The SUNY Oneonta men's basketball team seized control of tonight's contest with Buffalo State in the first four minutes of the second half en route to a 103-85 victory in SUNYAC men's action.  The two squads were deadlocked at 44 apiece after the first twenty minutes before the Red Dragons stormed out of the locker room with a 14-3 spurt and never looked back.
 
"This is a great team win against a very good Buffalo State team," commented Head Coach Cameron Conover.  "Our guys really played tough tonight.  It was a great collective effort and everyone did their job and made tough winning plays."
 
The senior duo of Mikey McElroy (Saratoga Springs/Saratoga Springs) and Lawrence Coleman (Croton on the Hudson/Hendrick Hudson) combined for 57 points and 21 of 27 from the floor.  As a team, Oneonta (12-8, 9-4 SUNYAC) shot 69.6 percent (39-56), which established a single game record for the program with a minimum of 50 attempts.  The Red Dragons registered 66 points in the paint many of which came on transition layups.
 
Graduate student Frankie Kelly (Brewster/Kennedy Catholic) recorded his third straight double-double with 18 points and a career high 14 assists.  The 14 dimes also tied the program record for a single game while also giving Kelly 495 career assists.
 
After falling behind early 4-0, Oneonta put together a 10-2 run to grab at 10-6 lead.  The Red Dragons continued to lead until Buffalo State battled back to take a 17-16 lead on a J.O. Smith steal and layup.
 
Bengal senior Lovell Smith, who had 29 of his game high 42 points in the first half, began to assert himself scoring eight straight points to help the visitors grab a 27-21 lead with 8:42 remaining in the opening half.
 
A 9-0 run over a four-minute stretch gave Oneonta the lead back at 34-31.  The run was capped by an authoritative dunk by senior Jack Kolosky (Fishkill/Our Lady of Lourdes).
 
Over the final three minutes of the first half, the two teams matched shot for shot until three free throws by Dom Grayer knotted the score heading into the intermission.
 
The lead for Oneonta never fell under 10 points once they gained it and had it up to as many as 20 points with 22 seconds to go in the game.
 
The Red Dragons outrebounded the Bengals 36-31 led by Kolosky's nine boards.  Oneonta also blocked seven shots and collected six steals.
 
The Red Dragons will play Fredonia tomorrow afternoon at 2pm in the Dewar Arena of the Alumni Field House.