Box Score Box Score
Four players scored in double figures for SUNY Oneonta, but it wasn't enough to get past Plattsburgh in the championship game of the SUNYAC tournament today. Junior
Troy Talbot (Brooklyn/The School for Legal Studies) (Brooklyn/The School for Legal Studies) led the Red Dragons with 18 points, but Oneonta (22-6) came up on the short end of a 67-60 score. Talbot, along with senior #
Brian Beckford (Brooklyn/Christ the King)#and junior #
Shane Gillette (Hurley/Kingston)# were selected to the All-Tournament Team.
Oneonta led 37-30 at halftime and continued to hold the lead through the first 10 minutes of the second half. Plattsburgh (21-7) began chipping away at the Oneonta lead right out of intermission, but didn't finally catch the Red Dragons until the 9:01 mark on a layup by tournament MVP Chris Ruiz (Washington Heights/St. Agnes). The basket, which gave them a 50-49 lead, was Plattsburgh's first lead since 15-13 with 13:35 remaining in the first half.
The Cardinals built its lead to seven points three times during the final nine minutes, but Oneonta continued to battle back and got as close as four points with 33 seconds to go on a layup by junior #
Derek Hahn (Youngsville/Sullivan West)#. Plattsburgh made 3-of-6 free throws over the final stretch for the final margin of victory.
The hosts got out quickly in today's game leading 15-5 at the 15:30 mark. Ruiz led the Cardinals with nine points including a four-point play.
After a 30-second timeout, Oneonta picked up its defensive intensity and turned it into 12 unanswered points. Troy scored five of his 14 first half points during the run as the Red Dragons took its first lead of the game at the 12:40 mark, 17-15.
The 12 straight points ended up being a 28-5 run, which gave the Red Dragons a commanding 33-20 lead with 5:39 left in the first half. The run was capped by a three-pointer by junior #
Brian Hooks (Cohoes/Shaker)#.
Beckford, Gillette and Hooks all had 10 points in the game for Oneonta. Beckford also had a team high six rebounds and three blocks.
Oneonta will now await word on a possible at-large berth to the NCAA Div. III tournament, which be announced on Monday morning at 10:00 a.m. EST. At that time the NCAA will announce its field of 61 teams that will play for the national championship beginning next weekend at campus sites around the country. The final four weekend is scheduled for Mar. 19-20 in Salem, Va.
