ONEONTA, N.Y. - Two Red Dragons recorded double-doubles as the Oneonta men's basketball team shut down Potsdam in the second half on Saturday afternoon. After heading into the half with a 39-33 lead, the Red Dragons (6-1, 2-1 SUNYAC) held the Bears (3-6, 1-2 SUNYAC) to 19 second-half points to ultimately win 81-52.
"I am extremely proud of our team's effort tonight, especially on the defensive end," head coach Cameron Conover had to say. "Our guys were determined to get steps in the second half and worked together to make it happen."
After Derice won the tip-off, he quickly dished off to senior Michael Ortale Jr. (Delmar, NY/Bethlehem Central) for the opening basket. Oneonta took a 6-2 lead following scores from Daniel Derice (Tampa, FL/Wesley Chapel) and Joesph Bull, but the Bears netted the following four points to tie. A pair of free throws from Derice and then a long-range three by Ortale gave the Red Dragons a five-point lead at 16:20.
Oneonta continued to hold a narrow lead before Potsdam's Ahamadou Sillah stole the ball and dunked to tie 18-18 with 11:50 remaining. Layups from Mesean Jackson and Colton Huestis gave Potsdam a 22-18 lead, and then the Bears went ahead by five following another Johnson inside score. Derice drained a triple at 8:56 to spark a 10-0 that consisted of seven points from Ortale. Brandon Segar broke the streak, but Ortale followed with another layup to push the Oneonta lead to 31-26. The Bears capitalized on the Red Dragon's foul trouble to keep the game within single digits. Sophomore Graham Wooden (Oneonta, NY/Oneonta) netted the final score with nine seconds left to make it a six-point lead at the break.
Wooden carried over from the first half, scoring the first four points of the second to give Oneonta a 43-33 advantage. The scoring slowed until the 12 minutes when Wooden scored inside to start a 13-0 Oneonta span that finished with a Ryan Teaney (Schenectady, NY/Guilderland) three-pointer at 7:54. Now up by 25 points, the Red Dragons remained in control, and two straight baskets by Derice pushed it to 73-47. A tip-in from Dylan Craft (Hyde Park, NY/Franklin D. Roosevelt) and then a Teaney jumper gave Oneonta its largest lead at 30. First-career points from Clayton Erickson (New Lebanon, NY/The Frederick Gunn School) capped up the night for Oneonta.
Ortale scored a game-high 18 points and grabbed nine rebounds with two assists. Derice tallied a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds, while Bull earned a double-double with 10 points and 11 boards. Graham netted 14 points with eight rebounds and three assists.
The Red Dragons out-rebounded the Bears 55-19 and held Potsdam to a .327 field goal percentage.
Parker Kelly led the Bears with 17 points, while Sillah scored 11.
Oneonta next hosts No. 5 Williams in non-conference play on Tues. Dec. 6 at 7 p.m.