ONEONTA, N.Y. - The Oneonta men's basketball team hit a single-game program record with 17 made three-pointers in the 103-57 win over Hartwick on Tuesday evening. The Red Dragons have now claimed the "Battle of the Hills" title for the sixth year in a row and move to 1-0 on the season. The Hawks fall to 0-3 with the loss. Junior Nate Cohen (Somers, NY/Somers) netted a career-high 29 points and tied the Oneonta program record with nine made triples.
"I thought our guys came out with a great defensive focus and did a good job of making them work on offense," said head coach Cameron Conover. "Obviously we shot the ball well on the other end, but I was more impressed by how we shared the ball."
After junior Pat Evans (Staten Island, NY/Xaverian) drained the opening three-pointer, the Red Dragons jumped out to a 9-0 lead. Hartwick pulled within six following Malachi Polson free throws, but baskets from sophomores Kaden Gonzalez (Yorktown, NY/Yorktown) and Carlos Almanzar (Brooklyn, NY/John Jay Campus) gave Oneonta an early double-digit advantage. Cohen knocked down a three at 12:42 to push ahead 17-4, but Hartwick's Brady Carr responded with a triple. Another Cohen three made it 20-7 before a 5-0 Hartwick run brought the score within single digits.
Cohen added another three at 10:18 to push the lead to 11, and Oneonta began to pull away. Junior Sam Booth (Niskayuna, NY/Niskayuna) netted 10 straight Oneonta points to make it 33-16, and hit a three-pointer at 3:06 to take a 21-point lead. Cohen hit a three with 17 seconds left to make it 46-22 heading into halftime.
Oneonta did it again in the second half, with back-to-back three-pointers from Cohen and Booth to take a 54-26 lead. Cohen drained a triple at 13:25 to spur a 7-0 run, with four points coming from Gonzalez.
The Red Dragons led by 40 points after an Almanzar tip-in and a jumper from Gonzalez at 7:32. Oneonta topped 100 points with a layup from sophomore Deion Mitchell-Murray (New York, NY/Greenburgh-North Castle), and freshman Isaiah Leveille (Blauvelt, NY/Tappan Zee) set the threes record with a final triple.
Cohen finished with a double-double with 29 points and 11 boards while shooting 10-of-16 from the field and 9-of-14 from three-point range. Booth added a double-double with 19 points and 13 rebounds. Gonzalez had a career-high 14 points and six assists off the bench.
The Red Dragons shot 56.2 percent from the field and 48.6 percent from three-point range. Oneonta held a 48-23 rebounding advantage and made 18 assists.
Polson led Hartwick with 13 points, while TJ Etienne had seven.
The Hawks were held to 35.1 percent shooting.
"It's a good way to start the year, but it's a long season, and we have to get back to work tomorrow and get ready for two tough games this weekend," finished Conover.
Oneonta next hosts the Michael A. Freilich Tournament from November 14-15 and first plays St. Joseph's-Long Island on Saturday at 5 p.m.
