A Quick Look
The SUNY Oneonta men's basketball team outscored its rival SUNY Cortland 10-4 over the final 3:40 today to take round 1 of the "Battle of the Red Dragons" 76-70.  The two squads will play again in two weeks in Oneonta.  The win for Oneonta brings its overall record to 12-7 and 8-4 in the SUNYAC while Cortland falls to 7-10 overall and 3-7 in the conference.
 
"Today was a great bounce back win," said Head Coach Cameron Conover.  "Our guys came out with a much better effort on defense.  I thought our team was focused for 40 minutes and stayed together and earned a hard-fought victory."
 
The Inside Story
With the score knotted at 66 apiece, senior Daniel Derice (Tampa, FL/Wesley Chapel) made a pair of free throws to give Oneonta a momentary lead, as AJ Lawton connected from behind the arc to give Cortland its last lead at 69-68 with 3:07 left to go.  Down the stretch, Cortland would go cold while Oneonta made the most of its opportunities to pull out the victory.
 
The two squads battled closely throughout the opening 20 minutes of play until a late surge by Oneonta gave them a halftime lead.  There was a total of four ties and four lead changes in the first half with the last lead change coming on a pair of free throws by senior Sean Nolan (Voorheesville, NY/Voorheesville) to give Oneonta a 30-29 advantage.  Oneonta would close the half with a 14-4 burst to open an 11-point lead of 44-33 heading into the break.
 
Oneonta held the lead throughout the better part of the second half before Cortland made a run to tie the game at 60 apiece on a Riley McEvoy three-pointer at the 5:49 mark.The two teams exchanged the lead a couple more times before the final tie at 66-66 with 3:40 remaining.
 
Just the Stats
Oneonta controlled the backboard today to the tune of a 49-28 advantage.  Oneonta grabbed 13 offensive rebounds that led to many of its 44 total points in the paint.
 
Five players scored in double figures for Oneonta led by junior Dylan Trombley's (Moriah, NY/Moriah) 18 points.  Derice finished with 16 points, Nolan added 15 points, sophomore Dylan Craft (Hyde Park, NY/Franklin D. Roosevelt) contributed 12 points and junior Michael Ortale Jr. (Bethlehem, NY/Bethlehem Central) posted 11 points.
 
Trombley and Derice led Oneonta with eight boards apiece while Nolan, Craft and Ortale Jr. each pulled down seven rebounds.
 
What's Next
Oneonta will be on the road for one final weekend when they journey West to face Buffalo State and Fredonia next weekend.