For the second straight day, with its playoff hopes on the line, the SUNY Oneonta men's basketball team rose to the occasion to pull off another thrilling victory.  Today it was an 81-77 win against Buffalo State that earned them the final SUNYAC tournament spot.  Oneonta (13-12, 10-8 SUNYAC) will now travel to Oswego on Tuesday night for its first round game beginning at 7pm.  The winner will travel to Plattsburgh on Friday night for the semifinals.  Plattsburgh earned the top spot after winning the regular season.
 
With the shot clock running down senior Frankie Kelly (Brewster/Kennedy Catholic) played hero again as he did last night with a driving layup to give Oneonta (13-12, 10-8 SUNYAC) a 79-77 lead with 27 seconds left in the contest.  Kelly would finish the game with seven points, nine assists and five boards.
 
On Buffalo State's (15-9, 11-7 SUNYAC) next possession, a Chris Cartwright jumper came up short and the Bengals fouled sophomore Lawrence Coleman (Croton on the Hudson/Hendrick Hudson) on the rebound.  Coleman made 1-of-2 from the line to give the Red Dragons an 80-77 lead with 10 seconds to go.
 
After an Oneonta timeout, Buffalo State advanced the ball to half court and called a timeout of its own.  Out of the timeout, the Bengals got the ball to senior Roderick Epps, who got off a three-pointer with a hand in his face.  The ball hit the front of the rim and ended up in the hands of senior Zach Mager (New City/Clarkstown South) with one second remaining.  Mager converted one of his two free throws to secure the win.
 
After exchanging the lead eight times during the first half, Oneonta took the lead for good at the 3:51 mark of the first half when junior Mikey McElroy (Saratoga Springs/Saratoga Springs) made a layup.  McElroy scored 10 of his game high 23 points in the opening half.
 
Joining McElroy in double figures today was Coleman, who had 16 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.  Senior Kareem Williams (Bronx/IN-Tech Academy) added 14 points and junior Jack Dignan (Brewster/Brewster) contributed 10 points off the bench.
 
Both teams had multiple 6-0 runs along with one 7-0 run each, as the play went end-to-end in the first half.  Oneonta shot 53 percent from the floor overall including 7-of-13 from long distance.  Epps led all scorers in the first half with 15 points and would finish the game with 22 points to lead the Bengals.
 
Oneonta finished the game shooting 54 percent while outrebounding the Bengals 46-34.
 
Senior Chris Thompson scored 14 points for the Bengals and Cartwright and Lovell Smith each added 12 points.
 
Prior to today's game, the men's basketball team presented the No. 4 jersey that was worn by former player and assistant coach, Terrence Parker, to his mother, father and step dad.  Parker died suddenly of a stroke last September after graduating in May.  The college is currently raising money to endow an EOP Scholarship in Terrence's name.  Anyone interested in contributing can contact the athletics department of men's basketball coach Vince Medici.
 
Newspaper Box Score
2/21/15 2:00pm at Oneonta, NY
SUNY ONEONTA 81, BUFFALO STATE 77
 
BUFFALO STATE (15-9,11-7 SUNYAC)
EPPS, Roderick 8-15 3-6 22; THOMPSON, Chris 5-15 4-5 14; SMITH, Lovell 6-11 0-1 12; CARTWRIGHT, Chris 3-12 4-5 12; GLOVER, Jordan 4-11 0-0 9; FERNANDEZ, Derrick 3-4 1-1 7; RIVERS, Larry 0-4 1-2 1; WILLIAMS, Akeem 0-0 0-0 0; JORDAN, Rey 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-72 13-20 77.
 
SUNY ONEONTA (13-12,10-8SUNYAC)
MCELROY, Mikey 9-13 4-6 23; COLEMAN, Lawrence 5-9 5-9 16; WILLIAMS, Kareem 5-6 4-9 14; DIGNAN, Jack 4-5 0-0 10; MAGER, Zach 3-10 1-2 9; KELLY, Frankie 3-7 0-1 7; ZUVIC, Jackson 1-3 0-0 2; MEDINA, Eulogio 0-2 0-0 0; MASSARONI, Grant 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 30-56 14-27 81.
 
3-point goals--Buffalo State 6-18 (EPPS, Roderick 3-5; CARTWRIGHT, Chris 2-9; GLOVER, Jordan 1-4), SUNY Oneonta 7-16 (MAGER, Zach 2-7; DIGNAN, Jack 2-3; MCELROY, Mikey 1-2; KELLY, Frankie 1-1; COLEMAN, Lawrence 1-1; MEDINA, Eulogio 0-1; ZUVIC, Jackson 0-1).
Fouled out--Buffalo State-THOMPSON, Chris, SUNY Oneonta-DIGNAN, Jack.
Rebounds--Buffalo State 34 (THOMPSON, Chris 9), SUNY Oneonta 46 (COLEMAN, Lawrence 10).
Assists--Buffalo State 15 (FERNANDEZ, Derrick 6), SUNY Oneonta 21 (KELLY, Frankie 9).
Total fouls--Buffalo State 24, SUNY Oneonta 20.
Technical fouls—Buffalo State-None, SUNY Oneonta-None.
A-217