A 39-point second half pushed the SUNY Oneonta men's basketball team to a 72-67 victory over its rival Red Dragons from SUNY Cortland tonight in a key SUNYAC contest.  The win for Oneonta (11-10, 8-6 SUNYAC) gave them the season sweep, which will give them the edge come conference tournament time if the two are tied.
 
Oneonta trailed by as many as 11 points in the opening half before making a late run to cut its halftime deficit to three points, 36-33, entering the break.  Oneonta led 1-0 in the first minute after senior Kareem Williams (Bronx/IN-Tech Academy) made one of two free throws.  Cortland then ran off eight unanswered to take the lead that they would not relinquish until a layup by senior Frankie Kelly (Brewster/Kennedy Catholic) gave Oneonta a 37-36 lead early in the second half.
 
The two teams were tied on seven occasions in the second half with Oneonta gaining the lead four of those times.  The final tie came at 63-63 when senior Zach Mager (New City/Clarkstown South) made a layup with 2:29 remaining in the contest.  Oneonta took the lead for good with six straight points, capped by a free throw by Mager.  Mager finished the game with 19 points including 13 in the second half.
 
Oneonta shot 49 percent from the floor in the game while converting 17-of-26 free throws.
 
Kelly finished the game with 13 points including nine in the second half.  He also collected six assists and two steals.  Sophomore Lawrence Coleman (Croton on the Hudson/Hendrick Hudson) reached double figures for a sixth straight game with 11 points while also grabbing six rebounds.
 
Oneonta will travel out to Rochester this weekend for back-to-back SUNYAC games.  The Red Dragons will face Brockport on Friday night and SUNY Geneseo on Saturday afternoon.
 
Newspaper Box Score
2/10/15 5:30 p.m. at Cortland, NY (Corey Gym)
SUNY ONEONTA 72, SUNY CORTLAND 67
 
SUNY ONEONTA (11-10/8-6 SUNYAC)
MAGER, Zach 6-13 5-7 19; KELLY, Frankie 4-10 5-6 13; COLEMAN, Lawrence 5-9 1-4 11; MCELROY, Mikey 4-7 0-0 9; MASSARONI, Grant 1-2 4-5 6; DIGNAN, Jack 2-5 0-0 6; WILLIAMS, Kareem 2-4 1-3 5; ZUVIC, Jackson 1-1 1-1 3; FORD,
Jeremiah 0-0 0-0 0; THOMSEN, Seth 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-51 17-26 72.
 
SUNY CORTLAND (15-6/ 8-6 SUNYAC)
ESTARFAA, Blair 6-12 2-4 15; PRENDERGAST, Justin 5-6 4-6 14; MARTINEZ, Shayne 3-7 3-4 10; CARTER, Grequan 3-3 0-0 7; HERRON, Lamard 2-12 3-3 7; MORALES, James 2-5 0-0 5; McGOWAN, Matt 1-1 2-2 4; HEFELE, T.J. 1-4 0-0 3;
JOSEPH, Carrel 1-4 0-0 2; BURKE, Paul 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 24-56 14-19 67.
 
3-point goals--SUNY Oneonta 5-12 (DIGNAN, Jack 2-4; MAGER, Zach 2-4; MCELROY, Mikey 1-3; KELLY, Frankie 0-1), SUNY Cortland 5-23 (CARTER, Grequan 1-1; MORALES, James 1-4; MARTINEZ, Shayne 1-3; HEFELE, T.J. 1-2; ESTARFAA, Blair 1-4; BURKE, Paul 0-2; JOSEPH, Carrel 0-2; HERRON, Lamard 0-5).
Fouled out--SUNY Oneonta-None, SUNY Cortland-HERRON, Lamard.
Rebounds--SUNY Oneonta 31 (MCELROY, Mikey 6; COLEMAN, Lawrence 6), SUNY Cortland 36 (PRENDERGAST, Justin 10).
Assists--SUNY Oneonta 11 (KELLY, Frankie 6), SUNY Cortland 11 (PRENDERGAST, Justin 3).
Total fouls--SUNY Oneonta 15, SUNY Cortland 24.
Technical fouls--SUNY Oneonta-None, SUNY Cortland-None.
A-250