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DAVIDSON N.C. - Unfortunately for the Fredonia State Blue Devils, it's not how you start, but how you finish.

In the team's first matchup against a Division 1 school this decade, the Blue Devils came out strong, going toe-to-toe with Davidson. However, the Wildcats used a late run in the first half which carried over into the second half to put the game out of reach for a 78-37 victory Wednesday.

Trailing, 9-6, Fredonia State's Brad Cooper drained a 3-pointer at the 14:45 mark to tie the score. Cooper also nailed a trey with 12:50 to play in the first half to tie the score. 12-all.

"I was very pleased and very proud of the way we started,"?Fredonia State coach?Kevin Moore said. "We were not scared or timid. That was my biggest worry going into it."

From there, the rest of the first half belonged to Davidson as they outscored the under-sized Division 3 program, 15-6, to take a 32-20 halftime edge.

"We had a couple mental mistakes where we should have gone into half down single digits,"?Moore said. "To make it a double-digit game, that would have given us a big boost bein down nine."

The Division 1 program that competed in the NIT tournament last season and was in the back dance from 2006-2008, pulled away for good with a 24-6 run in the first seven minutes of the second half for a 56-26 advantage.

During that run, the Blue Devils went 5:43 without a point.

"I believe we came out and relaxed," Davidson coach Bob McKillop said. "We enjoyed the moment. There was such a sense of tightness. Thirteen guys showed something tonight."

From there it was just a matter of how respectable the Blue Devils could keep the score.

The Blue Devils shot just 33 percent from the field (14-for-43), including 4-of-12 from behind the arc. The Blue Devils also turned the ball over 23 times while the Wildcats gave away the ball 14 times.

"That's an area we want to get better at,"?Moore said of the turnovers.?"We didn't have 23 turnovers because they are Division 1 athletes.?Eighteen of them, we created ourselves. Two of them were offensive fouls and the other we just didn't take care of the ball. That's an area we have to get better at."

Brad Cooper led the Fredonia State with 10 points while Amir Billups Julius Bryant combined for 15. Leonard Smith had five of Fredonia State's 24 rebounds.

Davidson was led by Will Archambault's 22 points and Jake Cohen's 18. The Wildcats had 45 rebounds in the win.

Davidson out-shot the Devils, 14-4, from three point range. They also held a 45-24 advantage in rebounds.

It was the 18th consecutive home-opening win for the 1-4 Wildcats. Next up is Rhode Island University on Saturday.

The Devils, now 0-3, head home for Thanksgiving break. They are back in action at Houghton on Dec. 1.