ONEONTA, N.Y. - In its final regular-season home game, the Oneonta men's basketball team earned a 78-55 win over New Paltz on Friday evening in Dewar Arena. The Red Dragons' defense held the Hawks to 37.3 shooting from the field and limited New Paltz to 26 points in the second half. Oneonta wins its third straight game and moves to 15-8 overall and 13-3 in the SUNYAC, while New Paltz falls to 11-12 and 9-7 in the conference.

"I thought we played tough defense tonight," said head coach Cameron Conover. "We are happy with the win, but we still have a lot to work on. We will get back to work next week."

Baskets from Trevor Amalfitano and Lamar Matthews gave the Hawks an 11-6 lead early in the first half. Junior Hobson Herlihy (Lawrence, KS/Lawrence) knocked down a triple at 15:52, and a layup from sophomore Cam LaClair (Selkirk, NY/Bethlehem) tied 11-11. New Paltz used a 4-0 span before threes from Herlihy and senior Delano Knox (Poughkeepsie, NY/Arlington) put Oneonta ahead by two points. Sophomore Pat Evans (Staten Island, NY/Xaverian) drained a three-pointer at 10:53, and four straight Herlihy points pushed the Red Dragons ahead by seven.

New Paltz fought back with scores from Isaiah Rivera and Oumar Sy to cut the lead to 24-21. Sophomore Nate Cohen (Somers, NY/Somers) hit a mid-range jumper at 7:19, and Knox scored inside to make it 30-26. Junior Nicholas Cortez (Harlem, NY/Forest Hills) sank a trey at 3:08 to start a 7-0 run to put the Red Dragons ahead 37-28. A final basket from junior Ibrahim Wally (Brooklyn, NY/East NY Family Academy) at the buzzer made it 39-29 at the break.

LaClair converted an and-one to push the Oneonta lead to 13 points. Herlihy hit a three-pointer at 14:48 to extend the lead to 53-35. The Red Dragons' lead continued to grow and hit 20 points following an inside score from Knox at 10:57. Oneonta led by as much as 27 points in the second half to secure the victory.

Knox recorded a double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds on 7-of-11 shooting. LaClair added 13 points, nine rebounds, three assists, and three steals. Herlihy had 13 points on 3-of-3 shooting for triples and had five boards. Sophomore Sam Booth (Niskayuna, NY/Niskayuna) netted nine points while Cohen had eight.

Thomas Keane led New Paltz with 15 points, and Rivera scored 13. Mo Sylla netted six points with nine boards.

Oneonta currently sits third in the SUNYAC standings and next heads to face Potsdam on Friday, February 20, at 7:30 p.m.