VESTAL, N.Y. - The Oneonta men's basketball team opened the season on Thursday evening by facing Division I Binghamton in exhibition action. The Bearcats defeated the Red Dragons 82-63 to move to 1-1. The game counts as an exhibition for the Red Dragons and does not count toward the team's overall record. 

"The good news is that we know we can play better. Hopefully, we got all of our first game jitters out," said head coach Cameron Conover. "There are a lot of bright spots, and there is a great deal we can take away from this game. I am happy with the guys' effort and how hard we competed to the very end."

Binghamton jumped out to a 7-0 lead to open the first half with inside scores from Tymu Chenery and Jayden Lemond. Senior Xavier Hill (Johnson City, NY/Johnson City) put the Red Dragons on the board with a mid-range jumper, and junior Elijah Castillo (Bronx, NY/St. Raymonds) knocked down a shot to cut the lead to 8-4. The Bearcats used a 7-0 run to take a double-digit lead and eventually led by 16 following a Nehemiah Benson layup with 13:17 left in the half.

The Binghamton lead continued to grow, with Benson converting an and-one to make it 32-11. Freshman Sam Booth (Niskayuna, NY/Niskayuna) split free throws, and Castillo scored inside to cut the lead to 32-14. With five minutes remaining, senior Zyeir Lawrence (Oneonta, NY/Oneonta) threw down a one-handed dunk off a pass from senior Caleb Brown (Brooklyn, NY/Uncommon Charter). Lawrence followed with a mid-range shot to cut he lead to 15 points. The Bearcats closed the half on a 9-2 span to lead 42-20 at the break.

Oneonta outscored Binghamton 43-40 in the second half, but the lead was too much to surmount. The Red Dragons used a 7-0 with back-to-back layups from freshman Cam LaClair (Selkirk, NY/Bethlehem) to make it 72-38. After Ben Callahan-Gold converted a layup with two minutes left, Oneonta closed out the half on a 13-0 run to end the game.

Lawrence finished with a team-high 18 points while shooting 8-for-13 with five rebounds. Castillo added 13 points, two assists, two steals, and two rebounds. LaClair added 13 points and shot 2-for-2 from three-point range. Hill tallied seven points and seven rebounds.

Binghamton's Callahan-Gold led all scorers with 21 points and four three-pointers. Benson had 18 points, six rebounds, and three steals. Gavin Welsh had nine points and eight rebounds.

Oneonta next plays at Division I UAlbany for an exhibition game on Sat. Nov. 9 at 7 p.m.