PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. - The Oneonta men's basketball team clinched the No. 2 seed in the SUNYAC Tournament with a 92-77 win over Plattsburgh on Saturday afternoon. Cortland earned the No. 1 seed and hosts the final four. With the win, Oneonta closes the regular season at 17-8 overall and 15-3 in the SUNYAC. The Cardinals earn the No. 5 seed at 12-12 overall and 9-9 in the conference.
"We will take the win. Plattsburgh shot really well tonight, and we had to work hard to get the win," said head coach Cameron Conover. "We earned the two seed, and we will get some needed rest and recovery this week to be ready for Friday's game."
After Plattsburgh took an 8-5 lead in the first, junior Hobson Herlihy (Lawrence, KS/Lawrence) knocked down a three at 15:43 to tie. Sophomore Nate Cohen (Somers, NY/Somers) drained a triple at 14:14 to start a 7-0 Red Dragons' run to take a five-point lead. Plattsburgh answered with a three from David McKnight, Jr., but Cohen sank another triple at 12:12 to hold an 18-13 advantage. A third Cohen three-pointer at 10:41 pushed the lead to four, and he then converted an and-one to take a 24-17 lead.
Colin Hartig netted a trey at 8:44 to start a 7-0 run to tie 24-24. The teams traded baskets until threes from Cohen and sophomore Pat Evans (Staten Island, NY/Xaverian) put the Red Dragons back up by five.
A dunk from sophomore Cam LaClair (Selkirk, NY/Bethlehem) and an inside layup by junior Nicholas Cortez (Harlem, NY/Forest Hills) pushed Oneonta ahead by seven points at 1:13. A final Cohen basket made it 44-27 at the break.
Oneonta took a double-digit lead following a three-pointer from LaClair at 19:18. The Cardinals pulled within four following a mid-range jumper by Elijah Morris, and an and-one from McKnight made it 60-57.
The Red Dragons held off any Cardinals' runs, and a 6-0 run with baskets from senior Delano Knox (Poughkeepsie, NY/Arlington), Cortez, and LaClair made it 83-72 with 4:52 remaining. Cortez knocked down a trey at 3:25, and back-to-back scores from Knox gave Oneonta a 15-point lead. Freshman Jacob Jerome (Poughkeepsie, NY/Arlington) scored at 1:04 to make it 92-75 before a final basket from Plattsburgh's Aidan McGuire.
Cohen led Oneonta with 24 points on 5-of-10 shooting from three-point range and three steals. LaClair scored 22 points with nine rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Cortez had 15 points with three boards, four assists, and two steals. Knox scored ten points and had four rebounds.
Mari Johnson topped Plattsburgh with 22 points, while Morris had 13. Khalil Screen had ten points and eight rebounds. McKnight scored 16 points off the bench.
Oneonta will head to Cortland to face the winner of the Morrisville/Oswego game on Friday, February 27, at 5:30 p.m.
