SUNY Oneonta Athletics

Men’s Basketball (5-7/4-1)

Jan. 2nd vs. Wells, W 75-65 (Washington & Lee Tournament)
SUNY Oneonta senior Derek Hahn (Youngsville, Sullivan West) scored a season high 23 points in leading the Red Dragons to a 75-65 win over Wells College in men’s basketball opening round action in the Washington & Lee Tournament. Hahn hit 10-of-11 shots from the field and grabbed six rebounds as Oneonta shot 50 percent from the floor for the game en route to its first win of 2011.

Oneonta trailed for most of the first half until a jumper by sophomore Cameron Boyden (Vestal, Vestal) gave the Red Dragons its first lead of the game at 23-22. Boyden's basket was part of a three-point play that he completed with a free throw to give Oneonta a two-point lead at the 8:40 mark.

The lead changed hands multiple times during the remaining eight minutes in the opening half as the two teams went into halftime deadlocked at 37 apiece.

Oneonta used a 15-4 run over a 5:52 stretch midway through the second half to pull away from Wells, which turned a 43-43 contest into a 58-47 advantage with 11:13 to play. Wells (3-7) got to within five points with less than three minutes to play in the contest, but the Red Dragons hit 5-of-8 free throws down the stretch to ice the victory.

Senior guards Troy Talbot (Brooklyn, The School for Legal Studies) and Shane Gillette (Hurley, Kingston) added 20 points and 12 points respectively in the victory. Talbot hit 7-of-11 shots in the game while dishing out four assists while Gillette contributed four steals.

Jan. 3rd vs. Washington & Lee, L 62-75
Seniors Brian Hooks (Cohoes, Shaker) and Gillette scored 16 points and 11 points respectively, but the men fell to the host Generals in the championship game of the Washington & Lee tournament 75-62.

Hooks had five field goals in the game, all from long distance. Gillette scored five of his 11 points in helping the Red Dragons build a five point lead through the first 10 minutes of the game. A closing run of 19-5 by the Generals over the final nine minutes gave them a 30-21 lead at halftime.

The hosts quickly built its lead to 12 points in the first three minutes of the second half before the Red Dragons scored nine unanswered points to get to within three points at 39-36 at the 14:40 mark. Senior Ryan Dare (Loudonville, Shaker) led the charge with five of the nine points including the three-point play that brought Oneonta to within three.

The Generals answered with seven straight of its own to push the lead back to 10 points with just over 12 minutes to go in the game. A three-pointer by Hooks at the 8:12 mark closed the gap to six points, but that would be as close as Oneonta would get for the remainder of the contest.

Hahn, who led Oneonta the previous night with 23 points, was selected to the All-Tournament Team for Oneonta. Hahn finished the game with six points and a team high six rebounds.

Jan. 7th vs. Fredonia, W 58-46
The men outscored visiting Fredonia 33-24 in the second half to win going away 58-46 last Friday in SUNYAC action.

A 13-4 run that began midway through the second half allowed Oneonta to open up a comfortable lead with just over three minutes remaining. The Red Dragons' run began at the 10:12 mark with a 36-32 lead and concluded at the 3:37 mark on a layup by Hahn. At that point, Oneonta led 49-34.

The Gillette and Talbot led the Red Dragons with 12 points each. Gillette scored nine of his 12 points in the second half. Gillette also added a team high eight rebounds and five steals while dishing out three assists.

The Red Dragons took care of the ball with only nine turnovers while forcing 22 turnovers. Oneonta was able to convert the turnovers into 19 points.

Oneonta jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead, hitting its first two shots of the game. Fredonia answered with eight straight to take the lead 8-4 at the 15:10 mark. The Blue Devils built themselves an 18-9 lead with 8:33 remaining in the first half before the Red Dragons began to creep back into the contest.

Trailing by six points late, back-to-back three-pointers by freshman Kevin Donahue (South Glens Falls, South High) and Gillette, got the Red Dragons even at 22 apiece with 1:59 left in the opening half. Oneonta made three-of-four free throws to head into the break with a 25-22 lead.  Hahn led Oneonta in the first half with seven points .

Jan. 8th vs. Buffalo State, W 86-70
Hooks scored a season and collegiate career-high 28 points last Saturday in leading the men to an 86-70 win versus Buffalo State. He scored 22 points in the second half, hitting 6-of-7 shots, as the Red Dragons pulled away in the closing twenty en route to the 16-point victory.

The two teams exchanged runs throughout the second half, as each time Oneonta would pull away, the Bengals would counter. Fortunately, the hosts were able to sustain its runs to create enough of a cushion and eventually wear down the visitors.

Buffalo State cut Oneonta’s lead to one point early in the second half, but got no closer than five points after a 13-3 run by the Red Dragons pushed its lead back to 11 points at 55-44 at the 13:43 mark.

Oneonta controlled the boards with a 48-28 advantage off the glass. Hahn was huge, collecting a career high 17 rebounds to go with 10 points and three blocks.

The Red Dragons also outscored Buffalo State the free throw line by a margin of 25 to 8. Hooks was a perfect 7-for-7 while classmate Gillette was 4-for-4 from the charity stripe. Gillette finished with 11 points and six assists.

Talbot was the fourth player in double figures for Oneonta with 12 points. He also added six assists and one block and was 4-of-5 from the free throw line.

Buffalo State started fast scoring the opening nine points of the game before a three-point basket by Gillette got Oneonta on the scoreboard. The Bengals continued to lead most of the first half before a layup by Hahn gave the Red Dragons its first lead of the game at 31-29 at the 5:18 mark. Hahn had six points in the half to go with nine rebounds to help Oneonta take a 38-33 lead into halftime.

Jan. 11th vs. Oswego, W 75-73 2OT
Hahn was in the right place at the right time to collect a blocked shot and lay the ball in to give the Red Dragons a 75-73 lead with three seconds to go in the second overtime versus Oswego this past Tuesday night. The Lakers had one final look from straight away behind the arc that hit the front of the rim as the buzzer sounded giving Oneonta its third straight victory.

The win for Oneonta put them alone atop the SUNYAC standings while the loss for Oswego drops them out of first in the conference.

Sophomore Dan McLaren (Troy, Troy) scored the first basket of the second overtime to give Oneonta the lead. McLaren got his first start of the season for the Red Dragons and scored a collegiate high 17 points.

The Lakers again tied the score with 34 seconds left setting up Hahn’s heroics.

A layup by Talbot with 2:23 left in regulation mark cut Oswego’s lead to one point at 58-57. After a miss by the Lakers at the other end, Hooks, drained a three-pointer to give the Red Dragons a 60-58 lead with two minutes remaining.

The Lakers tied the score with 1:18 left after a flurry of offensive rebounds.

Both teams had one possession each in the final minute of regulation and were not able to convert, thus sending the game in the first overtime.

In the first overtime, the Lakers went ahead by two before Hooks hit another three-pointer to put Oneonta back up by one at 63-62. Hooks finished the game with 18 points including 12 after halftime.

Oswego hit a free throw to tie the score again at 63. The two teams exchanged baskets on successive possessions to remain tied at 67 apiece with 14 seconds to go. The Lakers had a layup that went in and out, which sent the game into a second overtime.

Oneonta fell behind in the first seven minutes of the game by 11 points 18-7 at the 13:35 mark.

The Red Dragons got a quick three-pointer by Gillette on the ensuing possession that started Oneonta on the comeback trail. A layup by McLaren at 5:05 capped a 17-7 run that got the Red Dragons back to one point at 25-24.

Oneonta finally overtook the Lakers on a pair of free throws by Hahn that broke a 28-28 tie. The Red Dragons scored six points over the final three minutes of the half to take a 34-30 lead into halftime.

Women’s Basketball (11-1/5-0)

Jan. 7th vs. Fredonia, W 82-47
The Red Dragons shot 55 percent from the field last Friday night en route to an easy 82-47 win against visiting Fredonia in SUNYAC action. Junior Samantha Szkotak (New York Mills, New York Mills) led the Red Dragons with 14 points including 11 in the second half as Oneonta moved to 9-1 on the season and 3-0 in conference play.

Oneonta took control early in this game, jumping out to a 20-4 lead in the opening nine minutes of the contest. Oneonta shot 62 percent from the floor in the first half, taking a 46-20 lead into halftime. Senior Erika Puffer (Unadilla, Unatego) led all scorers with 12 points. Classmate Mary Kate O'Connell (Altamont, Guilderland) led everyone with seven boards.

It was much of the same in the second half as the Red Dragons led by as many as 46 points with just over four minutes remaining in the game.

Jan. 8th vs. Buffalo State, W 58-41
O’Connell scored a season high 14 points in leading the women to a 58-41 victory last Saturday at home versus Buffalo State. Oneonta shot 50 percent from the floor in the second half.

The Red Dragons opened the second half with a 7-3 run to increase its nine-point halftime lead to 13 points at the 15:39 mark. A three-point basket by Szkotak gave Oneonta its largest lead of the contest at 35-22.

Buffalo State wouldn’t go quietly as the crept back into the game with a 14-5 run over the next four minutes to cut Oneonta’s lead back to four points at 38-34 with 11:58 remaining in the game.

Oneonta seized control of the game with six unanswered to get its lead back to double digits with 8:14 to play. A jumper by senior Rebecca Bucci (Marlboro, Our Lady of Lourdes) at the 2:33 mark gave Oneonta a 54-39 lead as they cruised in for the win from there. Bucci had a team high nine rebounds to go with her five points.

Buffalo State had an early 6-2 lead through the first three minutes and thirty seconds of the game.

After the score was tied at nine apiece at the 12:01 mark, the Bengals scored six straight to take a 15-9 lead before the Red Dragons began its closing run.

The Oneonta bench fueled the late first half run, outscoring Buffalo State’s reserves 13-0 in the opening twenty minutes. Puffer, who had 11 points in the game, scored six of her 11 points in the first half on back-to-back three-point plays that gave Oneonta a lead of 19-17. The Red Dragons continued its run en route to a 26-17 lead at the break.

Jan. 11th vs. Oswego, W 56-52
O’Connell sank two free throws with nine seconds remaining to give the Red Dragons a 56-53 lead and then defended one last opportunity from Oswego that went in-and- out as Oneonta prevailed this past Tuesday in SUNYAC action. The win for Oneonta keeps them in a first place tie in the conference at 5-0 while raising its overall record to 11-1.

Oneonta stormed out of halftime, putting together a 12-2 run in the opening five minutes to open up a 14-point lead at 44-30. Junior Madison Slagle (Rome, Rome Catholic) hit a pair of three-point shots to fuel the run. Slagle led all scorers in the contest with 17 points.

Oneonta still held a comfortable lead at 52-38 at the 9:35 mark after a free throw by freshman Kelly Mulligan (Pearl River, Pearl River). It was at that point that the Lakers put together a 15-2 run that saw them claw its way back to a one point deficit at 54-53 with 30 seconds remaining.

Oswego committed a foul to stop the clock, which put freshman Grace Schilling (Northport, Northport) at the line for a 1-and-1. She missed the front end and Oswego grabbed the rebound and came down for its offensive possession. The Lakers were able to work the ball inside and had a look at a layup that went in and out. The rebound went to O’Connell who was immediately fouled sending her to the line for her 1-and-1, which she converted.

The first half saw five ties and eight lead changes as both teams went at each other playing solid defense throughout the twenty minutes. Oswego shot a little better from the floor in the first half, 45 percent to 36 percent for Oneonta.

The Red Dragons forced 13 turnovers and converted them into 13 points while its bench held a 15-10 advantage in the opening half. Leading the charge was Puffer, who came off the bench to score nine of the 12 points she scored in the game.

Wrestling (8-4-1)

Jan. 8th at North/South Duals
The SUNY Oneonta wrestling team competed last Saturday at the North/South Duals hosted by Ursinus College and came away 2-1-1 for its efforts. The Red Dragons recorded wins against Coast Guard (31-12) and Wisconsin-Whitewater (39-6) while falling to West Chester University (21-27) and tying Stevens Institute of Technology (18-18).

Leading Oneonta was senior James Lamonica (Staten Island, Monsignor Farrell), sophomore JP Sala (Islip, Islip) and freshman Ben Mikac (Lackawanna, Williamsville East) who all went undefeated on the day. Lamonica, who was 4-0, recorded two wins by decision, one by pinfall and he received one win by forfeit. His decision in the Stevens match allowed Oneonta to tie the match as they were trailing 18-15 entering his match at 285 lbs.

Mikac was 4-0 on the day, recording two decisons, a major decision and winning by forfeit. Sala went 3-0 with one major decision and two decisions.

Jan. 12th at Muhlenberg, W 40-3
The wrestlers continued its week long trip to Pennsylvania this past Wednesday night with a dual match versus Muhlenberg. The Red Dragons won 9 of 10 weight classes en route to the lopsided 40-3 win over the Mules.

Sophomore Frankie Provenzano (Islip, Islip) recorded the lone pin for Oneonta in the match at 165 lbs. Four of the nine wins for the Red Dragons came via a major decision, which led to 16 of the 40 team points.

Other winners tonight were Mikac (133 lbs), Michael Gregg (Islip, Islip) (141 lbs), Dan Graff (LaGrangeville, Arlington) (149 lbs), Eric Simmons (Ballston Spa, Ballston Spa) (174 lbs), Brian Kramer (Hopkinton, MA, Hopkinton) (184 lbs) and Chris Pike (Sherburne, Sherburne-Earlville) (HWT).