OSWEGO, NY — After many athletic conferences across the United States begin to cancel or postpone the Fall 2020 season due to COVID-19, the SUNYAC Conference announced on Monday, July 20th, the cancellation of the fall season for member institutions. This decision was made by the SUNYAC Presidents in conjunction with the SUNYAC Board of Directors. This comes after the Empire 8, a local New York Division III conference, announced the postponement of the Fall 2020 season on July 16th. The SUNYAC has decided to cancel all competition till January 2021, which includes winter sports. The report, found on the conference website, states that teams can continue small team workouts when school is back in session. There are still questions regarding the winter sports season that has been pushed off, but time will tell what changes will be made moving forward.
Of course, this will affect Oswego State Athletics for the time being, as most of the teams are a part of that conference. WTOP 10 will continue to have updates on the situation as students return to college around the end of August.
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Lakers men’s basketball cap off regular season on the road
FREDONIA, N.Y. – The Oswego state basketball team looked to end off their regular season with two wins on the road vs Brockport friday night and then the Fredonia Blue Devils on Saturday night. The Lakers were looking to avenge their previous loss to Brockport at home on December 2nd. Cartier Bowman was a catalyst for Oswego early with 9 points in 10 minutes of play. Oswego early played great team basketball and tried to get everyone involved early. The Lakers initially had a nice 15 point lead, but Brockport cut it down to 10 with about five minutes left in the first half. The Lakers gave up some quick points before the end of the first half, but still ended the half with a 44-36 lead.
The first 5 minutes of the second half stayed back and forth as Oswego maintained their 8 point lead. While Brockport began to make a small run at the Lakers, Devin Green and Ahkee Anderson both hit three pointers to extend the Laker lead back to double digits with the score 65-55 midway through the second half. Brockport fought right back and cut the lead to five with three minutes remaining. Anderson then took over for the Lakers and hit two big jump shots down the stretch to keep Oswego in front. Those shots helped Oswego pull away and finally get their revenge on Brockport 79-73. Devin Green led the Lakers with 18 points, Bowman had 17, Achille had 13, and Anderson had 11. The Lakers then moved to Saturday where they would face Fredonia on the road.
The first half started slow for the Lakers as the Blue Devils had a nine point lead halfway through the 1st half due to great play from Aaron Collins. In a very slow first half where we saw the Lakers shoot only 12% from three, it was the opposite for Fredonia as they shoot a astounding 8-9 from behind the arc. But the Lakers fought back at the end of the half to hold a 44-40 lead at the halftime break. Cartier Bowman and Jeremiah Sparks both had 10 points in the first half, and Kaleb Cook added nine more.
The Lakers then turned it around in the second half led by Jeremiah Sparks who did almost everything for the Lakers in the first 10 minutes leading the Lakers to a 65-57 lead with 10 to go. However, Fredonia’s three-point shooting continued to be a problem for Oswego. Sparks continued his dominant scoring the late stages of the second half with seven quick points including a three pointer with around seven minutes to go. Ahkee Anderson then hit a jumper to bring the lead to 12 and Kaleb Cook put the game away with four points down the stretch to grow the Lakers lead. Despite the accurate shooting of the Blue Devils, Oswego was better in almost all other facets of the game. Oswego shot over 50% from the field and really turned it around in the second half for a 85-70 victory. Sparks ended the game with a 26 point double-double with help from Cook, Anderson and Bowman who scored in double figures.
The Lakers move to 23-2(17-1) and bring their win streak to 19 headed into the SUNYAC tournament next weekend. With this win the Lakers officially locked up the number one seed for the playoffs and will get the home court advantage next weekend. The SUNYAC Tournament will begin on Tuesday, February 21. Oswego will have a first round bye and will host the final four of the conference tournament.
IMAGE COURTESY OF ERIN BLANK, WTOP10 PHOTOGRAPHY DEPARTMENT
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Women’s Soccer fights out draw
GENESEO, N.Y. – The Oswego State Women’s soccer team took to the road Wednesday afternoon to take on the Geneseo Knights. Both team’s came into the game in the top four of the SUNYAC standings, with Geneseo three points ahead of the Lakers. It was a quiet first half for both teams. The Lakers only got two shots off in the entire half, one of them being on target. The Knights got seven shots off in the half, four of them between the ninth and twentieth minutes, but only two were on target. Oswego keeper Perri Anderson finished the half with two saves.
The second half of the match was a bit more exciting. Both teams got off five shots, but only one of the ten was on target. Three of the Lakers shots came between the 73rd and 81st minutes, though none of them drew a save from the Geneseo Keeper. A defensive battle ended in a 0-0 tie for both teams, granting each a point in the standings. Anderson would finish the game with three saves. Amber McDermott had the only shot on goal for the Lakers.
The Lakers now sit at 7-3-2 (2-1-1 SUNYAC). They have five games left this season, all against conference opponents. Their next game is Saturday October, 8 in Plattsburgh to take on the Cardinals.
PHOTO COURTESY OF MICHELLE QUIACHON, WTOP10 PHOTOGRAPHY DEPARTMENT
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Baseball loses two non-conference games
Rochester N.Y. — The Oswego State baseball team took a trip to Rochester to take on two non-conference opponents, The University of Rochester and St. John Fisher College. The first game was on Tuesday against the Rochester Yellowjackets. Oswego got started early, a one out home run by Ryan Enos in the top of the first saw them grab the 1-0 lead. Rochester wasn’t letting the Lakers get comfortable though, and in the bottom of the first they led off with back-to-back walks and then a three run home run left. A double later in the inning drove one more home, and the Yellowjackets had a 4-1 to start the second frame. The bottom of the second saw Rochester grab two more runs on a two-out, bases loaded single. The Lakers found the scoreboard again in the third, a lead of double followed by a hit-by-pitch brought Kyle Lauria to the plate. He would hit it out and drop the deficit to 6-4. In the bottom of the fourth the Yellowjackets drove in one more to extend their lead to 7-4, and in the bottom of the fifth they would tally their eighth and final run of the game. Innings six through nine were scoreless, and the Lakers were handed their fourth loss of the season. A total of eight batters were hit in the game, four by each side.
The Lakers road trip in Rochester continued on Wednesday with a 3 P.M. matchup with the St. John Fisher Cardinals. A scoreless first inning was followed by five run bottom of the second for the Cardinals. A one out RBI single got the first run, a walk would load the bases, and then another walk brought in the second. After an out, a third walk of the inning drove in the third walk, and a single drove in runs for and five. The Lakers answered the following frame, a bases loaded, two-out double by Lukas Olsson cleared the bases and got the Lakers up to a 5-3 deficit. The Lakers tied it in the fourth. Ryan Enos was hit by a pitch with bases loaded to bring in the fourth run, and a Kyle Lauria walk brought home the fifth of the game for the Lakers. A scoreless fifth, was followed by the Lakers grabbing a single run in the top of the sixth. St. John Fisher tied it in the bottom of the eight at six on a solo shot to left. The Lakers wouldn’t score in the top of the ninth. The Cardinals led of the bottom of the ninth with a walk. The runner advanced to second on a passed ball, and was then driven in on a walk-off double, 7-6. Lukas Olsson led the Lakers with three RBIs, Kyle Lauria had two, and Ryan Enos driving in the final one.
The Lakers next matchup comes on the road against the Plattsburgh Cardinals for a three game set. Game one played on Friday, the other two played Saturday. The team now sits at a 13-5 (3-0 SUNYAC).
IMAGE PROVIDED BY OSWEGO ATHLETICS
