Cortland Men Use Strong First-Half Finish to Defeat Fredonia

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CORTLAND, N.Y. – Junior Kevin McMahon made 6-of-7 shots and finished with 18 points and three blocked shots as Cortland posted an 84-61 win over Fredonia. The Red Dragons improved to 10-3 overall and are in a four-way tie for second place in the SUNYAC with a 4-2 mark, one game behind league-leading Geneseo.

McMahon, who also connected on 6-of-8 free throws, was one of four Red Dragons to score in double figures. Senior Jesse Winter finished with 14 points, six rebounds and four steals, sophomore Lamard Herron registered Cortland career-bests of 13 points and three blocks and senior Jeremy Smith totaled 10 points, five rebounds and three assists.

Also for the Red Dragons, senior Harrison Hefele scored nine points and added five assists, four rebounds and three steals, and senior Brian Manning had nine points and six rebounds.

Fredonia (5-7, 1-5 SUNYAC) was paced by Dalton Kashmer's 25 points and three steals. He scored 20 of the Blue Devils' 28 points in the first half. Robert Lyles scored 11 points and John Kovach chipped in with eight points and a game-high eight rebounds.

Fredonia overcame an early 26-17 deficit and tied the game at 26-26 on a Tyrone Clark dunk with 5:59 left in the first half. Cortland, however, finished the first half on a 16-2 run to take a 42-28 halftime lead. Smith and McMahon scored five points each and Manning and Winter tallied three points apiece during that stretch.

Cortland then basically put the game away with a 7-0 run to start the second half on a McMahon layup and Hefele's three-pointer and layup. Following a Fredonia bucket, McMahon hit a layup with 16:18 left to give Cortland a 21-point lead and the margin stayed in the 20-point range the rest of the game.

Cortland shot 51 percent from the floor and made 26-of-39 free throws. Fredonia shot 36 percent from the field and 11-of-16 from the line.

Cortland will host Geneseo on Friday, Jan. 18, at 8 p.m.