ONEONTA, N.Y. – Junior Brian Hooks (Cohoes/Shaker) led four double-figure scorers with 18 points as Oneonta defeated Cortland, 75-58, in a battle of two of the SUNYAC’s top teams. Oneonta is 19-5 overall and leads the SUNYAC with a 12-5 record and one game remaining. Cortland drops to 14-9 overall and is now fourth in the league at 10-6 with two games left. Brockport and Plattsburgh are both one game ahead of Cortland at 11-5.
Junior Troy Talbot (Brooklyn/The School for Legal Studies) finished with 17 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Senior Brian Beckford (Brooklyn/Christ the King) added 15 points and four assists and junior Shane Gillette (Hurley/Kingston) scored 10 points and dished out four assists.
Freshman Jeremy Smith (Bronx/Riverdale Kingsbridge) led Cortland with a career-high 15 points. He made 6-of-8 shots, 3-of-5 from three-point range. Junior Dustin Marshall (Newfield) scored 13 points and registered five steals, five rebounds and four assists while senior Paul Oliver (Phoenix) scored 10 points.
Hooks finished 5-of-7 from the floor, including 4-of-6 from three-point range. He made all four of his shots, all treys, in the opening half as Oneonta took a 37-31 lead at the break. The hosts took an early 16-6 lead despite losing senior Michael Grimes (Albany/CCHS), their second-leading scorer, to injury three minutes into the contest. Cortland closed to within 26-25 on a Smith three-pointer with 5:35 left in the half, but Oneonta finished the period on an 11-6 run sparked by two three-pointers by Hooks.
Cortland drew within four on an Oliver jumper 1:16 into the second half, but Oneonta scored the next eight points, seven by Talbot, and led 45-33 with 17:12 left. Cortland was within single digits only once more at 45-36 after a Smith trey. Oneonta’s lead fluctuated between 10 and 16 points the rest of the way until a Talbot basket in the final seconds created the final margin.
Box Score/Play-by-Play