Boys’ Basketball

Norwich 53, Oneonta 51

ONEONTA – Norwich survived with its perfect record intact Monday night at Oneonta, but not before a three-point shot at the buzzer by the Yellowjackets’ Ryan Mahon was just long off the back of the rim.

The Tornado won their sixth road game in nine outings making up a seven-point deficit over the game’s final three minutes and 24 seconds. Norwich senior Jacob Kelly hit the tying and go-ahead free throws, Kelly added a clutch 15-foot jumper from the right baseline, and Josh Favaloro provided the winning margin canning a pair of free throws with 20.9 seconds remaining.

“Holy smokes,” said Norwich coach Mark Abbott after a long sigh. “We were very fortunate to come out of here with a win tonight. It’s not that we didn’t earn it. We were fortunate to make a couple of plays and get a couple of stops in the fourth quarter.”

Oneonta had Norwich on the ropes in the early part of the fourth quarter. Aaron scored five points in a 10-second span, the first on a three-pointer, and Jacob Van Duesen’s post-up layup with 3:24 left finished an 11-3 run to give Oneonta a 48-41 advantage.