ONEONTA, N.Y. - Sophomore Javen Flowers-Smith (Atlanta, GA/Pembroke Pines Charter) scored a game-high 23 points to lead the Oneonta men's basketball team to a 91-53 season-opening win over Hartwick on Wednesday afternoon. The Red Dragons led by double-digits at the half and never looked back to move to 1-0 overall. Flowers-Smith was also named the 2nd Annual Michael A. Freilich Game MVP. 

"I am really proud of how our guys came out tonight," said head coach Cameron Conover. "We challenged our team to have a defensive mindset, and that's exactly what they did. We showed great improvement from our scrimmage, and I know our guys are eager to get back to work tomorrow." And what crowd we had tonight. It was great seeing all the students and community support us. We must have had over 2,000 people there tonight. Hopefully, they enjoyed the game and will come back and support us this weekend.

After a slow start, Flowers-Smith netted his first basket as a Red Dragon by draining a triple at 18:48 from a pass from junior Caleb Brown (Brooklyn, NY/Uncommon Charter) to go up 3-0. The fans gave the Red Dragons some energy, and Oneonta took a 7-0 lead before Hartwick's Jeremiah Boateng converted an inside layup at 16:32. Another Flowers-Smith triple pushed the Oneonta lead to 10-2. 

"What crowd we had tonight. It was great seeing all the students and community support us," continued Convover. "We must have had over 2,000 people there tonight. Hopefully, they enjoyed the game and will come back and support us this weekend for the Michael A. Freilich Classic."

The Hawks responded with a 10-0 run to take a two-point lead at 12:20, but that was their only lead of the night. Junior Xavier Hill (Johnson City, NY/Johnson City) and sophomore Elijah Castillo (Bronx, NY/St. Raymonds) scored inside, and then a Hill three-pointer at 11:09 pushed Oneonta ahead 17-12. Tarrell Cumberbatch cut the Oneonta lead to three, but the Red Dragons pulled away afterward with 13 unanswered points to lead 32-15 with under five minutes in the half. Freshman Elijah Morris (Mount Vernon, NY/Mount Vernon) drained a three at 3:29, and Graham Wooden (Oneonta, NY/Oneonta) found first-year Daniel Penubothula (Valley Stream, NY/Valley Stream Central) for a commanding dunk to push Oneonta up by 17. Another dunk from Penubothula made it 41-20 as the Red Dragons closed out the half on a 9-1 run. 

Oneonta kept the defensive pressure up in the second half and eventually led by as much as 43 points. Hill sank a three at 9:25 to make it 72-38, and then Wooden followed with an and-one. The Red Dragons took its largest lead following scores from Luke De Gannes (Burlington, Ontario/Tennessee Prep) and Ryan Teaney (Schenectady, NY/Guilderland). Senior Seidina Doukoure (Bronx, NY/The MacDuffie School) hit a three at 3:50 to make it 88-46 as Oneonta cruised to the finish line. 

Flowers Smith shot 8-of-19 from the field and 4-for-8 from three-point range. Hill added 15 points on three triples. Wooden scored eight with seven rebounds and three assists. Brown played both sides, scoring eight points with eight rebounds, three assists, and two blocks. 

Hartwick's Jaden Carter and Jeremiah Boateng added seven points each, while Cumberbatch grabbed a game-high ten rebounds. 

Oneonta returns to host the Michael A. Freilich Classic on Sat. Nov. 6. The Red Dragons host Yeshiva at 8 p.m. in Dewar Arena. Oneonta then hosts No. 3 John Carroll on Sun. Nov. 12 at 3 p.m.