Senior Zach Mager (New City/Clarkstown South) and junior Mikey McElroy (Saratoga Springs/Saratoga Springs) combined for 57 points and the host Red Dragons shot 56 percent in defeating its rival Red Dragons from SUNY Cortland 89-68.  The victory for Oneonta evened its overall record at 8-8 while raising its SUNYAC record to 5-4.  The loss for Cortland dropped them to 12-4 overall and 5-4 in the conference.
 
With the score 47-46 in favor of Oneonta at the 17:11 mark of the second half, the host Red Dragons broke the game open and shut the door on the visitors with nine unanswered points that included back-to-back threes by Mager on successive trips down the floor.  Mager finished the contest with a season high 33 points.
 
Cortland would close the gap to six points on a layup by Lamard Herron at the 13:46 mark, but that would be as close as they would get the rest of the way.  Back-to-Back layups by McElroy quickly pushed the lead back to 10 points at 62-52.  McElroy poured in 24 points along with collecting seven boards and four steals.
 
The two teams played to nine ties and four lead changes during the opening 20 minutes.  Oneonta shot 54 percent from the field in the first half along with converting 9-of-10 free throws.  Oneonta would make 18-of-21 from the line for the game while outrebounding Cortland 36-24.
 
Sophomore Lawrence Coleman (Croton on Hudson/Hendrick Hudson) reached double figures for Oneonta tonight with a career high 15 points.
 
Cortland had three players in double figures led by junior Blair Estarfaa who scored 20 points off the bench.  Estarfaa hit 5-of-9 from long range.  Freshman Justin Prendergast added 13 points while Herron collected 11 points.
 
Oneonta will be home again tomorrow as they take on SUNYAC leading Oswego.  Tipoff is scheduled for 2pm.
 
Newspaper Box Score
At Oneonta, NY
SUNY ONEONTA 89, SUNY CORTLAND 68
 
SUNY CORTLAND (12-4, 5-4 SUNYAC)
ESTARFAA, Blair 7-12 1-2 20; PRENDERGAST, Justin 5-6 3-4 13; HERRON, Lamard 5-13 0-0 11; HEFELE, T.J. 2-7 2-2 7; JOSEPH, Carrel 3-6 0-0 6; McGOWAN, Matt 1-2 2-2 4; CARTER, Grequan 2-4 0-0 4; BURKE, Paul 1-4 0-0 3; MARTINEZ, Shayne 0-2 0-0 0; MORALES, James 0-1 0-0 0; KELLY, Michael 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 26-59 8-10 68.
 
SUNY ONEONTA (8-8, 5-4 SUNYAC)
MAGER, Zach 10-17 9-11 33; MCELROY, Mikey 10-15 2-2 24; COLEMAN, Lawrence 6-7 3-4 15; WILLIAMS, Kareem 2-3 2-2 6; KELLY, Frankie 2-7 0-0 4; DIGNAN, Jack 1-5 0-0 3; ZUVIC, Jackson 1-2 0-0 2; MASSARONI, Grant 0-0 2-2 2; FORD, Jeremiah 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 32-57 18-21 89.
 
3-point goals--SUNY Cortland 8-23 (ESTARFAA, Blair 5-9; HERRON, Lamard 1-5; HEFELE, T.J. 1-4; BURKE, Paul 1-2; KELLY, Michael 0-2; JOSEPH, Carrel 0-1), SUNY Oneonta 7-17 (MAGER, Zach 4-8; MCELROY, Mikey 2-2; DIGNAN, Jack 1-4; KELLY, Frankie 0-2; MEDINA, Eulogio 0-1).
Fouled out--SUNY Cortland-None, SUNY Oneonta-None.
Rebounds--SUNY Cortland 24 (McGOWAN, Matt 5), SUNY Oneonta 36 (WILLIAMS, Kareem 8). Assists--SUNY Cortland 11 (BURKE, Paul 3), SUNY Oneonta 17 (KELLY, Frankie 6).
Total fouls--SUNY Cortland 17, SUNY Oneonta 12.
Technical fouls--SUNY Cortland-None, SUNY Oneonta-None.
A-1009