HOBOKEN, N.J. - After trailing by six at halftime, the Oneonta men's basketball team fought back in the second but could not pull ahead in the final seconds and fell 80-78 to Dickinson on Friday afternoon. With the loss, Oneonta falls to 8-3 overall, while Dickinson moves to 2-8.

"It was a tough loss today. We have to get better in several areas and giving up 80 points is not going to cut it," said head coach Cameron Conover. "Give Dickinson credit, they played harder than us. We battled back, but still didn't make the necessary plays." 

After two minutes of neither side scoring, Oneonta used a 7-0 run with a Daniel Derice (Tampa, FL/Wesley Chapel) triple and dunk to take an early lead. The Red Dragons held a five-point lead until the Red Devils' Anthony Goeb hit a three-pointer at 15:09 and followed with a layup the next possession. Tyler Harts (Queens, NY/Sewanaka) and Ryan Teaney (Schenectady, NY/Guilderland) answered with a pair of layups to give Oneonta a 12-8 lead, and then Michael Ortale Jr. (Delmar, NY/Bethlehem Central) sank a three at 8:55 to push the advantage to five points.

Dickinson responded with a 10-0 run capped off with a trey from Andrew Gostovich at 6:55 to make it 21-16. Two jumpers from Joseph Bull (Bronx, NY/Mount St. Michael Academy) within 20 seconds cut the lead to two, but Red Devils' three-pointers by Skyler Venezia and Martin Mann made it 30-25. The solid long-range shooting continued for Dickinson, with Venezia sinking back-to-back triples to push the lead to ten. Oneonta netted the final two baskets of the half, with Graham Wooden (Oneonta, NY/Oneonta) and Delano Knox (Poughkeepsie, NY/Arlington) scoring to make it 39-33 at the break.

The Red Devils struck first in the second half, with Gostovich hitting a triple at 19:49, and went ahead by 11 following a Drew Haueisen jumper at 15:35. Bull hit a three off a Caleb Brown (Brooklyn, NY/Uncommon Charter) assist and then converted a pair of free throws to make it 50-44. The Red Devils went on another run to pull away until the 9:22 mark. A 5-0 Oneonta run to cut the lead to two points, and the Red Dragons remained within striking distance from there. Wooden was fouled at 4:05 and hit a pair of free throws to tie at 73-73. Dickinson took a five-point lead at 1:46 before Bull scored on free throws. Derice then hit a three-pointer with 57 seconds left, putting the score 78-78. The Red Dragons fouled in the final minute, and Goeb hit two free throws to give Dickinson the win. 

Bull led Oneonta with 25 points and nine rebounds, while Derice scored 16 points and grabbed seven boards. Ortale added 13 points, seven rebounds, and five assists. 

Martin Mann finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds, while Gostovich scored 15 points with five three-pointers. 

"The good news is there is a lot of room for improvement. I will make sure we work on these things in practice and will emphasize the details that go into winning games," continued Conover. "Aside from these two losses, this was a great experience for our guys and I know they will be hungry to get to work next week."

Oneonta returns to SUNYAC play next weekend when they travel to New Paltz on Sat. Jan. 7 at 4 p.m. Read Full Article