The SUNY Oneonta men's basketball team picked up its second straight SUNYAC win tonight at home against Oswego 73-67.  Senior Lawrence Coleman (Croton on the Hudson/Hendrick Hudson) paced Oneonta (3-4, 2-1 SUNYAC) with 17 points and a game high 13 rebounds.
 
"We played really tough tonight," said coach Cameron Conover.  "It was a total team effort and a hard-fought win.  Defense wins in this league and it was our best defensive effort of the year.  Lawrence played his best game of the season.  He had eight offensive rebounds and made clutch free-throws down the stretch.  He also stepped in and drew a critical offensive foul that was huge!  That takes toughness."
 
The Red Dragons overcame a slow start to the contest before hitting its stride midway through the first half.  Oneonta connected on one of its first 10 shots, but kept Oswego from getting away from them trailing 6-1 after the first five minutes.
 
A layup from Coleman jump started the offense, as they put together a 15-6 spurt that gave them the lead for good with 7:48 to go in the first half.  Their six-point lead expanded to as many as 12 points and settled at 36-26 entering halftime.
 
Oneonta withstood surge after surge by Oswego (5-3, 1-1 SUNYAC) throughout the second half.  Each time the Lakers would cut into Oneonta's lead, the Red Dragons would push it back to double digits.
 
Oswego scored eight unanswered over a two-minute stretch late in the game to cut Oneonta's lead to 66-62 with 3:23 remaining.  Senior Brian Sortino led the charge in the second half and led the Lakers with 16 points in the game.
 
Down the stretch, Coleman was a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line ending his night 9-of-10 from the charity stripe.
 
Oneonta's advantage in tonight's contest came from long range making nine three-pointers including four by junior Dwayne Freeman (Schenectady/Notre-Dame Bishop Gibbons) who finished with 16 points.
 
Senior Mikey McElroy (Saratoga Springs/Saratoga Springs) rounded out Oneonta's double-digit scorers with 19 points on 8-of-17 shooting.
 
Seniors Ian Schupp (New Hampton/Goshen) and Mykelle Krecko joined Sortino in double figures for Oswego with 12 and 11 points respectively.
 
Oneonta will take to the road this weekend, as they head to New Paltz for a single game on Saturday night beginning at 5:30pm.