OSWEGO, N.Y — The Oswego State Lakers head into their third week of the season prepared for the start of conference play. The Lakers host SUNY Cortland in the Max Ziel Gymnasium Tuesday evening for the first time in 729 days. Oswego State kicked off the season with a 4-4 record which consisted of a successful season opener against the Keuka College Wolves. The 3-2 set win started Oswego on the right foot ahead of a weekend tournament in Morrisville. Seven contests later, Oswego will get set for a rematch against the Red Dragons after getting bounced from the post season in the opening round back in 2019.
The Red Dragons of Cortland head into the contest with an overall record of 5-2. SUNY Cortland swept the Cortland Red Dragon Classic back on Labor Day Weekend before heading on an away trip to New Jersey for a set of three games. The Red Dragons were ranked third overall in the 2021 SUNYAC Women’s Volleyball Preseason Poll back on August 25th. Oswego was ranked seventh by the head coaches in the conference.
The Lakers will look to get their first win against the Red Dragons since the 2018 season. Game one is set to begin at 6:00 p.m. in the Max Ziel Gymnasium. Oswego State fans can check out all the action on WTOP 10 via the YouTube page.
Image Provided by Alexis Fragapane, Oswego State Athletics
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Men’s Basketball takes pod, moves on to sweet sixteen
SWARTHMORE P.A. — The Oswego State Men’s basketball team took the the road last weekend to Swarthmore, Pennsylvania for the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament. After Monday’s selection show it was announced that they would play Hood College of Frederick, Maryland in the first round, with the winner moving on to take on the winner of Swarthmore and Keene State of New Hampshire.
Oswego and Hood were the second game in the entire tournament to tip off, with the time set for 3:05 Friday afternoon. Jamal Achille started the scoring for both sides with an early three, but that was quickly followed by six straight points from Hood for an early 6-3 lead. The two sides kept it close throughout the early part of the first half, but the three point barrage from Hood’s Evan Wang saw them grab a nine point advantage, 25-16, with nine to play. The Lakers then found their stride, an 18-2 run to end the half saw them go to the locker rooms up 34-27. Evan Wang had 18 of Hood’s 27 in the first half. The teams traded baskets to start the second half, with Oswego extending their lead to just ten, 47-37 with just under 14 minutes to play. Hood then went on a 5-0 run to cut the deficit to five, and after a made Oswego basket, hit a three to cut it to four. Then the Laker’s hit their stride again, a 14-2 run saw the lead jump to 66-50 with seven and a half minutes to play. Hood fought the rest of the game, but the lead never dropped below nine for Oswego, and the Lakers moved on to the round of thirty-two with a 82-73 victory. Jamal Achille led Oswego with 20 point and 12 rebounds, nine of them offensive. Four other Lakers had nine or better in the points column, Devin Green (17), Jeremiah Sparks (10), Brendon Mulson (9), and Julien Crittendon (9). Evan Wang (21) came in second in points for Hood to his twin brother Mason Wang (23).
Keene State won the other matchup in the pod over hosts Swarthmore, so the two sides met Saturday afternoon for a chance to move into the sweet sixteen. Jamal Achille picked up where he left off and scored nine points in the first six minutes, with Ahkee Anderson contributing four, to give the Lakers a 13-10 lead. Devin Green found his scoring stride, scoring seven of Oswego’s next 12 to give them a 25-14 lead with seven to go in the half. The Lakers kept pushing, and by halftime they led 48-28. Jamal Achille and Christian Simmons each had 13 in the half, with Anderson and Green both having nine. Keene State was led by Octavio Brito who had 12. Jamal Achille hit the twenty point mark with 15 still to play on a two-handed slam down low, and Oswego had a 57-32 lead. Keene State then went on a 19-9 run to close the gap to 15 with just under eight minutes in the game. Keene State cut the lead to 13 with 5:10 to go. Oswego hit a couple of shots to push the lead back to 18, and then both sides went scoreless for a little over two minutes. Hunter Cole had five of Oswego’s last seven in the final minute of play, and Oswego moved on with another win, 84-63. Jamal Achille again led the team, this time with 22, and Ahkee Anderson had his season high with 17. Christian Simmons added 16 of his own off the bench, and Devin Green had 11 to close out the Lakers in double digit scoring. Octavio Brito led Keene State in scoring with 24, and Mason Jean-Baptiste had 19, no other players had over 5 five points.
The Lakers and their fifth ranked defense now head to Marietta, Ohio to take on the Marietta Pioneers in the sweet sixteen. Marietta hosted the first two rounds of play as well, beating Madaille College 91-79 in the first round and the University of Rochester 88-83 in the second round. Marietta is led by 17.3 point-per-game scorer, senior guard Jason Ellis, who had 25 in the first round, but was held to only 10 in the second. Their second leading scorer is senior guard Lukas Isaly who averages 15.3, he had 15 in the first round, and had a game high 33 vs Rochester. They also have two other ten plus point scorers in seniors Tim Kreeger and Mason Lydic, who average 11.8 and 10.8 respectively. Marietta is 20th in the country in team scoring at 84.7 points per game. The winner of this matchup plays the winner of Christopher Newport University of Newport News, Virginia and Stockton University of Galloway Township, New Jersey.
IMAGE PROVIDED BY OSWEGO ATHLETICS DEPARTMENT
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Lakers Sweep Hawks To Kick Off SUNYAC Play
OSWEGO, N.Y. – The Oswego State Lakers brought out the brooms on Friday, as they swept the New Paltz Hawks in a quick three sets.
The Lakers made their presence felt early on with a commanding win in the opening set. The team quickly took a 12-6 lead, spearheaded by strong individual showings from Gigi Basile and Priscilla McReynolds that mobilized the attack. The Hawks urgently tried to make a comeback, but the attempt was ultimately futile as the Lakers received significant assistance on the defensive end from CJ Eidem, who racked up seven digs to help her home-squad secure an authoritative 25-17 victory, and a 1-0 lead.
The Lakers found a crease in-between a more balanced second set, and were able to come away with a tight 25-19 victory. The momentum alternated between both squads at a rapid rate, but a well-structured offensive gameplan from the Lakers, headed by Kalley Vugveteen and Mya Bush, allowed them to get into a synchronized groove. Moreover, Eidem continued to be a neutralizer on the defensive end with four digs, while McReynolds also aided in that department, displaying her effective two-way skills.
The Lakers lost not a step in the final set, as Jon Stenman coached his group to a game-clinching 25-17 win in the final set. The offense fronted a calculated showing to push the Lakers out to an early 11-1 lead, and they never looked back from there. It was Grace Gdovin who continued to make an impact in all facets of the game, with a team-high four kills, while the Hawks continued to commit unfortunate errors – a factor that would be their main shortcoming. McReynolds rounded out the offense, while Bush continued to operate as an immense beneficiary for the Lakers, with five assists in the set, for a mark of 20 on the day.
The Lakers stay home for tomorrow’s outing, as they face off against SUNYAC foe Oneonta at 1 p.m.
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Oswego Baseball cancels Spring Break trip
OSWEGO, NY — Oswego Baseball has gotten off to a hot start this season as the team sits at 6-3. The team has been traveling all over the East Coast to play colleges as Oswego hasn’t been warm enough to host baseball yet this season. The group recently got two wins in a double header against Arcadia this past Sunday. The 4-3 and 6-4 victory came at the end of a three game road trip that featured a lose to Salve Regina Saturday in Glenside, PA. Ryan Wiess leads the team with a batting average of .444 with 18 at bats. Lukas Olsson is the only Laker to hit multiple home runs so far this season as three Oswego players have hit balls out of the park.
Oswego was getting set to head on the road for Spring Break which would feature 8 games being played in South Carolina. Recently, this trip was cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Now the team will get set to kick off their conference games as Oneonta is the first team on the schedule after their short break. The Lakers will head to face the Red Dragons on the road for a Saturday game, on March 27th, and a double header on Sunday, March 28th. Oswego has been the SUNYAC champion the past three seasons as the group looks to continue their success in the conference.
WTOP 10 will have coverage of Oswego athletics until further notice. The television station will stay up to date on whether Division III athletics will continue moving forward.
