ORANGE, CA - The Oneonta men's basketball team went undefeated in California, defeating Chapman 65-54 on Friday evening. The Red Dragons have won four straight and move to 7-3 overall, while the Panthers go to 8-2.
"I am proud of our guys' effort tonight. They played extremely tough and worked hard all night on the defensive end," said head coach Cameron Conover. Chapman is a great team and is elite on the offensive end. Our guys made them work on every possession. To go 2-0 on this trip says a lot about our team that is continuing to improve."
The first half remained close, and Chapman took a 10-8 lead following a Jake Heberle layup at 15:17. Oneonta responded with a 4-0 run capped off with a dunk from senior Zyeir Lawrence (Oneonta, NY/Oneonta). Adam Damian drained a triple at 12:33 to retake the lead.
Neither side could pull away, but baskets from senior Xavier Hill (Johnson City, NY/Johnson City) and junior Delano Knox (Poughkeepsie, NY/Arlington) gave Oneonta an 18-15 lead. The Red Dragons pushed to a five-point lead following scores from Lawrence and junior Elijah Castillo (Bronx, NY/St. Raymonds). Chapman closed the half on a 6-0 run to lead 23-22 at the break.
The Panthers built their lead to 31-25 following a three-pointer from Cruz Billings before two quick baskets by Lawrence and Hill cut the score to 31-29. Chapman responded with another Henerle triple at 16:42, and Blakeley Stoughton gave the Panthers their largest lead after hitting a jumper to make it 36-29.
Oneonta fought back with a 6-0 run to cut the lead to one. The teams traded baskets until sophomore Kobe Long (Rochester, NY/McQuaid) scored inside at 7:02 to tie 46-46. After Chapman used a Tyler Dutto three to tie at 50-50, the junior Tyler Harts (Queens, NY/Sewanaka) scored inside to spur a 6-0 run with under two minutes remaining. Lawrence converted an and-one dunk and a final Harts fastbreak dunk competed the undefeated week.
Lawrence led the team with 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting, eight rebounds, two assists, and two blocks. Hill netted 14 points and five boards, while Castilo added 12 points, five rebounds, three assists, one block, and one steal.
Heberle led Chapman with 16 points, and Billings had eight. Murphy Caffo scored six points with ten rebounds.
Oneonta has a short break and returns to action at Canton for SUNYAC play on Jan. 7 at 7 p.m.
