Junior guard Brad Cooper (Monticello/Monticello) registered a game-high 22 points and scored the game-winning basket with eight seconds remaining in the game as fifth-seeded Fredonia State escaped with a 56-55 victory over seventh-seeded SUNY Cortland in the semifinals of the 2009 State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Men's Basketball Championship at Max Ziel Gymnasium on the campus of SUNY Oswego.

The Blue Devils (18-8), who are riding a four-game winning streak, advances to Saturday's 4:00 p.m. championship game, where they will face the winner of the second semifinal game against The College at Brockport and host Oswego State.  Cortland finishes its season at 12-15.

Cooper was one of two players in double digits for Fredonia, shooting 9-for-14 from the floor with a pair of three-pointers, making both free-throw attempts, pulling down five rebounds and dishing our four assists.  Sophomore Julius Bryant (Buffalo/Hutch Tech) added 11 points, pulled down a game-high tying seven rebounds, and added a block and a steal.

Fredonia held a 28-23 lead at halftime and led by as many as 13 points on two occasions, the last coming at 47-34 with 8:56 remaining in the second half. before Cortland went on a 13-2 run over a 5:44 stretch to take its first lead of the game at 50-49 with 3:12 to play on a layup by junior Mike Lewis (Brewerton/Central Square). Senior Carson Niehof (West Islip/West Islip) scored the first five points of the run, which began with a three-point jumper, while junior Paul Oliver (Phoenix/Phoenix) scored 10 straight points, going 5-for-6 from the line.

Fredonia tied the score at 50-5o when senior Wayne Davis (Binghamton/Binghamton) hit the tail end of a two-shot free throw and took the lead 50 seconds later on a layup by Cooper, but the Red Dragons retook the lead on a three-pointer by Niehoff with 1:13 to play. Both teams exchanged baskets and the lead twice more, with Fredonia freshman Leonard Smith and Niehoff exchanging layups before Cooper's game winner. Cortland had two chances to win the game, but Niehoff's missed a jumper and the tip-in by Paul Oliver off the rebound rolled off the rim as time expired.

Niehoff finished with a team-leading 21 points for the Red Dragons, connecting on nine of 21 shots from the floor (3-for-9 from three-point range). He also grabbed five rebounds and registered three steals and a block.  Oliver compiled 15 points on five of eight shooting from the field and from the line, and pulled down a game-high tying seven rebounds.