ONEONTA, N.Y. - Seniors Xavier Hill (Johnson City, NY/Johnson City) and Zyeir Lawrence (Oneonta, NY/Oneonta) recorded double-doubles in the Oneonta men's basketball team's 86-81 win over Westfield State in the Michael A. Freilich Memorial Tip-off Tournament Championship game. The Red Dragons move to 3-0 overall, while the Owls fall to 3-2.
"That was a hard-fought win. Westfield has some outstanding players, and they sped us up in the first half," said head coach Cameron Conover. "We challenged our guys at halftime, and they responded great."
The action started close, and a made jump shot from Westfield's Lid Moreland tied 11-11 at 13:54. Moreland scored again on a fastbreak to take the lead, but Oneonta responded with scores from Hill and junior Elijah Castillo (Bronx, NY/St. Raymonds) gave Oneonta a slight lead. Both teams traded baskets until junior Delano Knox (Poughkeepsie, NY/Arlington) tied the game 28-28 with 3:36 left in the half. The Owls used a 7-0 run to take a 37-30 lead. Knox cut the lead to five after a pair of free throws, but Kobe Parker hit a jumper to push the lead to seven points. Angel Price-Espada stole the ball on the final Oneonta possession and scored the buzzer-beater to make it 44-35 at the half.
Westfield maintained a slight lead in the second half, leading 56-49 with 12:22 left. A 6-0 Red Dragons' run with two baskets from Knox cut the lead to one. Castillo converted an and-one to retake the lead at 59-58. The scoring heated up in the final five minutes as Westfield took a four-point lead following three points by Kenney Rogers. After a pair of Owls' free throws, Oneonta went on a 7-0 run to go up 81-76 with 36 seconds remaining. Moreland hit a three-pointer with 14 seconds left to regain a one-point lead. The Red Dragons capitalized on hitting free throws in the winding seconds.
Lawrence led the team with 24 points and 12 rebounds. Hill added 21 points, 12 rebounds, and four assists, while Castillo scored 18. Knox finished with 15 points, seven rebounds, and four assists.
Rogers scored 22 points for the Owls, and Moreland had 19 points and four steals. Price-Espada tacked on 18 points and three steals.
Oneonta next hosts No. 25 Williams on Wed. Nov. 20 at 7 p.m.
