Battle of The Red Dragons

Casey Riordan-- Oneonta, NY

Panorama of Oneonta Gym. Photo via Casey Riordan (c) 2016

On February 9th, 2016 at 5:30 pm the Almuni Field House gym was slowly getting packed with fans ranging from students, parents, and alumni ready for The Battle of The Red Dragons to see who the real "Red Dragon" is.

Oneonta Students Supporting Red Dragons. Photo via Casey Riordan (c) 2016

I spoke to some fans asking them their favorite part of the women's game and they stated, "The end of the game was our favorite. Cortland started coming back and the intensity of the game started to pick up." This game is a huge tradition here at Oneonta and many fans who do not normally come to the games came to support. After speaking to many fans it was no doubt that Oneonta has great school spirit and will defend our mascot till the end.

Cortlands Women's Basketball team during time-out. Photo via Casey Riordan (c) 2016

The Oneonta Women's Basketball team defeated Cortland with a total of 63-55. I spoke to my friend Kerry Mchugh who is currently a sophomore on the Cortland Women's basketball team after the game. I asked her if the outcome is what she expected, she replied, "No it was not at all. I thought we would have won considering we beat them already and I think we are the better team." I also asked her if she thought the fans got into their heads and made them nervous. Kerry said, " Yes 100 percent, I think the fans got into our heads and made us play scared. The whole team was nervous."

Mens Oneonta Basketball on offense vs Cortland. Photo via Casey Riordan (c) 2016

Oneonta Mens Basketball had a tough loss over Cortland with a total of 56-64. This was a huge game for both Men's teams considering they shared a similar record. Since Oneonta lost, they now need to win out this weekends games in order to make it to the playoffs. I spoke with Sophomore guard Ian Schupp after the game to get a feel on how he thought him and his team played. Ian stated, "I felt very sluggish out there and didn't bring any energy what so ever. I got into my own head and it made me not play as good as I know I can. I expected to win considering it was a home game but what are you going to do."