CORTLAND, N.Y. – Oneonta took its first lead of the second half on a Harrison Deegan layup with 1:35 remaining and the visiting Red Dragons pulled away for an 89-81 win at Cortland in a SUNYAC men's basketball matchup.
Oneonta won its seventh straight game to improve to 8-3 overall and 4-0 in the SUNYAC. Cortland had a seven-game win streak snapped with the loss and is now 9-3 overall and 3-2 in conference play.
Deegan led five Oneonta double-figure scorers with 21 points. He also finished with nine rebounds, five assists and four steals. Joe Bull recorded 17 points, 13 rebounds and six assists and Dylan Trombley scored 16 points and pulled down six rebounds in 29 minutes off the bench. Andres Rivera added 13 points and eight boards and Kevin Mackin finished with 12 points. Trombley and Rivera each shot 6-for-8 from the field, with Trombley making four of his five 3-point attempts.
Austin Grunder (Trumansburg/Charles O. Dickerson) led Cortland with 21 points and 19 rebounds and also tallied three assists.
Ben Walters (Lockport/Starpoint) scored 16 points and led the hosts with a career-high five assists.
Ryan Schmadel (Oriskany) finished with 15 points, four rebounds and three assists and
AJ Lawton (Saratoga Springs) scored a career-best 14 points. Walters and Lawton each hit four 3-pointers and Schmadel finished with three treys.
Brendan Fitzpatrick (Plainview/Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK) scored seven points and grabbed a career-high tying seven rebounds.
Cortland led 44-38 at halftime and quickly went up by nine on a Walters 3-pointer 20 seconds into the second half. Cortland led 65-58 on a Grunder layup with 9:06 remaining, but Oneonta clawed back and tied the game at 69-69 on a Rivera layup with 5:56 left.
Walters hit a 3-pointer at the 5:45 mark and Lawton hit two free throws with 5:04 left to give Cortland a five-point lead, but Oneonta again came back and tied the game at 76-76 on a Trombley 3-pointer with 3:48 left.
Lawton buried a 3-pointer with 2:42 left to put Cortland back up by three, but Oneonta scored the next nine points, starting with Deegan layups at the 2:24 and 1:35 marks and Trombley 3-pointer with 1:01 remaining. Deegan made two free throws with 41 seconds left to give Oneonta an 85-79 lead. Grunder hit a layup and was fouled with 24 seconds on the clock but missed the free throw, and Bull sealed the win with four free throws to close out the scoring.
Oneonta shot 49 percent from the field and 10-for-24 from the arc, and the Red Dragons made 11-of-13 free throws. Cortland ended at 41 percent overall and 43 percent (16-for-37) from long distance, but the hosts were only 9-for-19 from the foul line. Oneonta held a 46-22 advantage in scoring in the paint, although Cortland had a 16-6 edge in second-chance points.
Cortland will travel to Oswego for a 4 p.m. SUNYAC game on Saturday.
