Fredonia, NY - The D'Youville men's basketball team dropped their final game before Thanksgiving break on Tuesday evening, falling to the Fredonia Blue Devils by the final score of 88-62.

Fredonia established an early lead with a 12-5 advantage over the Spartans after 5:49 of play in the game. After a Darrius Hartzog (Rochester, NY/Wilson Magnet) layup to make the game 12-7, the Blue Devils went on a 15-0 scoring run for a 27-7 lead. Jeremy VanDuluitgaarden (Oneida, NY/Vernon-Verona-Sherrill) then broke the scoring drought and scored the next seven points for the Spartans to bring the game to 36-16 Fredonia with 5:47 to go in the first.

The Blue Devils continued to show their strong offense as the half wound down. Free throws in the final two minutes from Hartzog and Jake Socha (Tonawanda, NY/Niagara Catholic) helped add to the Spartan's offense, but the team still trailed 52-24 at the end of the first half. 

Zach Blask (Portville, NY/Portville) and Juan Miguel Rosales (Guatemala City, Guatemala/Village School) combined for 11 points in the opening 6:30 of the second half as D'Youville trailed by 25. The Spartan's offense began to be carried by Mark Jorgensen (Spencerport, NY/Spencerport), Simeon Heard (Rochester, NY/Charles Finney) and Patrick Plummer (Cheektowaga, NY/Cheektowaga), combining for 14 straight points into the final three minutes of the game. The final few minutes would run off the clock as Fredonia defeated D'Youville by the final score of 88-62.

"We came out way too tentatively and Fredonia made us pay," said head coach Earl Schunk. "We need to tighten things up before conference play starts."

Leading the way for the Spartans and scoring a career high 10 points was Jorgensen. He added a team high six rebounds off the bench. VanDuluitgaarden was the second leading scorer with nine points. Will VanAuken (Caledona, NY/Caledonia-Mumford) led the team with eight rebounds in the game. Steve Kunelius (Oswego, NY/Oswego) added three points.

All but one player for D'Youville recorded a rebound in the game. Haiden Ward (Bloomfield, NY/Bloomfield) saw extended playing time, scoring his first collegiate points and grabbing three rebounds. Bryce Little (Arcade, NY/Pioneer) also saw his first time of the season and had three rebounds as well. Brian Nwaekeke (Corona, CA/John F. Kennedy) had four points and three rebounds off the bench.

The men will host their next game after Thanksgiving break on Sunday, November 27th at 3pm against SUNY Canton.