ONEONTA, N.Y.—Senior Troy Talbot (Brooklyn, The School for Legal Studies) scored 21 points to lead four Red Dragons in double figures tonight as SUNY Oneonta clinched a SUNYAC tournament berth with its 78-66 win against New Paltz. Oneonta (9-16/8-10) won't know where they will be playing on Tuesday night in the quarterfinals until after the completion of all games played tomorrow in the SUNYAC.

Oneonta started pulling away in this one early in the second half when they turned its 10-point halftime lead into a 15-point lead in the first two minutes of the second half. A three-pointer by Brian Hooks (Cohoes, Shaker) gave Oneonta a 35-20 lead. Hooks, who is the program's all-time leader in three-point baskets, finished with 11 points tonight.

The Red Dragons maintained its double-digit lead and built to as many as 19 points on a pair of free throws by Talbot at the 9:43 mark.

New Paltz (11-13/7-11) made the game interesting and cut Oneonta's lead back to 10 points at 63-53 on a pair of free throws by Matt Devine at the 7:16 mark. Devine finished the game with 10 points.

An 8-2 run by Oneonta over the next four minutes put the game out of reach for the Hawks.

Seniors Derek Hahn (Youngsville, Sullivan West) and Shane Gillette (Hurley, Kingston) each scored in double figures with 13 points and 12 points respectively. Hahn also added 17 rebounds for his 12th double-double of the season.

New Paltz was led by junior Harris Wichard, who scored a game high 23 points, which included six three-pointers.

Newspaper Box Score
ONEONTA STATE 78, NEW PALTZ 66

NEW PALTZ (11-13/7-11)
WICHARD, Harris 8-13 1-2 23; TAYLOR, Shereef 5-10 1-2 12; DEVINE, Matt 3-8 4-5 10; WALLACE, Jermain 2-5 5-6 9; ROONEY, Matt 2-6 0-0 5; TALDI, Nick 2-5 1-2 5; OLSEN, Daniel 1-3 0-4 2; CARMEL, Peter 0-1 0-0 0; SOWAH, Taylor 0-3 0-0 0; BROWN, Lorenzo 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 23-56 12-21 66.

ONEONTA STATE (9-16/8-10)
TALBOT, Troy 5-13 11-12 21; HAHN, Derek 6-12 1-5 13; GILLETTE, Shane 4-9 3-3 12; HOOKS, Brian 3-10 4-4 11; DARE, Ryan 4-6 0-0 8; BOYDEN, Cameron 2-2 1-2 5; WADAS, Dave 2-3 0-0 4; PARKER, Terrence 1-5 1-2 4; DONAHUE, Kevin 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-60 21-28 78.

3-point goals--New Paltz 8-22 (WICHARD, Harris 6-10; ROONEY, Matt 1-4; TAYLOR, Shereef 1-3; TALDI, Nick 0-2; SOWAH, Taylor 0-1; DEVINE, Matt 0-2), Oneonta State 3-10 (PARKER, Terrence 1-2; HOOKS, Brian 1-6; GILLETTE, Shane 1-2).

Fouled out--New Paltz-None, Oneonta State-None.

Rebounds--New Paltz 34 (TAYLOR, Shereef 10), Oneonta State 41 (HAHN, Derek 17).

Assists--New Paltz 8 (WICHARD, Harris 2; WALLACE, Jermain 2; TAYLOR, Shereef 2), Oneonta State 14 (TALBOT, Troy 5).

Total fouls--New Paltz 25, Oneonta State 18.

Technical fouls--New Paltz-CARMEL, Peter, Oneonta State-None.

A-118