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Bears men's hoops fall at Oneonta, still clinch playoff spot

Posted 2/17/19

ONEONTA, N.Y. --- With a red hot second half, the SUNY Oneonta Red Dragons (15-10, 10-8) topped the SUNY Potsdam men's basketball team (13-12, 9-9 SUNYAC) 93-60 on Saturday afternoon. After a tightly …

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Bears men's hoops fall at Oneonta, still clinch playoff spot

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ONEONTA, N.Y. --- With a red hot second half, the SUNY Oneonta Red Dragons (15-10, 10-8) topped the SUNY Potsdam men's basketball team (13-12, 9-9 SUNYAC) 93-60 on Saturday afternoon. After a tightly contested first half, the Red Dragons got off to a 22-4 start to the second half, making 9-of-15 threes in the final 20 minutes to pull away for the win. Sophomore guard Colby Simpson (Queens, N.Y./Queens H.S. OF Teaching) scored a career-high 15 points to lead the Bears. Despite the loss, Potsdam clinched its first SUNYAC Playoff appearance since 2011.

Senior forward Serigne Kane (Brooklyn, N.Y./Brooklyn Prep) got on board first with his score in the low post within the first two minutes. The Red Dragons then built momentum with a 9-0 run. AC Kirkwood began the run with his midrange jumper, which was followed up with back-to-back steals from Harrison Deegan. Both resulted in transition dunks. Kevin Mackin topped off the run with his deep 3-pointer in transition. Kane's offensive put back ended the scoring drought for the Bears. At the 8:55 mark, Kane slammed home a one handed jam off a junior guard Jayquan Thomas (Hollis, N.Y./Richmond Hill) alley oop to get the Bears within 16-12. On the next play, Dylan Trombley drilled a deep 3-pointer from the right wing. After the Bears got within 19-18, the Red Dragons went on to score seven unanswered points topped off by Carson Jacobs' three with 4:59 left in the half. With just over a minute left, senior forward Nosa Onabor (Brooklyn, N.Y./Northside Charter) and Trombley exchanged three-point baskets and senior guard Dante Langley (Schuylerville, N.Y./Schuylerville) finished inside off Kane's pass on the next play. Oneonta led 32-25 at halftime.

The Red Dragons took an early 13-point lead after Joseph Bull's jumper, then Andres Rivera's back-to-back shots inside, forcing a Bears timeout. Coming out of the timeout, Onabor found Kane open at the left block for an easy score. Deegan followed by drilling a three from the right wing on the next play to make it 41-27. Oneonta would then catch fire and go on another run and score 13 unanswered points. Starting with Rivera completing a three-point play after being fouled. The run was capped off by Bull's 3-pointer from the top of the key at the 13:46 mark. The Red Dragons continued to pull away over the rest of the contest to secure the 93-60 victory.

For the Bears, Kane finished with 11 points and six rebounds and Onabor added nine points, eight rebounds and two blocks.

For the Red Dragons, Rivera led all scorers with 25 points on 10-of-15 shooting, grabbed seven rebounds and dished out six assists. Bull had 17 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Trombley scored 15 points and Deegan chipped in with nine points and five assists.

The contest concludes the 2018-19 regular season for the Bears. They have earned the sixth seed in this year's SUNYAC Playoffs. They will travel to third seeded Brockport for the first round this Tuesday, Feb. 19. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.