The SUNY Oneonta men's basketball team opened its season in impressive fashion tonight by going on the road and defeating D3hoops.com preseason No. 5 and 2013 national runner-up Williams College 74-68.  The Red Dragons had four players reach double figures, as they erased an eight-point first half deficit with a 49-point second half explosion.
 
Oneonta got off to a sluggish start offensively in the opening 20 minutes falling behind early and then trailing 33-25 at the break.  The Red Dragons shot 29 percent in the first half including 2-of-12 from behind the arc.
 
Senior Zach Mager (New City/Clarkstown South) led Oneonta with 22 points including 15 points during the second half run.  Mager hit a three-pointer at the end of the first half to get Oneonta to within eight points.  Mager added 11 rebounds and was 10-of-11 from the free throw line including 4-of-4 in the final 31 seconds to secure the victory for Oneonta.
 
"This was a great win for our team and a great way to start the season," said Mager.
 
Making a big splash in his collegiate debut for Oneonta tonight was freshman Eulogio Medina (Washington Heights/Wheels Academy).  Medina came off the bench for the Red Dragons and scored 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting.
 
Williams was holding an 11-point lead after a pair of free throws at the 17:14 mark of the second half before the offense started to get into gear.
 
Junior Mikey McElroy (Saratoga Springs/Saratoga Springs) capped an 11-1 run over the next four minutes to cut Williams' lead to one point at 42-41.  McElroy would finish with 10 points, nine of which were in the second half.
 
The two teams exchanged runs over the next five minutes, which resulted in three lead changes, the last of which was Oneonta's for good.  A layup by senior Frankie Kelly (Brewster/Kennedy Catholic) gave the Red Dragons a 53-52 lead with 8:52 remaining.  The lead ballooned to seven points on another layup by Kelly three minutes later.  Kelly scored nine of his 10 points in the second half.
 
Williams made one final run at Oneonta and got as close as two points with 1:11 to go in the game, but the Red Dragons were able to pull away with six free throws down the stretch added to a McElroy layup.
 
"We played a great second half," said head coach Vince Medici.  "We did a great job on defense in both halves and our offense started to click in the second half."
 
Oneonta will take its opening win into Friday night's contest with SUNY Cobleskill, as they play its opener in the 2014 Holiday Inn Classic hosted by Hartwick College.