For a stretch of about 15 minutes that spanned both halves today, the SUNY Oneonta men's basketball team completely dominated the visiting Potsdam Bears enroute to a lopsided 93-60 victory.  In a win-and-get-in scenario, the Red Dragons left no doubt raining threes from everywhere, to clinch a SUNYAC tournament spot.  Oneonta (15-10, 10-8 SUNYAC) earned the No. 5 seed and will travel to No. 4 seed and rival SUNY Cortland on Tuesday night for the first round.  Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30pm.
 
"It's great to still be playing," said Head Coach Cameron Conover.  "We had to win five straight games to make the playoffs and our guys were determined to do whatever it took."
 
Three weeks ago, the Red Dragons were on the outside looking in for a playoff spot sitting at 3-7 in the conference.  All the Red Dragons did was run off five straight and seven of eight including wins against three regionally ranked opponents.
 
Conover continued, "We always tell our guys to play for each other and right now we are epitomizing that.  Our lone senior AC Kirkwood came to me at halftime and gave up his starting spot and requested that his teammate Ian Schultz (Clifton Park, NY/CBA) start in his place in the second half."
 
Oneonta posted a season high 61 points in the second half where they were shooting over 80 percent for most of the first 10 minutes.  The Red Dragons finished the second half shooting 67 percent that included 9-of-15 from behind the arc.  During a stretch that started in the first half, the Red Dragons connected on 9-of-10 from long range as part of a 32-7 run that completely demoralized the Bears.
 
Leading the charge in the second half was the sophomore duo of Andres Rivera (Bronx, NY/Walton) and Joseph Bull (Bronx, NY/Mount St. Michael Academy) who combined to score 37 points in the final stanza.  Rivera was the top scorer in the game with 25 points including 20 in the second half.  Bull scored all 17 of his points in the closing twenty minutes connecting on 4-of-6 from behind the arc.
 
The Red Dragons made a season high 14 threes today on 30 attempts for 47 percent.  The reserves played another big role in today's win outscoring Potsdam's bench 35-28.  Leading the Oneonta reserves was freshman Dylan Trombley (Moriah, NY/Moriah) who scored 15 points that included 5-of-9 from long range.
 
After Potsdam scored the opening bucket of the game, Oneonta ran off nine unanswered and never looked back.  A layup by Jayquan Thomas at the 6:13 mark brought the Bears back to within one point before seven straight points by Oneonta pushed its lead back to eight points less than two minutes later.  The Red Dragons maintained its pace over the final five minutes taking a 32-25 lead into halftime.
 
"Tonight, was once again a total team effort.  I enjoy coaching these men and I look forward to seeing them at practice Monday," concluded Conover.