Junior Zach Mager (New City/Clarkstown South) and senior Dan Lee (Ballston Lake/Shenendehowa) combined for 44 points today to lead the SUNY Oneonta men's basketball team to a key SUNYAC win against visiting Buffalo State 83-82.  The victory for the Red Dragons evens its overall record at 11-11 while pushing its conference record to 8-7 with three games remaining in the regular season.  Oneonta is battling three other teams for the final three spots in the conference tournament including the Bengals, who are now 11-10 overall and 7-7 in the SUNYAC.

Oneonta appeared to have a comfortable lead with 6:24 remaining, as they led the Bengals 67-54 after a layup by Lee.  The two teams exchanged runs over the next 1:36, which left the Red Dragons with an 11-point lead with 4:48 to go.

The Bengals then got hot from behind the arc, hitting five from long range, cutting Oneonta's lead to 79-77 with 49 seconds remaining.  Sophomore Chris Boyd hit four of the three-pointers while junior Roderick Epps hit the other.  Epps finished the game with 15 points while Boyd registered 12 points.

On the ensuing possession after Boyd's three that cut the lead to two points, Lee drove the lane and dished off to sophomore Kareem Williams (Bronx/IN-Tech Academy), who laid the ball in to give Oneonta an 81-77 lead.  Williams had his first collegiate double-double today with 15 points and 10 boards.

With six seconds left, Legree Kirkland converted a layup to cut the lead back to two points.  Buffalo State had to foul Mager, who made the pair of free throws on the other end to push the lead back to four points.

Epps made one final three as the clock ran out for the final of 83-82.  Seniors Justin Mitchell and Chris Castren, who scored 17 and 12 points respectively, joined Epps and Boyd in double figures today.

Freshman Mikey McElroy (Saratoga Springs/Saratoga Springs) was the fourth player in double figures for Oneonta with 13 points to go with eight rebounds, five assists and two blocks.

Oneonta trailed 18-11 with 8:48 to go in the first half before closing out with a 22-11 spurt that gave them a 33-29 lead at halftime.  Lee led all scorers in the first half with nine points.

Oneonta will closeout the home regular season schedule next Friday night against New Paltz beginning at 8pm.

Newspaper Box Score
SUNY ONEONTA 83, BUFFALO STATE 82

BUFFALO STATE (11-10/7-7 SUNYAC)
MITCHELL, Justin 8-11 1-2 17; EPPS, Roderick 4-11 4-4 15; KIRKLAND, Legree 5-7 2-2 12; BOYD, Chris 4-7 0-0 12; CASTREN, Chris 3-5 0-0 8; THOMPSON, Chris 2-9 3-5 7; GLOVER, Jordan 2-3 0-0 5; MILES, Maurice 1-2 0-0 2; JORDAN, Rey 1-4 0-0 2; DOYLEY, Bradley 1-4 0-0 2; SMITH, Lovell 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 31-64 10-13 82.

SUNY ONEONTA (11-11/8-7 SUNYAC)
MAGER, Zach 7-13 6-6 23; LEE, Dan 6-12 6-8 21; WILLIAMS, Kareem 6-10 3-4 15; McELROY, Mikey 5-7 2-3 13; DIGNAN, Jack 2-3 0-0 5; BRINK, Larry 1-1 0-0 2; MASSARONI, Grant 0-1 2-2 2; THOMSEN, Seth 1-4 0-2 2. Totals 28-51 19-25 83.

3-point goals--Buffalo State 10-18 (BOYD, Chris 4-5; EPPS, Roderick 3-6; CASTREN, Chris 2-3; GLOVER, Jordan 1-2; JORDAN, Rey 0-1; DOYLEY, Bradley 0-1), SUNY Oneonta 8-19 (LEE, Dan 3-8; MAGER, Zach 3-6; McELROY, Mikey 1-2; DIGNAN, Jack 1-2; MASSARONI, Grant 0-1).
Fouled out--Buffalo State-THOMPSON, Chris, SUNY Oneonta-None.
Rebounds--Buffalo State 32 (THOMPSON, Chris 8; MITCHELL, Justin 8), SUNY Oneonta 29 (WILLIAMS, Kareem 10). Assists—Buffalo State 15 (DOYLEY, Bradley 7), SUNY Oneonta 12 (McELROY, Mikey 5).
Total fouls--Buffalo State 19, SUNY Oneonta 15.
Technical fouls—Buffalo State-None, SUNY Oneonta-None.
A-451