Staff Report

Oneonta State’s men’s basketball team dropped its season-opener to Averett College, 71-55, in a semifinal of the Washington & Lee Tournament at Lexington, Va., on Friday.

Five Averett players scored in double figures led by Damien Brown and Ryan Frazier, who each had 14.

Eric Bratt had a game-high 18 points for the Red Dragons, who trailed, 39-19, at halftime. Teammate William Heslin had 14 points.

Downsville graduate Kevin Reed had two points and five rebounds for O-State, which committed 23 turnovers to Averett’s 12.

Hamilton 78, Hartwick 67

Tsakani Ngobeni scored 24 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to pace Hamilton College in the opening round of the Hamilton Tip-off Tournament.

It was both teams’ season-opener.

Hartwick’s Jan Cocozziello scored a game-high 29 points, making 14-of-17 free throws. Cocozziello, the Empire 8 Conference Rookie of the Year last season, also had a team-high seven rebounds.

Junior college transfer Cory Carson scored 18 points and had seven assists for the Hawks.[an error occurred while processing this directive]

Ngobeni’s dunk with 4:24 left in the first half gave Hamilton a 29-28 lead and started a 12-4 run that ended with the Contientals leading, 41-32, at halftime.

Hartwick plays the University of New England at 6 p.m. Saturday in the consolation game.

Women’s Basketball

McMurray 80, O-State 62

Milford graduate Shannon Weir scored 14 points in 19 minutes, but the Red Dragons lost a first-round game of the Guilford Tournament at Greensboro, N.C.

It was the season-opener for both teams.

Tarra Richardson had game-highs of 21 points and 11 rebounds to lead McMurray College.

Christi Podgorski had 20 points to lead the Red Dragons, who trailed, 43-34, at halftime. Sophomore Weir, The Daily Star Player of the Year in 2003, went 8-for-8 from the line.

O-State went 3-for-17 from three-point range, while McMurray went 9-for-19 from behind the arc.

Swimming

North Country Invitational

Danielle Ulanowski had a hand in three victories, leading Oneonta State to the first-day lead in the North Country Invitational at SUNY Potsdam.

The Red Dragons women lead the two-day event with 321 points. Buffalo State is second with 235.

Ulanowski won the 400-yard backstroke (2 minutes, 18.08 seconds), the 200 IM (2:18.85) and swam a leg on the Red Dragons’ winning 400 medley relay (4:20.83).

O-State leads the men’s competition with 260 points _ 35 points better than second-place Clarkson.

Mike Martinez won the 1-meter diving competition with 258 points for O-State.