POTSDAM, N.Y. – The SUNY Oneonta men's basketball team kicked off SUNYAC play against the Potsdam Bears Friday night, coming away with a 79-73 victory. Senior Zach Mager (New City/Clarkstown South) led all scorers with 25, while senior Frankie Kelly (Brewster/Kennedy Catholic) had a game-high half dozen assists to go with his 20 points. Kareem Williams (Bronx/IN-Tech Academy) was the third Red Dragon in double figures, recording 10 points off the pine.

The Red and White trailed by as many as 8 in the first quarter of the contest, but a strong finish to the second half had them leading by as many as 10. The first lead for the visitors came on the heels of a pair of Kelly free throws in the midst of a 9-0 run. Prior to Kelly's visit to the charity stripe, Mikey McElroy (Saratoga Springs/Saratoga Springs) laid in a shot to pull Oneonta with in. Kelly finished off the run with another pair of free throws.

Kelly, along with juniors Jack Dignan (Brewster/Brewster) and Jackson Zuvic (Cold Spring/Haldane) sparked another spurt converting a layup, three pointer, and a layup respectively to boost the Red Dragon lead to 9.
Outscoring the bears 24-16 in the opening frame, the Red and White took a 45-37 lead into the break.

Oneonta controlled play for the better portion of the deciding stanza. Mager answered the Bears first two baskets of the half with a hoop and a harm with 16:42 remaining. The Bears closed the gap to six before Mager earned another trip to the foul line, converting both attempts and sophomore Lawrence Coleman (Croton on Hudson/Hendrick Hudson) laid in two points to regain a 10 point advantage.

The Red Dragon defense would not allow the Bears to get within four for the remainder of the contest. When they did get within four points, Coleman nailed a three and Dignan drained a shot from distance to ease the pressure. Mager lifted Oneonta to a game high 13 point lead with another perfect pair of free throws with just over nine minutes remaining.

At the 7:27 mark, junior Jeremiah Ford (Hartwick/Cooperstown) dropped a three point shot from freshman Euligio Medina. The Bears would attempt a comeback, controlling most of the scoring however a strong defensive showing from the Red and White shot to the comeback attempt.

Oneonta shot 49.1% from the field on the night, while sinking a third of its three point attempts. They were generous from the charity stripe depositing 18 of 24 attempts.

The Red and White improve to 3-3 on the season and look to build off this win tomorrow when the travel to Plattsburgh.