FREDONIA, N.Y. - After trailing three in the final minute of the second half, freshman Cam LaClair (Selkirk, NY/Bethlehem) drained a three-pointer to force overtime against Fredonia on Friday evening. The Red Dragons hung on for the 83-79 victory and move to 11-8 overall and 6-6 in the SUNYAC. The Blue Devils fall to 5-12 and 3-7 in the conference.
"Any win is a good win," said head coach Cameron Conover. "We turned the ball over way too much and went down by ten points, but our guys didn't flinch. We kept fighting and got back to doing the things that worked in the first half. Our guys were tough and found a win to win in overtime."
Oneonta held a narrow lead in the first half until Fredonia's Brandon Kulakowski hit a triple at 16:14 to go up 11-10. Back-to-back threes from sophomore Kobe Long (Rochester, NY/McQuaid) gave Oneonta an 18-12 lead, but the Blue Devils fought back to tie 20-20. A LaClair layup and an alley-oop from Long to senior Zyeir Lawrence (Oneonta, NY/Oneonta) put the Red Dragons up by four with 7:34 left in the first half. Fredonia pulled within two in the final minute following a Tyresse Fuller layup to make it 34-32 heading into the break.
Senior Caleb Brown (Brooklyn, NY/Uncommon Charter) extended Oneonta's lead to five following two consecutive baskets. He scored inside at 16:04 to start a 7-0 run, during which the Red Dragons took their largest lead, nine points. Fredonia answered with a 10-0 run to take a 49-48 advantage, and the team traded leads until an Amir Ross triple pushed Fredonia up 57-52.
The Blue Devils built up to a 68-58 lead following a trey from Brandon Kulakowski at 5:53. LaClair hit a triple at 5:14 to start a 9-0 span to retake the lead at 68-67. Lamar Lovelace scored a jumper at 1:30 to give Fredonia a 70-67 before LaClair's game-tying triple forced overtime.
Junior Tyler Harts (Queens, NY/Sewanaka) scored first in extra time before Fredonia knocked down three-pointers from Malik Jemison and Kulaskowski to go up 76-72. Long responded with a three at 3:20 to cut the lead to one. Layups from LaClair and Long gave Oneonta an 80-76 lead. Fredonia hit one more three, but Oneotna closed out with three free throws from junior Elijah Castillo (Bronx, NY/St. Raymonds) to win by four.
Long scored 23 points with four assists, while LaClair picked up his second straight double-double with 18 points and ten boards. Castillo added 16 points, five rebounds, and two assists. Brown had seven points with four steals.
Jemison led Fredonia behind 17 points, while Kulakowski had 4 points, five rebounds, and two steals.
Oneonta is back on the road to face Buffalo State on Sat. Feb. 1 at 4 p.m.
