BUFFALO, NY – The Lakers after losing their first game of the season yesterday got back in the win column taking down Buffalo State 73-66. The Lakers didn’t trail at once during the game.
The Lakers started out the game on a hot streak as they made three straight three-pointers to lead 9-6 where Buffalo State would also hit two three-pointers in a row as well. Karleigh Leo would hit two of those three-pointers with the other from Logan Castiglione. The Lakers hit four three-pointers in total in the first quarter with the fourth coming from Shania Iglesias. Oswego would shoot 44.4% from the field compared to the Bengals 35.00%. The Lakers would lead 26-18 at the end of the first quarter.
The Lakers momentum only continued in the second quarter where they would lead 41-30 at the half. The Lakers managed to put up a respectable 41.2% from the field and 42.9% from the three-point range. The Lakers managed to add two more three-pointers in the second quarter as Logan Castiglione hit her second of the game and Peyton Daeffler made her first three-pointer of the season.
Diamond Pickett scored the first points of the second half to extend the Lakers lead to 13. Castiglione would add her third three-pointer of the game to extend the Lakers lead to 46-32 with 7:49 left in the third quarter. The Lakers struggled from the field in the quarter as they shot 18.18% in the third. The Lakers led 54-45 at the end of the third quarter.
PHOTO CREDITS PROVIDED BY OSWEGO STATE ATHLETICS
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Lakers Basketball defeats Cortland in close battle
OSWEGO, NY — Men’s Basketball came away with another SUNYAC victory Saturday night against the Cortland Red Dragons. The Lakers would win 68-66, thanks to Jeremiah Sparks would lead the offense with 31 points. He had a career-high 11 made field goals during the contest. Oswego secured the lead in the first half and kept the Red Dragons out of the lead as Cortland missed a 3 pointer in the dying seconds to drop the game and fall to 3-3 in conference play. The win continues to keep the Lakers in the hunt for the top spot in the SUNYAC standings.
The Lakers are back in action Tuesday night following the Women’s Basketball game. Tip off is at 7:30 p.m. in the Max Ziel Gymnasium. Oswego welcomes in Oneonta, who is currently right behind the Lakers in the standings but has the same conference record of 5-1. This will be an important game for the Lakers as they fight for the top spot in the SUNYAC.
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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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Oswego State women’s basketball splits in weekend road trip
ONEONTA, N.Y. — The Oswego State women’s basketball team split in their weekend doubleheader, falling to New Paltz 56-37 on Friday before defeating Oneonta 56-52 on Saturday.
On Friday, the Lakers were able to keep pace with the two-time defending SUNYAC champions throughout most of the game. After a back-and-forth first quarter, New Paltz built a 19-8 lead by the opening minute of the second quarter. Though, the Lakers stormed back and went on a 13-2 run to knot the game at 21-21 with four minute remaining in the half. Freshman Diamond Pickett and senior Danielle Caivana combined for 11 points during that stretch run. Both teams scored last-minute buckets to end the half with Oswego trailing 27-24 at the break. Caivana started the second half off hot, scoring the Lakers first five points of the third quarter and tying the game at 29 apiece. However, that would be as close as the Lakers got for the remainder of the game. New Paltz went on a 17-0 run across the third and into the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach. Oswego outrebounded the Hawks 48-37, but were unable to capitalize on many second chance scoring opportunities.
Looking to avenge their loss the night before, Oswego started Saturday’s game off strong. The Lakers we’re up 19-11 after the opening quarter, lead by freshman Shania Iglesias who contributed a whopping 11 points. Both teams went on scoring runs throughout the second quarter, bring the halftime score to 31-21 Lakers. Oswego started to pull away in the second half. Danielle Caivana became red hot from beyond the arc, hitting a trio of three pointers as the Oswego lead grew to a staggering 21 points. However, Oneonta rallied back in the final 10 minutes of regulation. The Red Dragons went on a 24-9 run and brought the game within five points with under minute to go. However, free throws from Caivana and Diamond Pickett iced the game for the Lakers. Iglesias finished with a season-high 20 points while Danielle Caivana put up 15 of her own. Diamond Pickett also totaled a game-high 14 rebounds and three steals.
With Saturday’s victory, Oswego swept the season series with Oneonta and also snapped a five-game losing streak. While the Lakers improved to 5-17 on the season, they are unfortunately eliminated from SUNYAC playoff contention. Although this is the case, Oswego will look to finish the season off strong as they host their final two games next weekend against SUNY Brockport and Fredonia. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m. on Friday at the Max Ziel Gymnasium.
Image Provided by Will Rogers, WTOP 10 Photography Department
