David D’Annibale, Contributing Writer |
On March 11, the Battle of the Red Dragons took place with the Oneonta men’s and women’s basketball teams taking on SUNY Cortland in a series of close matches. The first game of the night was a major upset for Cortland, as the Oneonta Women’s Basketball team held off Cortland’s comeback attempt and won 69-64. With this win, Oneonta improves their record to 8-12 as Cortland record drops to 17-3.
In the first quarter, Oneonta trailed 11-6 after a hot start by Cortland, but they responded with a 7-0 run to end the first quarter with a lead of 13-11. Oneonta then controlled the lead for the entire second quarter by outscoring Cortland 19-11. Oneonta entered halftime up 32-22. In the third quarter, Oneonta continued to outplay their rivals and outscored them 20- 17. Starting the fourth quarter, Oneonta was ahead with a double-digit lead at 52-39. Cortland became red hot in the fourth and put the game within two points. However, Oneonta closed out the game with a two-pointer and made all six of their free throw attempts. Oneonta was led by senior Olivia Allrich, who scored 17 points. Oneonta’s second highest scorer was senior Leanne Corso with 13 points. Cara Culeton and Maya Bernsley scored 12 points each in the game. Cortland was led by senior Beth Bonin with 25 points in the loss.
In the second game of the night, Oneonta Men’s Basketball Team defeated Cortland 92-71 to clinch a playoff spot in the SUNYAC tournament. Oneonta’s record improves to 15-5 as Cortland’s record lowers to 13-7.
In the first half, Cortland controlled the lead for the first six minutes before Oneonta claimed their first lead of the night after seven straight points. Eventually Cortland tied the game with a score of 22-22. Oneonta did not allow Cortland to take advantage. After the game was tied, Oneonta went on another 7-0 run, breaking the tie and pushing the score to 29-22. Cortland made it a one possession game in the last minutes of the first half. Senior Harrison Deegan responded in the final minute by draining a three-pointer. Oneonta entered halftime up 43-38. In the first eight minutes of the second half, Cortland cut the deficit down to 53-51. Cortland was one stop away from having an opportunity to tie or claim the lead. Sophomore Dylan Trombley responded with back-to-back three-pointers sparked a 12-3 run. Oneonta was able to withstand Cortland’s final comeback attempt. Then they pushed the lead to 79-63, which proved to be too much to overcome in the final four minutes of the game, ultimately sealing the win for Oneonta. Trombley led Oneonta in scoring with a career high 30 points; Deegan scored 21 points in the win; junior Andres Rivera scored 15 points and led the team with 16 rebounds. Cortland was led by Austin Grunder with 26 points and 13 rebounds.
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