Jan 11, 2020
CORTLAND, N.Y. – Austin Grunder (Trumansburg/Charles O. Dickerson) finished with 25 points and 18 rebounds and Ryan Schmadel (Oriskany) scored a career-high 22 points as Cortland knocked off visiting Fredonia, 96-66, for its seventh straight victory.
Cortland (9-2, 3-1 SUNYAC) is averaging 101 points per game over its last five games and narrowly missed its fourth straight 100-point game.
Grunder made 9-of-18 shots from the field and added two assists, two steals and two blocks, and he improved on his NCAA Division III leading 16.4 rebound-per-game average. Schmadel made a career-high tying six 3-pointers for the third straight game and also amassed three assists.
Ben Walters (Lockport/Starpoint) scored 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting, including three 3-pointers, and AJ Lawton (Saratoga Springs) set career highs with four 3-pointers (in five attempts) and 12 points, while also dishing out three assists. Brendan Fitzpatrick (Plainview/Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK) led the Red Dragons with six assists and Isaiah Preston (Penfield) chipped in with three assists.
Fredonia (3-6, 0-3 SUNYAC) was paced by Tyler Roberts with 17 points and De'Quan Smith with 15 points. Dydy Bryan finished with 13 points, four assists and five steals. Roberts added three assists and Chad Biersbach totaled nine points and seven rebounds.
A 23-6 run by Cortland turned an 11-10 deficit with 13:38 left in the first half into a 33-17 lead at the 7:24 mark. Grunder scored nine points and Walters had six points during that six-minute window. The Red Dragons' lead grew as high as 25 points in the half and was 21 points at 54-33 at halftime. Fredonia got no closer than 19 points in the second half.
Cortland shot 17-of-36 (47 percent) from the 3-point arc and has made at least 16 3-pointers in each of its last four games. The Red Dragons finished at 54 percent overall from the floor and 79 percent (11-of-14) from the foul line. The Blue Devils were held to 33 percent shooting overall and 28 percent (8-for-29) from long range.
Cortland will host Oneonta in a SUNYAC matchup Tuesday at 4 p.m. in a rare mid-week afternoon game.