OSWEGO, N.Y. — The Oswego State men’s basketball team continued their stellar start to the season on Tuesday, defeating Clarkson University 82-67 to move to 3-0 on the season. With this win, the Lakers extended their win streak versus Clarkson to six, dating back to 2015.
It was a close, scrappy game from whistle to whistle. Junior guard Kaleb Cook started the game off hot, scoring 13 points in the first half. Despite the strong defensive effort of the Golden Knights, Oswego went into halftime up 34-28. Five minutes into the second half, Oswego went up by double digits with buckets from Brendan Mulson (12), Jeremiah Sparks (10) and Julien Crittendon (10). Throughout the rest of the game, both teams traded baskets, which kept the game within reach for Clarkson. Though at the end or regulation, Oswego was able to prevent a comeback and win 82-67. Sparks finished the game with 18 points, 3 assists and 8 rebounds while Cook and Crittendon finished with 15 points apiece.
Oswego will look to carry this momentum into their next game against Nazareth College on Nov. 23 before their first SUNYAC game of the season the following week. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. at the Max Ziel Gymnasium.
Photo provided by William Rogers, WTOP-10 photography department
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Oswego State women’s basketball team falls to Geneseo despite mighty defensive performance
OSWEGO, N.Y. — The Oswego State women’s basketball team fell to SUNY Geneseo 49-36 on Wednesday despite a tremendous defensive effort. This marks the tenth loss of the season for the Lakers and first loss to Geneseo, with a rematch looming next Tuesday on the road.
Both teams came out of the gate competitive as ever with the Knights holding a 17-9 lead going into the second quarter. After a 4-0 run by the Lakers, the Knights closed out the remaining 5:14 of the half on a 13-0 run to bring their halftime lead to 17. To begin the second half, the Lakers came out swinging as they closed the lead to 32-20, backed by four points and an assist from Logan Nyemchek. Oswego won the third quarter, outscoring the Knights 13-9. Heading into the final quarter, a Chastin Giles three-pointer brought the Lakers within eight points of tying. However, Geneseo would go on to close out the final six minutes of regulation as they held the Lakers to just one point in that time.
Freshman Shania Iglesias lead the team in scoring with nine points while also collecting five rebounds. Claire Skowronski and Elaina Johnson each finished with two steals in a great defensive effort. Overall, the Lakers forced 22 turnovers and held the Knights to just 32% shooting from the field. They also held Geneseo to their second lowest scoring performance of the season.
With this loss, the Lakers fall to 3-10 on the season and 0-7 in SUNYAC play. They will have the opportunity to bounce back against SUNY Cortland on Saturday before a rematch with SUNY Geneseo on Jan. 25. Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m. at Cortland.
Image Provided By Matthew Hernandez, WTOP 10 Photography Department
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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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Oswego State Hockey Weekend Preview
OSWEGO, NY — Men’s Hockey returns home this weekend for a pair of SUNYAC match ups in the last regular season weekend of the 2019-2020 campaign. The Lakers are coming off a successful weekend in Morrisville as the team secured two shutouts and the second seed in the SUNYAC playoffs. The 4-0 and 7-0 wins allowed Oswego to clinch the second seed behind Geneseo. This gave Oswego a bye into the semi-final round of playoffs along with a home game. This also allows the Lakers to finish off the season stress free as these next two match ups are just confidence boosters heading into post season. These two match ups against the two teams from the Buffalo area are however important for these away teams.
Friday night, Buffalo State will travel into the Marano Campus Center as the current fourth seed in the standings. But the Bengals have only clinched a berth to the playoffs and not secured their position in the top six. With Brockport only facing Geneseo this weekend, Buffalo State could pass the Golden Eagles with two wins over Oswego and then Cortland Saturday evening. Buffalo State would have the tiebreaker if the Bengals could only secure one win this weekend, or Brockport does upset Geneseo. For Oswego, a win over Buffalo State would allow the Lakers to sweep the Bengals along with make Buffalo State’s chances of coming back to Oswego for a semi final game even tougher. Steven Kozikoski will most likely start Friday night to stay fresh for playoffs. Kozikoski has started and completed the last 6 of 7 games for the Lakers as the sophomore currently holds a 1.81 goals against average along with a .927 save percentage, the best between all three netminders. This puck drop is set for 7 p.m. but WTOP 10 has you covered with coverage beginning at 6:30.
Saturday Night, the Lakers will face off against Fredonia who’s currently is in last in the SUNYAC standings. Although the team has a 3-8-3 conference record, the Devils still have a chance of making the playoffs with two games this weekend. With a current three way tie for the last spot, Fredonia only sits one point out with a game against Cortland Friday, the current sixth seed. Due to Saturday’s game being Senior Night, expect seniors David Richer and Cedric Hansen split time in net for the Lakers. Richer did start Saturday night’s in Morrisville and secured his 9th collegiate shutout after not playing since January 24th against Cortland, when the Lakers lost in overtime. This game will also have a 7 p.m. puck drop with coverage starting at 6:30 p.m. on WTOP 10. The Senior Night Ceremony will begin directly after the completion of the game.
