The Hillbillies (10-1, 4-1), who trailed by as many as 14 midway through the second quarter, took a 51-50 lead into the final eight minutes after a third quarter during which they shot 11 of 14 from the field and turned the ball over just three times.

“We didn’t even talk about making a comeback. We just talked about settling ourselves down on both sides of the ball,” Fredonia head coach Nick Bertrando said about his team’s halftime adjustments. “Southwestern did a lot of nice things in the first half to stymie us at both ends of the floor.”

“Maybe we ran out of gas a little bit in the third quarter,” Southwestern head coach Aaron Emley said.

Jalen Edwards’ second 3-pointer of the game for the Trojans (4-5, 2-3) tied the game at 53-all with 6:41 left.

Southwestern's Oscar Harris attempts to shoot over Fredonia's RJ Koopman during Monday's CCAA Division 1 boys basketball game in West Ellicott. P-J photo by Matt Spielman

“Jalen hit a couple of big shots against Olean. His confidence is starting to grow,” Emley said. “We’re really not surprised by it.”

Fredonia answered with an 8-0 run that included a pair of buckets from Donovan Dowdy — who led all scorers with 20 points in the game — before a pair of free throws and a basket from RJ Koopman.

“We have to keep our composure when they go on a run, take a timeout and go back at them,” Emley said. “It’s high-level basketball.”

Landon Hooks and Edwards then scored on consecutive possessions to pull Southwestern within four with 4:10 remaining. The Trojans’ Roger Markham then scored through contact and Hooks made a pair of free throws after a hard foul to tie the game at 61-all with 2:36 left.

Markham gave his team the lead with a layup along the baseline with 1:01 to go, but the Hillbillies’ Ryan Kelly answered with his third 3-pointer of the night with 46.3 seconds remaining.

Southwestern's Jalen Edwards shoots in front of Fredonia's Ryan Kelly during Monday's CCAA Division 1 boys basketball game in West Ellicott. P-J photo by Matt Spielman

“Ryan is a champion. He was bowling last year. … He has accepted every role we have given him this year. We’re very, very thankful that he came out,” Bertrando said. “We challenge Ryan in a bunch of ways. … It’s a testament to him and his approach, getting back in the gym this year and off the lanes. He has poise in big moments. … He understands the moment and he rose to it tonight.”

After a Southwestern miss, the Trojans’ Carter Casselman forced a turnover near midcourt and drove in for a layup to make it 65-64 with under 30 seconds left.

Instead of calling a timeout, Fredonia pushed the ball up the court and Koopman found Putney open underneath for the go-ahead basket.

“I think there are different philosophies. It’s really game flow,” Bertrando said. “I was hoping (we’d carry) the momentum we’d had on a couple of other possessions … dumb luck for me, it just happened to work out in our favor.”

The Trojans drew up a final play in a timeout and Markham drove to the basket before looking for an open teammate underneath, but the ball glanced off the Trojans player and out of bounds to the Hillbillies, who were able to run out the clock as Southwestern had not fouled enough in the fourth quarter to put them at the foul line.

Fredonia's RJ Koopman is fouled by Southwestern's Carter Casselman during Monday's CCAA Division 1 boys basketball game in West Ellicott. P-J photo by Matt Spielman

“We still needed a stop at the end and we challenged those guys to really dig in. Roger Markham is a three-level scorer. … We know what he brings to the table with the other guys who stepped up and hit shots for Southwestern,” Bertrando said. “To get that final stand after the hectic 60 seconds there was pretty satisfying.”

“We couldn’t ask for a better look at the end,” Emley said.

Fredonia will complete its first run through the league schedule Thursday at home against Falconer while Southwestern will host Salamanca that same night.

“After the game, I told them that it feels like we’re on more of an upward slope than we were at the beginning of the season. These guys are all brand new to playing together. It’s going to take some time,” Emley said. “You take these one-point losses on the front side of the season to hopefully learn from them and finish with wins in the back half.”

NOTES: Colin Luce had 16 points, four rebounds and four blocked shots; Koopman had 14 points, seven rebounds, six assists and five steals; Kelly had 11 points, five rebounds and five assists; and Dowdy had five assists, three rebounds and three blocked shots for Fredonia, which shot 28 of 49 from the field, including 6 of 15 from 3-point range, and turned the ball over 12 times. … Markham and Colton Waite had 13 points apiece, Oscar Harris had 12 points and Edwards had 10 for Southwestern, which shot 26 of 62 from the field, including 8 of 25 from 3-point range, and turned the ball over 13 times.

Fredonia’s Donovan Dowdy floats a shot over Southwestern’s Carter Casselman during CCAA Division 1 action on Monday in West Ellicott. P-J photo by Matt Spielman

FREDONIA (66)

Luce 7 2 16, Kelly 4 0 11, Dowdy 10 0 20, Putney 2 0 5, Koopman 5 2 14, Phillips 0 0 0, Cuthbert 0 0 0. Totals 28 4 66.

SOUTHWESTERN (65)

Harris 6 0 12, Hooks 2 3 8, Edwards 4 0 10, Charles 1 0 3, Waite 5 0 13, Markham 6 0 13, Casselman 2 2 6. Totals 26 5 65.

3-point goals–Kelly 3, Putney, Koopman 2, Hooks, Edwards 2, Charles, Waite 3, Markham.

Fredonia’s Ryan Kelly, center, celebrates with RJ Koopman, right, and Shane Ferguson after defeating Southwestern 66-65 in CCAA Division 1 boys basketball action in West Ellicott on Monday. P-J photo by Matt Spielman

Fredonia 9 17 25 15 — 66

Southwestern 19 17 14 15 — 65