Smith recording the only double digit point totals of the game. For Wells, Dave Foltz (Auburn, N.Y.) chipped in with nine points and seven rebounds, while Terry Harrison (Brooklyn, N.Y.) added seven points and six rebounds to round out the highlights.

Wells shot just 32 percent from the floor, while the Blue Devils finished at 40.9 percent. Both teams were even on the boards with Fredonia holding a slight 34-33 edge.

The Express return to action tomorrow in a rematch of last year's thrilling NCAA Tournament match-up against Oswego State University at 6 p.m. in Oswego.