NEW YORK, N.Y. - The Oneonta men's basketball team returned to the court for the first time since Dec. 5 and defeated SUNY Maritime 81-51 in the NYU Holiday Tournament opening round on Friday afternoon. The Red Dragons move to 3-5 overall, while the Privateers go to 7-3. 

Maritime got on the board first, following a three-pointer from Tyler Anderson. Oneonta answered with a 5-0 run with four straight points from sophomore Elijah Castillo (Bronx, NY/St. Raymonds). A layup from Maritime's Aleksandar Begovic tied 5-5.

Junior Caleb Brown (Brooklyn, NY/Uncommon Charter) netted a fast break layup off a Castillo pass to spark a 7-0 Oneonta run, and the Red Dragons went up 12-5. Two consecutive baskets from Jake Murphy pulled the Privateers within three until junior Xavier Hill (Johnson City, NY/Johnson City) netted a basket at 11:11. 

Oneonta continued to hold a single-digit lead, and Maritime came as close as two points. However, the Red Dragons held off any runs. 

With Oneonta up 21-18, Brown netted four unanswered points to start an 11-0 span to go ahead by 15. Maritime made a three from Theo Noble, but Oneonta held a 35-22 lead at halftime. 

The Red Dragons extended their lead to 14 early in the second before the Privateers cut the lead to five at 16:20. Castillo converted inside. Then Hill sank a triple at 15:34 to put Oneonta ahead by double-digits again. After Maritime cut the lead to 48-41, Oneonta went on a 10-2 run capped off with a fast break dunk from Daniel Penubothula (Valley Stream, NY/Valley Stream Central) to take a 16-point lead. Penubothula hit a three at 7:22, and sophomore Ahmed Toure (Bronx, NY/All Hallows) scored inside to make it 63-44. The Red Dragons led by as much as 31 as they held on for the victory. 

Castillo led four Red Dragons in double-figures with 16 points. Hill notched 12 points and eight rebounds, and Penubothula contributed 12 points of his own. Brown tallied 11 points and five boards for Onenonta, which held a 39-31 edge on the glass. The Red Dragons were 30-for-59 (50.8 percent) from the field, 2-for-11 (18.2 percent) from downtown, and 19-for-23 (82.6 percent) at the charity stripe. 

Murphy led Maritime with 14 points and three assists. Noble added 12 points, while Begovic scored six points with nine rebounds. The Privateers were 19-of-56 from the field (33.9 percent) and 7-of-25 from three-point range (28.0 percent).

Oneonta now plays No. 9 NYU in the championship game on Sat. Dec. 30 at 3 p.m.