December 6, 2014

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – In a game that needed 45 minutes to decide a winner, senior point guard Frankie Kelly (Brewster/Kennedy Catholic) played hero in Oneonta's 94-92 win over the Plattsburgh State Cardinals. The captain answered the call after the hosts knotted the game for the 16^th time with 19 seconds remaining with a layup of his own with just two ticks remaining.

The Red and White made its first half dozen shots from the field to help build and early seven point advantage. Zach Mager (New City/Clarkstown South) drained three of his game-high 31 points with 16:35 remaining in the half to open that advantage. Junior Seth Thomsen (South New Berlin/Norwich) nailed another three as part the opening sequences along with a Kareem Williams (Bronx/IN-Tech Academy) and a pair of Kelly layups.

The Cardinals responded with a 12-0 run over the next three and a half minutes to build a five point lead, but that would not discourage the Red Dragons. The squads would alternate baskets on the next few possessions before freshman Euligio Medina knotted the contest at 23 with a bucket from beyond the arc.

Junior Jack Dignan (Brewster/Brewster) buried a pair of threes at the 9:17 and 7:28 marks to push Oneonta to a five point advantage.

Junior Mikey McElroy (Saratoga Springs/Saratoga Springs) finished the half with a layup to send the teams to the break with the scoreboard reading 41-37 in favor of Oneonta. The Red and White shot 48.5% from the field in the opening stanza, including 7-0f-14 from three point land. Mager's 10 points led all scorers, with Dignan on his heels with nine and Kelly had eight.

Neither team led by more than five in a thrilling second half. McElroy answered the Cardinals' first five points of the contest with a layup to lift the Red Dragons back up by a point. Mager extended that lead to three with a pair of buckets from the charity stripe. McElroy tied the game at 47 with a pair of free throws on the heels of a 5-0 Plattsburgh spurt before Mager drained a three and a jumper on back to back possessions providing the half-high five point lead with 14:03 left on the clock.

Oneonta was on the wrong end of a five point spread with 7:32 remaining before there was another Mager sighting. He drained a jumper and laid in another pair of points at 6:41, before McElroy converted a pair from the line to give Oneonta another one point advantage with just over six minutes remaining.

Dignan drained a three with 20 ticks remaining to give the Red and White a two point lead. On the ensuing Cardinal possession, Reggie Williams would tie the game with a layup with 8 ticks remaining to send the game to an extra session.

Plattsburgh opened a four point lead early in the extra time before Dignan show why he is a three-point specialist. His conversion with just under three minutes remaining combined with a Mager layup gave the Red and White a lead that would be tied, but never relinquished.

Plattsburgh's Williams laid in a shot with 19 seconds left giving Kelly plenty of time to score the game winning basket. Kelly laid in the winner with two ticks left and Mager solidified the victory with a steal at the buzzer.

Mager's 31 points was supported with three other Red Dragons in double figures; Kelly (18), Dignan (15) and McElroy (12). Williams dominated the boards with a game-high 11 rebounds. Kelly shows is selfless play as he dished out 10 assists.

The 4-3 Red Dragons head to Daytona Beach just before the holiday to take on Roanoke College on Friday, December 19.