The Real Red Dragon

Sherman Hall's "pokemon's" version of  red dragons.

 By Hakiym Colon

Tuesday Febuary 9th recapped the " Battle of The Red Dragons" where SUNY Oneonta faced off against Courtland in their home crowd to determine the title and bragging rights to the true "Red Dragon". Both teams have loosing records but have something more to prove than just a win. Pride was on the line and this game was more than just a regular season game. (Ion audio and Quote)

I interviewed Ion from the basketball team who was the leading scorer of the bench. I asked if there was any pre game rituals before the game that he normally does and he said " i just go out there and ball".

"I just go out there and ball"

Pre-game ritual before the game. 

This game had a playoff atmosphere and a very exciting crowd. The stands was full of prideful fans who had something to cheer about. But unfortunately pride and a home crowd was not enough. The pressure was on and this was one of Oneonta's toughest games yet. They started off with great energy and lots of chemistry. They began to have a lead starting the half with the help of their leading scorer Mike, who finish the game with 22 points. But cortland wouldn't give up and continued to play the whole 20 minutes of the first half and not loose focus. (kelly audio and Quote)

I interviewed Kelly Omally who attends all the home games and gets shots and recordings of the games for the sports information department. I asked her what is different about this home game than to any other home game she was present at.

"The atmosphere is different and you can actually feel the hype."

Half time score. 

The game came down to the wire and cortland just had the upper hand. At halftime Cortland was up 25 to 21 and Oneonta was trying to get over the edge. The final score was 64 to 56 and you could see it the players eyes that they let their fans down and needed to think about their identity as a team.

I interviewed a fan in the stands after the game  Manny Velasquez and he had a lot to say about Oneonta's effort during the final minutes of the game.

"They just gave up and the dragon in their hearts just ran out of the fire"