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SYRACUSE, NY. – January 6, 2013 – The Onondaga Community College men’s basketball team, playing for the first time since December 9th, broke open a close game in the second half on Saturday afternoon, and came away with a 90-73 win over Columbia-Greene Community College in Allyn Hall. The victory was Onondaga’s 6th in7 home contests so far this season, and improves the Lazers’ overall record to 8-5 on the season. Columbia-Greene falls to 7-5 with the loss.
Saturday’s game was closely contested in the early going, with neither team able to take a lead greater than 3 points through the first 12 minutes. When Columbia-Greene’s Khalil Paul connected on a three-pointer with 7:12 to go in the opening stanza, the Twins held the first two-possession lead of the contest, 24-20. Onondaga responded with a pair of three-pointers from Robbie Cooper (Port Byron Dana L. West) sandwiched around a Mike Sugamosto (East Syracuse Bishop Grimes) field goal, however, giving the Lazers a 28-26 advantage. When Vaughndell Brantley (Cicero-North Syracuse) connected on a three-pointer with 2:38 to go in the half, the Lazers had built their margin to 36-31. The Twins closed the half on a 6-3 run, however, and Onondaga went to the locker room with a 39-38 advantage.
Columbia-Greene’s Jon Halligan opened the second half scoring with a rebound basket to give Columbia-Greene the lead back, but that would turn out to be the Twins’ last lead of the day. Tyler Bliss (Liverpool) answered with a putback of his own, triggering a 22-8 Onondaga run over the next 6 minutes, and when Brantley hit his 6th three-pointer of the contest, the Lazer lead was at 61-48 with 14:04 remaining. Onondaga was able to maintain the lead the rest of the contest, and gradually pulled away until the final buzzer.
Brantley led the Onondaga attack with 27 points. He made 9 of 14 shots from the floor, including 6 of 10 from behind the three-point line. Bliss recorded a double double with 16 points and 13 rebounds, and Garrett Sisson (Schenectady Mohonasen) played a solid all-around game with 10 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists. Michael Granato (Auburn) made his first collegiate start and handed out a team high 5 assists. Kevin Phillips paced the Twins with 17 points, while Paul added 15. Onondaga held a 44-36 rebounding advantage. The Lazer bench also outscored the Columbia-Greene bench, 35-13.
Onondaga returns to action on Tuesday night, when they travel to Auburn to play Cayuga Community College. Cayuga is the defending Mid-State Athletic Conference Champion, and the game will be the conference opener for both schools and a rematch of last season’s MSAC Championship Game. Tip-off is 7:30 pm. The Lazers’ next home game is a 3 pm MSAC tip-off next Saturday against Corning Community College.