ONEONTA, N.Y. - After trailing by one at the half, the Oneonta men's basketball team outscored Potsdam 46-29 in the second half to secure a 78-62 victory on Friday evening. The Red Dragons pick up their fifth straight win and move to 13-8 overall and 8-6 in the SUNYAC, while the Bears fall to 4-16 and 4-9 in the conference.

"I thought our guys responded in the second half. We had great focus on defense and were committed on that end of the floor," said head coach Cameron Conover. "It's another good win, and now we have to focus on tomorrow's game."

Oneonta took control early with back-to-back threes from freshman Cam LaClair (Selkirk, NY/Bethlehem) and sophomore Kobe Long (Rochester, NY/McQuaid) to go ahead 13-6. Long drained another triple at 13:35 to extend the Oneonta lead to ten. A 6-0 Bears' run with four points coming from Mohammad Sylla (Bronx, NY/Darrow) cut the lead to 21-19, but junior Delano Knox (Poughkeepsie, NY/Arlington) responded with four consecutive points to take a six-point lead.

After Long scored inside at 2:08, Oneonta led 32-26. Potsdam closed out the final minute on a 7-0 run, with Nicholas Cortez hitting a buzzer-beater to take its first lead at 33-32 at the break.

Threes from Sylla and Cortez gave the Bears a 39-34 advantage at 18:22. Oneonta responded with a 17-0 run, with nine points coming from junior Elijah Castillo (Bronx, NY/St. Raymonds) to go up 52-39. A Castillo steal and fastbreak layup gave Oneonta a 56-42 lead. Potsdam pulled within ten following a Mike Hancock layup at 5:40, but the Red Dragons continued to have an answer. Another four points from Knox pushed Oneonta ahead 64-48 before a Cortez triple at 3:56.

The Red Dragons converted its free throws in the final minutes, with Oneonta converting 21-of-29 free throws in the second half.

Long led Oneonta with 25 points, four assists, three rebounds, and two steals. Castillo scored 22 points and grabbed two steals, while Knox had a double-double with 16 points and 12 boards. LaClair finished with eight points and 13 rebounds, while senior Caleb Brown (Brooklyn, NY/Uncommon Charter) had seven boards.

Sylla had 24 points, 12 rebounds, and two steals, while Cortez had 15 points and three steals.

The Red Dragons defense held the Bears to just 9-of-33 (27.2 percent) from the field in the second half.

Oneonta next hosts Plattsburgh on Sat. Feb. 8 at 4 p.m.