OSWEGO, NY — Men’s Basketball improved to 8-2 Friday night after the Lakers defeated Fredonia 67-44 as the team capitalized in the second half. The Laker defense solidified the win by holding the Blue Devils to 21 points in the half. The Oswego win was headed by junior Liam Sanborn who led on offense with 15 points along with senior Joe Sullivan who tallied 14 points. The Lakers improved to 2-1 in the SUNYAC conference as Oswego will finish out their season with conference game play. The team has another SUNYAC match up Saturday afternoon against Buffalo State at 4 p.m. in the Max Ziel Gymnasium.
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Women’s Lax Achieves 12-Win Season For the First Time in Seven Years
OSWEGO, NY- The women’s lacrosse team had a successful weekend as they won both games including achieving their highest win total in a long time.In the Lakers first game, they defeated the Buffalo State Bengals on the road 16-10. It only took the Lakers 24 seconds to score as Shae McConnell got the Lakers on the board first. Two minutes later Julia Quirk scored for the Lakers to make it 2-0 with the Lakers scoring two goals within the first 3:23 seconds of the game. The Bengals would finally get on the board as Vanessa Willick would score two goals within 1:14 seconds to cut the Bengals lead to two with Oswego leading 4-2. Julia Quirk and Shae McConnell would add two more goals to make the score 6-2 at the end of the first quarter. Sarah Fineour would score two goals to open the second quarter for the Bengals to cut the Lakers lead to two at 6-4. Isabella Lembo would score to make the score 7-4 and the Lakers would add two more goals towards the end of the second quarter to make the halftime score 9-5. Shae McConnell would lead the Lakers at half with three goals.
The Bengals would rally off three straight goals within the first 2:09 seconds of the opening of the third quarter to rally back down 9-8 to put the Lakers on the edge of their seats. The Lakers would go on a 5-0 run to end the third quarter as Julia Quirk would score two goals in the quarter. The Lakers would lead 14-8 at the end of the third quarter. Quirk would have four goals entering the fourth quarter. Seven minutes went by without both teams scoring until Julia Quirk scored with 8:14 left to give the Lakers a 15-8 lead. Buffalo State would answer back to make it a nine-point game as Sarah Fineour would score her third goal of the game to cut the Lakers lead to six. Julia Quirk would seal the deal for the Lakers with 6:58 remaining to make the score 16-8. Quirk would lead the Lakers on the day with a career-high six goals. Buffalo State would score late but the Lakers would win 16-10. The Lakers improve to 11-3 which ties their best record since the 2019 lacrosse season.
The Lakers were able to carry their momentum from their last game into their game against the Oneonta Red Dragons. The Lakers managed to win 16-13. Isabella Lembo and Sela Wiley got things going for the Lakers early with two goals within the first 1:56 seconds of the game. Three minutes later Isabella Lembo would score back-to-back goals for the Lakers to put them up 4-0 with 9:27 remaining in the first quarter. The Red Dragons would respond immediately after as Mason Benevuto scored the first goal of the game for the Red Dragons to make it a 4-1 game. Julia Quirk and Sela Wiley would score two goals at the end of the first quarter to give the Lakers a 6-1 lead. Shae McConnell increased the Lakers lead to six with 11:38 remaining. The Red Dragons would go on a 3-0 run in 4:02 seconds with the Red Dragons scoring with 2:20 seconds left in the first half to cut the Lakers lead to four at 9-5. Madison Davis would score with 20 seconds left in the half to give the Lakers a 10-5 lead at halftime. Isabella Lembo would lead the Lakers with three goals for the first half.
Sela Wiley got things started for the Lakers scoring just 55 seconds into the second half. Isabella Lembo would then score three consecutive goals in a row as she would still lead the Lakers on the day with six goals as the Lakers would lead 14-5 with 7:42 left in the third quarter. The Red Dragons would then score two goals as Lindsay Townes and Marissa Evans would cut the Lakers lead to seven. Katie Fierro would increase the Lakers lead to eight with 2:08 remaining in the third. Cassidy Moore and Olivia McCabe would then add two goals at the end of the third quarter to put the Red Dragons down 15-9. The Red Dragons would then score 56 seconds into the fourth quarter to make it 15-11. Isabella Lembo would score the final goal of the game for the Lakers as she would add her seventh goal of the game. The Red Dragons would then go on a 3-0 run towards the end of the fourth quarter as Cassidy Moore would score twice and Lauren Mancini scoring once during that run. The Lakers would take care of the Red Dragons 16-13 as Oneonta would fall to 5-9 on the season.
The Lakers win game number 12 of the season which is their highest win total since 2016 where they finished 12-4. Their next win would be their most wins in a season in their program’s history. The Lakers now face their toughest challenge of the season traveling to Cortland on Wednesday, April 26th to take on the Red Dragons who sit a first in the SUNYAC after beating Geneseo on Saturday 14-8. The Lakers will look to pull off a major upset in the SUNYAC along with getting their first ever win against Cortland all-time in their programs history as they stand 0-32 against the Red Dragons all-time. Last season, the Lakers lost 17-4 to Cortland and have been outscored by the Red Dragons all-time by a score of 172-527. The Lakers at the moment stand as the third seed in the SUNYAC standings as they will likely face off against the Red Dragons once again in the SUNYAC Playoffs Round One at home but this is still TBD at the moment.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY ERIN BLANK, WTOP-10 PHOTOGRAPHY DEPARTMENT
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Men’s basketball season comes to an end in wire to wire matchup
MARIETTA O.H. — A historic season by the Oswego State men’s basketball team came to end Friday night in the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Division 3 tournament. After winning the first two rounds in Swarthmore, the team was sent to Marietta, Ohio to take on the the Marietta College Pioneers, the hosts of the new pod. A matchup between two top 25 ranked teams, Marietta number two and Oswego number 17, was set to be a tough one for both sides.
The Lakers got on the board first from an Ahkee Anderson three. The Lakers were the ones hitting their shots early, and just five minutes in they held an 8-2 lead. It didn’t take Marietta long to find their stride and by the ten minute mark it was only a 16-15 lead for Oswego. The teams went back and forth draining baskets, and Marietta grabbed their first lead of the game, 22-21, just under the eight minute mark. The Pioneers would then went on a 14-6 run over the next five minutes to grab a nine point lead. The Lakers closed the lead to four with 36 second to go on a Jeremiah Sparks three, but Marietta’s Lukas Isaly hit a three with six second to go to give the Pioneers a seven point lead, 43-36, into the halftime break. Oswego came out of the locker rooms hot. A Devin Green three got the half started, and they grabbed a 47-46 lead with 15 minutes remaining. The Lakers kept pushing and just a minute and a half later they led 56-47, a 20-4 run coming out of the half. Marietta went on a run of their own, 11-2, to tie the game at 58, with eight minutes to play, and then grabbed a 64-61 lead on a Tim Kreeger layup and one with six minutes in the game. Devin Green hit a three with five to go to give Oswego their final lead of the game, 66-65. Marietta kept hitting their shots, and extended the lead to 10, 78-68, with a 1:48 to go. The Lakers got as close as five on three straight free throw makes from Green, 80-75, but the Pioneers weren’t letting the lead slip away and they moved on the Elite Eight 89-81. Devin Green was the Laker’s leader with 22 points tying his season high, he was 5-10 from three and 7-13 overall. Jeremiah Sparks added 19 points and Ahkee Anderson had 12 to go with six assists. Jamal Achille and Brendon Mulson had seven and six rebounds respectively to lead the team. Marietta’s Jason Ellis had had 28 points, with Lukas Isaly and Tim Kreeger both contributing 17. Marietta moves on to take on Christopher Newport University in the Elite Eight.
Oswego’s season comes to an end with a record of 27-3, a school record for wins in a season. They clinched their eighth SUNYAC Championship and fifth since the 2011-12 season. They claimed their sixth appearance in the NCAA tournament, and their third sweet sixteen appearance, the farthest the team has ever gotten (2016, 2019). Devin Green was the Lakers overall scoring leader at 12.2 points per game, with Jeremiah Sparks (11.8) and Julien Crittendon (10.5) the other to Lakers above 10 ppg. Green (5.7), Sparks (5.5), Brendon Mulson (5.5), and Christian Simmons (5.3) all averaged over five rebounds per games, with Jamal Achille averaging 4.4. Ahkee Anderson ran the point for Oswego most of the season and he led the team in assists per game at 3.0 as a freshman, also contributing 8.4 points. The Lakers are seeing seven seniors graduate, Forward Brendon Mulson, Forward Christian Simmons, Guard Eric Sanfilippo, Forward Jordan Brown, Forward Hunter Cole, Guard Julien Crittendon, and Center Louis Fedullo.
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Coach Leone is SUNYAC Men’s Basketball Coach of the Decade
OSWEGO, NY — On Thursday, the SUNYAC announced the All-Decade team for Men’s Basketball. Three Lakers would make the team along with Oswego Lakers Head Coach Jason Leone being named the SUNYAC Men’s Basketball Coach of the Decade. Leone has been with the Lakers for nine seasons and has coached the team to four SUNYAC championships. The coach has a 181-75 (.707) overall record and a 114-48 (.704) conference record while at the helm of the team. Oswego has been to five NCAA tournaments which includes two trips to the Sweet 16. Coach Leone’s accolades include four SUNY Coach of the Year awards (2012, 2015, 2017, 2019) and three Regional Coach of the Year awards.
The Lakers went 19-8 last season and fell to the Brockport Golden Eagles in the semifinals round of the SUNYAC championship. The team posted a 7-3 home record along with going undefeated in neutral contests. Senior Joe Sullivan led the team with 14.6 points per game in front of freshman standout Jeremiah Sparks. The Men’s Basketball team will return next season after the conference postponed the winter season.
