ONEONTA, N.Y.— Despite a late push from the SUNY Potsdam men's basketball team (8-11, 3-9 SUNYAC), SUNY Oneonta (11-6, 7-4 SUNYAC) hung on for a 77-67 victory Friday evening. Junior guard Nosa Onabor (Brooklyn, N.Y./Northside Charter) recorded a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds, leading the Bears in both categories. Kevin Mackin paced the Red Dragons on the night with 23 points and six rebounds.
Mackin opened the scoring with a three, but shortly after junior guard Dante Langley (Schuylerville, N.Y./Schuylerville) answered with one of his own. Oneonta then countered with a 17-5 run. Sophomore guard Danny Delsol-Lowry (Queens, N.Y./Queens H.S. of Teaching) halted the run with pair of free throws. With just under seven minutes remaining at half, Onabor and senior guard Matt Piercey (Ogdensburg, N.Y./Ogdensburg Free Academy) made back-to-back 3-pointers to narrow the margin to six. A few minutes later, Delsol-Lowry hit another three, closing the gap to 32-27. With 3:30 left, the Red Dragons started an 8-0 push, with Mackin leading the charge with two shots from beyond the arc. Potsdam ended the half with three free-throws from Onabor and Delsol-Lowry, entering the break down 42-30. Onabor finished the half with 13 points, while Mackin had 18.
Early in the second half, neither team was able gain the upper hand. With 9:58 left, the Bears were able to cut the deficit to single digits for the first time since 2:37 in the first. Langley and junior forward Serigne Kane (Brooklyn, N.Y./Brooklyn Prep) kept Potsdam in the game, combining for 12 of the teams 16 points in the last 10 minutes of the contest. With a little over four minutes to go, Langley hit a three, followed by another from Delsol-Lowry to make it 63-57. Oneonta answered with a short 7-3 run to extend their lead to 10 with 1:19 left. The Bears were able to close within five with 28 seconds remaining, but the Red Dragons finished the game five-for-six from the charity stripe for the 77-67 win.
Langley finished with 17 points while Delsol-Lowry had 12, five assists and three steals.
Jacob Rodriguez and Joseph Bull both came off the bench to score 11 and 10 points, respectively. Bull added on five assists and two blocks.
Potsdam shot 35.3 percent from three while Oneonta shot 36.4 percent. The Red Dragons edged the Bears in rebounds 40-36.
Potsdam returns to the court tomorrow at 3 p.m. as they travel to face the New Paltz Hawks.