NORTON, MA - The Oneonta men's basketball team stumbled 69-61 at Wheaton (MA) on Saturday afternoon. Three Red Dragons scored in double digits as Oneonta falls to 3-2 overall, while the Lyons move to 4-3.

"We didn't play well. You have to give credit to Wheaton," said head coach Camerona Conover. "They played hard and really wore us down. We can learn a lot from this game and I look forwardto practice on Monday."

Wheaton took a 13-10 lead in the first following a layup from Dimetr Iafrate at 15:18. Junior Elijah Castillo (Bronx, NY/St. Raymonds) answered with an inside score. Then layups from junior Delano Knox (Poughkeepsie, NY/Arlington) and senior Zyeir Lawrence (Oneonta, NY/Oneonta) put the Red Dragons up by three.  

Markus Nordin drained a triple at 12:43 to tie at 16-16. The team traded baskets until Oneonta closed out the half with two unanswered baskets from Castillo and Lawrence made it 32-27 at the break.

The Lyons fought back to tie at 40-40. Wheaton's Herry Tristan knocked down a three-pointer at 13:54 to spur an 11-0 run before freshman Cam LaClair (Selkirk, NY/Bethlehem) scored inside to break the streak.

Eoin Morrissey hit a trey to push the Wheaton lead to 12 points with 7:06 left. Oneonta used a 6-0 run to pull within six, but back-to-back three from Tristan brought the Lyons' lead to 62-50. Sophomore Shea Barber (Wells Bridge, NY/Unatego) knocked down a three-pointer with 20 seconds left to cut the lead to five before Wheaton closed out on a 3-0 span.

Senior Xavier Hill (Johnson City, NY/Johnson City) recorded a double-double with 13 points and ten rebounds. Castillo added 13 points, four rebounds, a block, and a steal. LaClair netted a career-high 11 points with four rebounds. Senior Caleb Brown (Brooklyn, NY/Uncommon Charter) scored nine points.

Morrissey netted a game-high 22 points, while Iafrate had 16 points, six rebounds, six assists, and three steals. Herry scored 14 points with three boards.

Oneonta opens SUNYAC play at Oswego on Dec. 3 at 7:30 p.m.