OSWEGO, NY — Men’s Basketball dropped a conference game to the Oneonta Red Dragons 76-66 for only their second SUNYAC loss of the season. The Lakers seven game winning streak snapped as the Lakers would allow 43 Red Dragon points in the second half in the defeat. Freshman Jeremiah Sparks once again lead the Lakers with 23 points as he hit seven field goals in his 40 minutes played. Joe Sullivan tallied 19 points and also hit seven field goals along with two 3-pointers.
Oswego falls to 5-2 in conference and hold the 4th spot in the standings as the Lakers look ahead to Potsdam Friday night. The Bears are 6-1 and tied for first in the SUNYAC standings. The Lakers will play right after Women’s Basketball as the Men’s game is set to tip off at 7:30 p.m. in Potsdam.
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Lakers Fly Past Cardinals in SUNYAC Tournament Berth
For the 19th straight season, the Oswego State Lakers have clinched the SUNYAC Tournament and what a better way to do it than on Valentine’s day. The Lakers defeated the Cardinals on Friday night during their six point victory thanks to a combined, 43 point effort from seniors Brandon Gartland and Joe Sullivan.
Plattsburgh kept it close throughout the first half while using their best rendition of ‘Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better’. Each time the Lakers grabbed a bucket on one end, the Cardinals always had an answer. Oswego held the lead by four points or less through the first ten minutes of the contest but three minutes later, with an already shallow selection on the bench, Plattsburgh Head Coach Mike Blaine had some decision making to do following the injury of Forward Jeremy Eisenmen. Eisenmen went down hard after crashing the boards and was clutching his left knee. He was able to put pressure on it but would not return to the game.
In his absence, Matt Bernhard, a 5’10” stud off the bench, executed a perfect first half of shooting off the bench. Aside from his one missed free throw, he shot 3-3 from distance and 4-4 from the field ending with 12 of the Cardinals 34 points at halftime.
Brandon Gartland shot five for eight from behind the arc in the first half, good enough to lead the book with 15 points at the break. Joe Sullivan was a vital part of the first half for the Lakers tallying nine free throw attempts and sinking five of them. Sullivan struggled to find his rhythm early on but that would change going into the second half.
General Joe flipped the switch coming out of the locker room scoring 12 of his 21 in the second frame. Sullivan shot 5-13 in the second half and ended with 8 rebounds and 8 assists to add onto his impressive scoring performance. Coach Leone was happy with his big man’s performance.
“Joe plays hard every night,” Leone said. “He’s a senior and he is doing what we would hope seniors do at this point in their senior season. I’m really pleased with the things he did tonight. He deserves it.”
However, Gartland went in the opposite direction having a rather quiet second half. He scored just seven points adding his total to 22 without a single three pointer in after the break. “They were sticking a little tighter to me,” Gartland expressed. “Other people were making plays and we were still scoring.” For what he lacked on the offensive end, he made up for on the defensive end with four steals and a couple big time stops down the stretch.
Plattsburgh got into some foul trouble five minutes into the second half when Erik Salo was charged with his fourth personal. Now with Eisenmen injured and Salo playing restricted and cautious minutes, the only other options off the bench were Marlon Todd and freshman Lamont Hough Jr. who never saw the floor.
With six to go, the Lakers turned on the after-burners going on an 8-2 run in a minute and 28 seconds taking a 69-61 lead with 4:05 remaining. The Cardinals never came back from this lead, falling short to the Lakers 75-69. It came down to protecting the ball tonight and Plattsburgh was not proficient in that category. Averaging 15 turnovers a game, Coach Blaine’s Cardinals exceeded that margin with 16 and 11 of those turnovers came in the second half.
Coach Jason Leone was excited about clinching the SUNYAC tournament for the ninth time in his nine years as the head coach of Oswego State but recognized that there was still work to do following Friday night. “We’re in the playoffs,” Leone expressed. “So now we are in a battle to try and get a home game. Every game has a significant meaning from here on out.” With Potsdam traveling to Laker hall at 4:00 pm for the second game of the back to back, the Lakers have a win under their belt and look to continue their winning ways after Improving to 16-5 on the year.
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Women’s Basketball Keep Winning Streak Rolling at 6-0
OSWEGO, NY- Once again the Women’s Basketball team keeps their winning streak rolling at 6-0. The Lakers defeated Alfred University 65-57 on Tuesday. The 6-0 start is their best start to a season since the 2004-05 season where they started an impressive 11-0.Karleigh Leo had a strong first quarter with two three-pointers as the Lakers led 15-14 at the end of the first quarter. The Lakers had outplayed the Saxons as they had shopt 40% from the field while Alred has shot 31% from the field. The Lakers also out-rebounded the Saxons as well. The second quarter played out exactly like the first. The Lakers outscored the the Saxons 15-14 with Karleigh Leo’s two three-pointers in the second quarter. Leo led the Lakers in points at the end of one half after hitting four three-pointers.
The Lakers strugglled in the third quarter only shooting from 30.77% from the field. The Saxons managed to hit back-to-back three-pointers in a span of two minutes to draw within one of Oswego’s lead at 40-39. Alfred managed to tie the score at 43 at the end of the third quarter.
Logan Castiglione scored the first four points of the game for the Lakers in the beginning of the fourth quarter. Shania Iglesias hit a three-pointer to extend the Lakers lead to 50-46 with 7:20 left in the fourth quarter. Karleigh Leo then added her fifth three-pointer of the game with 6:11 to extend the Lakers lead to 53-49. Iglesias had scored two layups that helped the Lakers extend their lead once again that the Lakers wouldn’t look back from. Diamond Pickett, Elaina Johnson, and Karleigh Leo would add the final points for the Lakers to make the score 65-57.
The Lakers will host Fredonia on November 29th at 5:30 at the Max Ziel Gymnasium. The Lakers are looking to end their eight-game losing streak against the Blue Devils as their last win against came in 2016 where they edged them out by a point 62-63. The Lakers look to keep their winning streak alive at 7-0.
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Field Hockey finishes SUNYAC play with loss versus Geneseo
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.
