A Quick Look
The SUNY Oneonta men's basketball team spent most of the past week in California culminating with a pair of contests versus Occidental and Chapman yesterday and today.  The Red Dragons came up short in both games falling 68-62 to Occidental and 59-52 to Chapman.  With the two setbacks, Oneonta enters the winter break with an overall record of 6-4.
 
The Inside Story
Yesterday afternoon, the Red Dragons gained control of the game early taking a 15-7 lead after seven minutes of play.  Sophomore Frankie Williams (Bronx, NY/Fannie Lou) converted a pair of free throws to push the lead to eight points.
 
Occidental clawed its way back to tie the score at 16 apiece on a made jumper by Jacob Lopez at the 8:18 mark.  The two teams spent the rest of the first half exchanging the lead with Oneonta holding a 28-27 advantage going into halftime.
 
Neither team could establish a bigger lead during the first 10 minutes of the second half.  Trailing 43-40, the hosts buried three consecutive treys on three straight possessions to take the lead for good.  With 6:36 remaining in the game, Occidental built a nine-point lead at 54-45 after a pair of free throws by Kyle Dosa.
 
Oneonta did not back down, putting together an 12-3 run to tie the score at 57-57 at the 2:51 mark.  Freshman Caleb Brown (Brooklyn, NY/Uncommon Charter) hit a three-pointer and Williams made 1-of-2 from the line.
 
Occidental reestablished its advantage with seven unanswered points over the next 1:50.  A pair of free throws by senior Daniel Derice (Tampa, FL/Wesley Chapel) brought Oneonta to within three points with 40 seconds to go, but the hosts made 3-of-4 free throws down the stretch to hold on for the victory.
 
Today's game nearly followed the same script as yesterday, as both teams battled closely throughout the 40 minutes.  The biggest difference in the contest ended up being bench points with the hosts outscoring the visitors 42-18.
 
Oneonta opened the game with the first seven points before Chapman countered with 11 unanswered to take the lead that they would not relinquish until early in the second half.  Chapman held a 25-22 advantage at halftime.
 
Oneonta stormed out of the break scoring the first 10 points of the second half to grab a 32-25 lead.  Senior Taylor Mason (Hughesville, PA/Hughesville) made a pair of layups early and Derice buried a three-pointer to cap the outburst.
 
Eight unanswered points by Chapman brought the game back to even at 39 apiece with just over 10 minutes remaining in the contest.
 
The game was tied three more times during the next seven minutes before an old fashioned three-point play by Nathan Williams broke the 47-47 tie at the 3:06 mark.  The three points jump-started a closing 12-5 run for the final margin of victory for the hosts.
 
Just the Stats
Derice landed in double figures in both games on the trip scoring 19 points yesterday and 11 more today.  He pulled down 12 rebounds including eight in yesterday's game.
 
Versus Occidental, Oneonta shot just under 44 percent overall.  In today's game, the Red Dragons collected 44 rebounds including 20 offensive rebounds.
 
What's Next
Oneonta will return to action on Friday, Jan. 7^th when they will be at Brockport.