The SUNY Oneonta men's basketball team took a pre-Christmas trip south to participate in the Daytona Beach Shootout.  The Red Dragons played two games and came away with a split for their effort, defeating Roanoke on Day 1 and just getting edged by Bridgewater (VA) College on Day 2.
 
Oneonta 81, Roanoke 69
The Red Dragons had four players reach double figures and hit 23-of-27 free throws enroute to its 12-point victory.  Oneonta used a 49-point second half to pull away from Roanoke.  Senior Zach Mager (New City/Clarkstown South) led all scorers in the contest with 25 points including 21 in the second half to go with seven rebounds.
 
Oneonta fell behind early, 5-3, before an old fashioned three-point play by Mager gave the Red Dragons its first lead at 6-5 right at the 15-minute mark of the opening half.  The two teams then took turns with the lead until a quick 7-0 spurt gave Oneonta a 16-10 advantage.
 
The Red Dragons were holding a seven point edge after freshman Eulogio Medina (Washington Heights/Wheels Academy) buried a pair of free throws.  Roanoke came right back to close the gap to 20-19 on a layup by Marcus Scott with 4:50 to go in the opening stanza.
 
Less than one minute later, senior Kareem Williams (Bronx/IN-Tech Academy) made a layup and then converted the foul shot to put the Red Dragons back up by seven points once again 28-21.  Oneonta took a 32-27 lead into halftime.  Williams scored all 10 of his points for the game in the first half.
 
Roanoke (4-5) stormed out of the locker room with a 14-5 run in the opening four minutes of half two to gain a 41-37 lead.  Oneonta responded with nine unanswered capped by five straight points from Mager to give the Red Dragons a lead that they would not relinquish the rest of the way.
 
Oneonta would lead by as many as 13 points with three minutes remaining in the game thanks to a three-pointer from Mager.
 
Junior Mikey McElroy (Saratoga Springs/Saratoga Springs) scored 15 second half points to finish with 17 points while senior Frankie Kelly (Brewster/Kennedy Catholic) added 13 points, four assists and a pair of steals.
 
Newspaper Box Score
At Daytona Beach, Fla. (Ocean Center)
 
SUNY ONEONTA (4-3)
MAGER, Zach 7-14 8-9 25; MCELROY, Mikey 5-9 6-7 17; KELLY, Frankie 4-11 5-7 13; WILLIAMS, Kareem 4-6 2-2 10; DIGNAN, Jack 3-6 0-0 8; MEDINA, Eulogio 1-4 2-2 4; COLEMAN, Lawrence 1-4 0-0 2; THOMSEN, Seth 1-6 0-0 2; FORD, Jeremiah 0-0 0-0 0; DEVINE, Dan 0-4 0-0 0; LEVIN, Tyler 0-0 0-0 0; MAGER, Tyler 0-0 0-0 0; PANDOLFI, Paul 0-1 0-0 0; MASSARONI, Grant 0-2 0-0 0; PALMERTON, Jack 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-67 23-27 81.
 
ROANOKE COLLEGE MAROONS (5-2)
Daniel Eacho 7-17 3-4 17; Andrew Daniels 6-14 0-0 15; Julian Ramirez 4-8 1-1 10; Alexander Weant 4-6 0-0 8; Carter Wright 2-7 0-0 5; Joey Miller 0-5 4-5 4; Cameron Smith 2-4 0-0 4; John Fitchett 0-5 3-5 3; Marcus Scott 1-1 1-3 3; Bryce Woodliff 0-0 0-0 0; Eli Sumpter 0-0 0-0 0; Seth Bradley 0-1 0-0 0; Dustin Hassell 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-68 12-18 69.

3-point goals--SUNY Oneonta 6-20 (MAGER, Zach 3-4; DIGNAN, Jack 2-5; MCELROY, Mikey 1-3; COLEMAN, Lawrence 0-1; THOMSEN, Seth 0-2; PANDOLFI, Paul 0-1; MASSARONI, Grant 0-1; KELLY, Frankie 0-3), Roanoke College Maroons 5-17 (Andrew Daniels 3-6; Julian Ramirez 1-3; Carter Wright 1-4; John Fitchett 0-2; Joey Miller 0-2).
Fouled out--SUNY Oneonta-None, Roanoke College Maroons-Cameron Smith.
Rebounds--SUNY Oneonta 45 (COLEMAN, Lawrence 7; MCELROY, Mikey 7; MAGER, Zach 7), Roanoke College Maroons 45 (Cameron Smith 9).
Assists--SUNY Oneonta 14 (DIGNAN, Jack 5), Roanoke College Maroons 15 (Julian Ramirez 6).
Total fouls--SUNY Oneonta 17, Roanoke College Maroons 22.
Technical fouls--SUNY Oneonta-WILLIAMS, Kareem; MAGER, Zach, Roanoke College Maroons-Daniel Eacho; Andrew Daniels; Alexander Weant.
 
Bridgewater 73, Oneonta 72
In a game that included nine lead changes, it was the final lead gained by Bridgewater on a jumper by Ed Riddick with 2:28 remaining that proved to be the clincher in a tight game overall.  Mager made a pair of free throws with 55 seconds to go to make the score 73-72.  Both teams missed opportunities down the stretch before a turnover by Oneonta with two seconds remaining sealed their fate.
 
McElroy led all scorers in the game with 26 points.  Mager scored 16 while Williams added 11 points and nine boards.
 
Bridgewater led by as many as 10 points late in the first half before Oneonta put together a 14-2 run over the final 5:39 to grab a 37-35 lead going into halftime.  McElroy led the charge with six points on a pair of three-pointers.
 
The Red Dragons built their lead to as many as eight points three times during the second half and still held a six point lead with 6:13 remaining before Bridgewater made its final push.
 
Oneonta heads into the semester break with a record of 5-4.  The Red Dragons open their second semester schedule at Oswego on Tuesday, January 6.
 
Newspaper Box Score
At Daytona Beach, Fla. (Ocean Center)
 
BRIDGEWATER COLLEGE EAGLES (7-2)
ADAMS, Aaron 8-14 3-3 19; REDDICK, Ed 7-15 3-4 17; WISE, Benaiah 4-6 0-0 11; WELTY, Kyle 4-13 0-0 8; SEACRIST, Logan 3-5 0-1 6; HUNTER, Zach 1-2 2-2 5; DENNIS, Keonte 2-4 0-0 4; THURSTON, Cameron 1-2 0-0 2; HUNTER, Matthew 0-1 1-4 1. Totals 30-62 9-14 73.
 
SUNY ONEONTA (5-4)
MCELROY, Mikey 11-21 0-0 26; MAGER, Zach 5-12 3-4 16; WILLIAMS, Kareem 4-11 3-8 11; KELLY, Frankie 3-8 2-3 9; COLEMAN, Lawrence 2-4 1-2 5; DIGNAN, Jack 1-3 0-0 3; MASSARONI, Grant 1-3 0-0 2; DEVINE, Dan 0-1 0-0 0; MEDINA, Eulogio 0-1 0-0 0; THOMSEN, Seth 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 27-67 9-17 72.
 
3-point goals--Bridgewater College Eagles 4-7 (WISE, Benaiah 3-4; HUNTER, Zach 1-1; WELTY, Kyle 0-1; THURSTON, Cameron 0-1), SUNY Oneonta 9-21 (MCELROY, Mikey 4-6; MAGER, Zach 3-7; KELLY, Frankie 1-2; DIGNAN, Jack 1-3; THOMSEN, Seth 0-1; MASSARONI, Grant 0-2).
Fouled out--Bridgewater College Eagles-None, SUNY Oneonta-None.
Rebounds--Bridgewater College Eagles 36 (REDDICK, Ed 10), SUNY Oneonta 44 (MAGER, Zach 9; WILLIAMS, Kareem 9).
 Assists--Bridgewater College Eagles 16 (WELTY, Kyle 4), SUNY Oneonta 16 (KELLY, Frankie 7).
Total fouls--Bridgewater College Eagles 12, SUNY Oneonta 13.
Technical fouls--Bridgewater College Eagles-None, SUNY Oneonta-None.