OSWEGO — Field Hockey played their final home game of the 2019 season on Saturday when they took on SUNYAC opponent Geneseo. The Knights, who came into the contest 4-0 in SUNYAC play, recorded the first two goals of the game within the first six minutes. The lone Lakers goal would come from Kacie Simzer in the third quarter before the Knights answered in the fourth to finish with a 4-1 final score. Oswego goalie Erica Scheblein recorded 20 saves which was a new career high. The Lakers finish 1-5 in conference competition and will miss the SUNYAC Championship. However, the team will finish their 2019 campaign on the road at St. John Fisher on Wednesday.
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Men’s basketball takes first SUNYAC loss
ONEONTA N.Y. — The Oswego State men’s basketball team is one of the hottest teams in the country. Coming into the weekend they were undefeated in conference play, had only one loss on the season, and had won seventeen straight games. Oswego was set to go on the road to take on the New Platz Hawks and the Oneonta Red Dragons. They had taken on these two teams and blown them both out at home two weekends prior, they were hoping to do the same this weekend.
Their first stop of the weekend was New Paltz. When the teams played two weekends ago it was a one vs two matchup in the SUNYAC where the Lakers would come out on top, the Hawks wanted revenge for their loss. The game was close through most of the first half, the Lakers held a 13-10 lead after six minutes, were down 21-20 after eleven minutes, and finally grabbed a sustained lead around the seven minute mark, 25-21, on a Brendon Mulson three. A three from Ahkee Anderson with five to go would give the Lakers a 30-23 lead, but New Paltz would use the last five minutes to go on a 14-5 run and the half would end with New Paltz up 37-35. The teams traded baskets for most of the second half, a Jeremiah Sparks three with twelve to go gave the Lakers a six point lead, the largest lead for either team in the half. A Sparks dunk with four minutes left gave the Lakers a four point lead, and then the Hawks would score the next six points to give them a 62-60 lead. Devin Green would go to the line and make the first but miss the second, a rebound on the miss by Brendon Mulson led to a Sparks layup to give the Lakers a one point lead. With fifteen seconds left New Paltz hit a layup to go up one and then got a steal to hand Oswego their first loss since November 23, 64-63. Jeremiah Spark led the Lakers with fifteen points, with Ahkee Anderson contributing twelve and Jamal Achille ten.
Game two of the road trip came against Red Dragons of Oneonta on Saturday. The Lakers looked to make up for the loss the night before and move on. Devin Green was the leader for the Lakers from the tip. He scored the ten of Oswego’s first twenty points on way to a 20-10 lead after eight minutes. The game was back and forth the remaining twelve minutes with Jeremiah Sparks hitting the final shot of the half for either team around the two minute mark. The teams would head to the locker rooms with Oswego leading 31-23. Oswego grew their lead to eleven four minutes into the second half on a Kaleb Cook three. With just under seven minutes left they grew the lead to fourteen, 56-42. Oneonta would go on a 9-0 run to close the gap to five before five straight points from Brendon Mulson would seal the game. Two free throws from each team saw them get to the final score of 63-53. Devin Green led the Lakers with nineteen points and eight rebounds. Jeremiah Sparks was the only other double digit scorer on the Lakers with ten of his own. Jamal Achille and Brendon Mulson both had nine points.
With the win Saturday the Lakers clinched the top seed in the SUNYAC tournament. Their record is now 21-2 (15-1 SUNYAC). They sit 14th in the national rankings as of Monday February, 7. Oswego has the final two games of their season next weekend, the first on Friday February, 18 vs Brockport at home. WTOP10 will have coverage of both games on YouTube and Twitch.
IMAGE PROVIDED BY WILLIAM ROGERS, WTOP10 PHOTOGRAPHY DEPARTMENT
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Men’s basketball: SUNYAC championship recap and NCAA tournament preview
OSWEGO N.Y. — The Oswego State men’s basketball started their playoffs with a SUNYAC championship victory. They were the top seeded team in the tournament because they had the best regular season record in the conference. This saw them host both semi-final matchups and the finals. The first round of the tournament was on Tuesday, the winner’s of those two games would travel to Oswego to take on the Lakers, and the other team with a first round bye, Oneonta.
Excitement was building in the team after it was announced Tuesday night that Oswego would get their rematch with New Paltz, the team that had beat them just a few weeks prior to give them their only SUNYAC loss of the season. It was Jeremiah Sparks’ early seven points that helped the Lakers take an 8-2 lead. After the first ten minutes of play the Lakers still held the lead, 25-17, with Jamal Achille scoring six of his own to help out. The final ten minutes of the half saw the Lakers find their stride, a 23-5 run saw seniors Julien Crittendon, Brendon Mulson, and Christian Simmons combine for eighteen points, and the both teams headed to the locker rooms with the Lakers leading 48-22. The Lakers shot an incredible 66.7% in the first half. Oswego went on another run coming out of the half, and with just under fourteen to play, Oswego led 62-30. Eleven points from Kaleb Cook and seven from Sean Edwards in the final ten minutes helped the Lakers close the game out, and get revenge on the Hawks with a 94-60 victory. Five Lakers reached double digit scoring, Julien Crittendon (15), Jeremiah Sparks (13), Devin Green (12), Jamal Achille (11), and Kaleb Cook (11). Jeremiah Sparks had four steals in the game and Devin Green had three, with Oswego having a total of 15 in the game. With the win they moved on to take on the Oneonta Red Dragons who beat Brockport, 64-54, in the other Semi-final matchup.
Brendon Mulson was the Lakers fast starter in the Championship bout, scoring seven of Oswego’s first nine en route to a 9-0 lead. Half way through the first frame, Oswego was doubling Oneonta’s score 18-9. By the end of the first half Jeremiah Sparks and Julien Crittendon had combined for eighteen points, and the Lakers led 38-19. Oswego reached fifty points and a thirty point advantage on the same play, a Julien Crittendon layup with fourteen minutes to go. With eight minutes to go Oswego’s lead grew to thirty-five. Oneonta showed fight down the stretch making five threes before the end of the game, but the Lakers victory was all but assured and the game ended 81-60. Jeremiah Sparks (18) was Oswego’s scoring leader, with Devin Green (15), Jamal Achille (11) and Julien Crittendon (10) all reaching double digits. Achille and Green had nine and eight rebounds respectively. This championship victory was the Oswego’s fifth in ten seasons. After the game Jeremiah Sparks, Jamal Achille, Julien Crittendon, and Devin Green were all named to the all tournament team, with Sparks being named tournament MVP.
https://www.ncaa.com/brackets/basketball-men/d3/2022
After the win, the Lakers were guaranteed a spot in the NCAA Division 3 Tournament. The selection show was Monday afternoon, with the Laker’s waiting to hear their opponent and where they would be playing. It was determined by the selection committee that Oswego would be one of three teams traveling to hosts Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, PA just outside of Philadelphia. Oswego’s first round matchup will be against Hood College from Frederick, MD, with the winner of that matchup playing the winner of Swarthmore and Keene State from Keene, NH.
Hood College plays in the Middle Atlantic Conference Commonwealth. They came in second in their conference, beating the conference winner, Eastern University, 75-71 in the championship game. The Hood Blazers were 20-6 this season, going 14-2 in conference. Hood is led by senior brothers Mason and Evan Wang. Mason Wang led Hood with 22.4 points per game, while also contributing 5.0 rebounds per game, 3.5 assists per game, and 2.3 steals per game. Evan Wang is the second leading scorer at 14.1 points per game, also with 5.0 rebounds per game, and leading the team in assists at 3.8 per game. Christopher Smalls is their third highest scorer with 9.8 points per game. Hood averages 81.9 points per game, with teams averaging 74.1 against them. They shoot 44.5% from the field and 38.1% from three. The two sides have never played each other before.
The game against Hood College is Friday, March 4th. Tip off is set for 3:05 P.M. The winner’s of the two games will play Saturday at 5:35 in Swarthmore.
IMAGE PROVIDED BY OSWEGO ATHLETICS
BRACKET PROVIDED BY NCAA.COM
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Women’s Hockey ties with Cortland
CORTLAND, NY — Women’s Hockey played another NEWHL game this evening as the Lakers tied the Cortland 2-2 in Red Dragon’s territory. Both teams were scoreless in the 1st period before the Red Dragons got on the board five minutes into the 2nd period. The Lakers would answer as freshman Megan Teachout snapped one past the Cortland goalie for her 8th goal of the season. Senior Eryn Stewart would tally the assist for her 12th assist on the season. Cortland would take the lead at the end of the 2nd period before Eryn Stewart scored in the 3rd period to force the tie. Senior Rachael Farmer would post 22 saves for a .917 save percentage in the tie.
The Lakers stay two points ahead of Cortland and Potsdam for second place in the NEWHL standings. Oswego travels to Potsdam this Saturday for an afternoon game on the road. Puck drop is set for 3 p.m.
