ONEONTA, N.Y. - No team led by more than ten, but it was visiting No. 25 Williams coming out with the 74-69 win over the Oneonta men's basketball team on Wednesday evening. The Red Dragons suffer their first loss of the season and go to 3-1 overall, while the Ephs move to 2-0.
"Our guys played hard. Williams is a great team, and they shot the ball well," said head coach Cameron Conover. The loss hurts; however, we realize how hard it is to win a college basketball game, and we will return to work tomorrow."
The Red Dragons got out to a hot start, with senior Xavier Hill (Johnson City, NY/Johnson City) draining a three-pointer to take a 7-2 lead. After a pair of free throws from senior Zyeir Lawrence (Oneonta, NY/Oneonta), Williams went on an 8-0 run to take a four-point lead. The Ephs held the lead for the remainder of the game but never led by more than nine points.
After senior Caleb Brown (Brooklyn, NY/Uncommon Charter) scored inside off a Tyler Harts (Queens, NY/Sewanaka) assist, Hudson Hansen hit a mid-range jumper to give Williams a 23-15 lead. The teams traded baskets until senior Christian Rogers (New Rochelle, NY/New Rochelle) hit a baseline jump shot to cut the advantage to 27-21. A slight scoring drought followed until Noah Dinkins scored inside to put the Ephs ahead by nine with under two minutes to play. Junior Elijah Castillo (Bronx, NY/St. Raymonds) converted a pair of free throws in the final seconds to make it 34-27 heading into the break.
Senior Xavier Hill (Johnson City, NY/Johnson City) netted an inside basket, and Lawrence followed with a three-pointer to cut the Williams' lead to 36-32. The Ephs responded and built back up to an eight-point lead after back-to-back triples from Aidan Yates. Castillo scored inside, and Brown stole a pass from Alex Lee, leading to a score to make it 48-43.
Baskets from Lawrence and junior Delano Knox (Poughkeepsie, NY/Arlington) brought the score within two at 7:43, but an 8-0 Ephs' run brought the lead to 67-57. Castillo hit two consecutive shots to cut the lead to six, and Knox's free throws brought it to 67-63 with 3:01 remaining. Alex Lee hit a clutch three with under a minute to take a 72-68 lead as Oneonta ran out of time.
Hill led Oneonta with 21 points and six rebounds, while Castillo had 15 points, four rebounds, and two assists. Lawrence finished with 13 points, six boards, and two steals, while Knox had 10 points and three rebounds.
Hansen led all scorers with 23 points and added five rebounds with four assists. Lee had 13 points, and Yates had 10 points on three triples.
Oneonta next travels to face Wheaton on Sat. Nov. 23 at 4 p.m.
