Special to The OBSERVER

BUFFALO — Facing a win-and-in scenario for the SUNYAC playoffs, the Fredonia women’s basketball team was taken to overtime by Buffalo State and fell 76-71. Despite the loss, the Devils claimed the sixth seed in the SUNYAC Tournament.

Fredonia had a chance to win it late, but a pair of missed free throws with the game tied at 64 with seven seconds left in the fourth quarter allowed the Bengals to stick around. They went on to outscore Fredonia 12-7 in the overtime.

Buffalo State started the game on a 10-0 run, and would go up 19-12 after the first quarter. Fredonia worked back to a one-point lead at the half, 32-31.

The Devils’ biggest lead of seven points came at the 6:32 mark of the third, 40-33.

The fourth quarter saw five ties and a pair of lead changes.

Four Devils would finish in double figures in scoring, led by Katie Pitcher and Jenna Einink (Westfield/Chautauqua Lake) with 15 apiece. Einink added a double-double with 16 rebounds. Anna Chiacchia added 14 points, while Sarah Sweazy had 12. Pitcher grabbed nine rebounds and Chiacchia had three blocks.

Katie Villiarini led Buff State with 27 points. Princella McCullough had 19 points and Liv LeBarron added 17. The Bengals fell short of the SUNYAC Tournament this season at 13-12 overall and 7-11 in the SUNYAC.

The Devils (11-14, 8-10) will travel to Oneonta on Tuesday in the first round of the tournament to take on the No. 3 seed Red Dragons.

MENS: Bengals 95, Blue Devils 92

BUFFALO — The Fredonia men’s basketball team’s season ended with a 95-92 loss at Buffalo State on Saturday. The win by the Bengals, combined with a win by its women’s team, gave Buff. State a 9-8 lead in the Battle by the Lake.

Mark Morgan was one of four Fredonia players to score in double digits, leading the way with 23 points. De’Quan Smith added 17 and Matt Perez 15. Bediako Nyasa had 14 and 10 assists.

Buffalo State was led by a career-high 41 from Dom Grayer.

The Devils led 89-88 inside the last minute following a three pointer by Morgan. Buffalo State answered with a three pointer on its next possession to reclaim the lead for good.

In the first half, the Devils had built an 11-point lead. A three pointer by Kadeem Riddick and back-to-back baskets by Perez and Colden George would put the Devils up 25-14 for what would be their biggest lead of the game.

The Bengals bounced back with a 15-2 spurt to take a brief lead, 29-27. There would be four more ties and three lead changes over the final 3:11 of the first half before the Bengals found themselves up 40-38 at the intermission.

The back-and-forth scoring continued in the second half. Fredonia would be up 63-55 with 11:23 to play in what would prove to be the biggest lead for either team in the second half.

The Bengals improve to 8-16 and 6-12 in the SUNYAC. Fredonia ends its season at 2-23 and 1-17 in the SUNYAC.