Junior Zach Mager (New City/Clarkstown South) poured in 31 points for a second time this season, as he led the SUNY Oneonta men's basketball team to an 80-75 win at New Paltz this afternoon.  The Red Dragons have now won a couple in a row, as they got over the .500 mark overall at 6-5 while raising its SUNYAC record to 3-1.  The loss dropped the Hawks to 4-7 overall and 1-3 in conference play.

Mager has been lighting it up all season long for the Red Dragons, as he has scored 20+ points in nine of the 11 games this season including the two with 30+ points.  Today, he was 10-of-21 from the floor while making 9-of-12 free throws to lead Oneonta.

As a team, Oneonta shot an even 50 percent from the field, which included 7-of-13 from behind the arc.  Oneonta also held a decided advantage from the charity stripe, 21-10.

Oneonta overcame a 42-36 halftime deficit in today's contest.  The Red Dragons shot 52 percent from the field while making its free throws down the stretch.  Freshman Mikey McElroy (Saratoga Springs/Saratoga Springs) scored 12 of his 14 points in the game in the second half surge.  Mager scored 18 of his 31 points during the second half.

Oneonta cut New Paltz's lead to one point before a jumper by sophomore Nicholas Segarra put them up 45-44.  The Hawks came right down and took the lead back before a layup by sophomore Seth Thomsen (South New Berlin/Norwich) gave the Red Dragons the lead for good at 47-46 with 13:42 remaining in the contest.  The basket by Thomsen fueled nine unanswered for Oneonta, who pushed its lead to eight points on a basket by Mager at the 10:30 mark.

The Hawks cut Oneonta's lead to two points with 4:33 to go, but a three-point basket by McElroy on the ensuing possession, gave Oneonta some breathing room down the stretch.

The Red Dragons will travel to rival SUNY Cortland this coming Tuesday night beginning at 8pm.

Newspaper Box Score
SUNY ONEONTA 80, NEW PALTZ 75

SUNY ONEONTA (6-5, 3-1 SUNYAC)
MAGER, Zach 10-19 9-12 31; McELROY, Mikey 5-5 3-8 14; LEE, Dan 2-8 4-4 9; THOMSEN, Seth 3-5 1-2 9; WILLIAMS, Kareem 3-4 2-3 8; DIGNAN, Jack 1-4 2-3 5; SEGARRA, Nick 1-3 0-0 2; ZUVIC, Jackson 1-3 0-0 2; MASSARONI, Grant 0-1 0-0 Totals 26-52 21-32 80.

NEW PALTZ (4-7, 1-3 SUNYAC)
SOWAH, Taylor 7-16 5-8 21; ROSA, R.J. 8-16 2-2 20; PERLMAN, Alex 4-5 0-0 8; JOSEPH, Andrew 4-6 0-1 8; TALDI, Nick 2-6 2-2 8; SENIUK, Andrew 2-8 0-0 4; DONOVAN, Keegan 1-7 1-2 3; ROACH, Kevin 1-2 0-2 3; CONE-DOUGLAS, Zach 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-66 10-17 75.

3-point goals--SUNY Oneonta 7-13 (MAGER, Zach 2-4; THOMSEN, Seth 2-2; McELROY, Mikey 1-1; DIGNAN, Jack 1-3; LEE, Dan 1-2; MASSARONI, Grant 0-1), New Paltz 7-20 (ROSA, R.J. 2-6; TALDI, Nick 2-5; SOWAH, Taylor 2-3; ROACH, Kevin 1-2; DONOVAN, Keegan 0-3; SENIUK, Andrew 0-1).
Fouled out—SUNY Oneonta-None, New Paltz-None.
Rebounds--SUNY Oneonta 38 (WILLIAMS, Kareem 8), New Paltz 35 (JOSEPH, Andrew 9).
Assists--SUNY Oneonta 13 (DIGNAN, Jack 4), New Paltz 9 (JOSEPH, Andrew 5).
Total fouls--SUNY Oneonta 18, New Paltz 24.
Technical fouls--SUNY Oneonta-None, New Paltz-None.
A-120