Oswego State Lakers men’s basketball drops their season opener to the Nazareth College Golden Flyers 63-57 Tuesday night at Max Ziel Gymnasium in Oswego, New York.

Tyler Stenglein led the way for Nazareth, scoring 18 points, along with six rebounds, and six assists.

Oswego native Josh Gillard got things done on both ends of the floor for Nazareth, scoring 11 points with three 3-pointers.

“It was amazing as a senior to come into your hometown,” Gillard said. “To see all the people that have been so vital to me getting where I am as a college basketball player, I couldn’t really ask for more, it was a great feeling.”

Gillard took on the tough defensive assignment against Div. III All-American Brian Sortino, and held his own in that match-up.

“He’s a great athlete, and a great guy, I’ve known him for a while,” Gillard said. “You can’t really do much but give it everything you got and guard him, he’s a great athlete and that’s why he’s an All-American.”

Sortino scored 23 points for the Lakers, but struggled from the field shooting 35%. He also went 9-13 from the free throw line.

Keith Tyson for the Lakers had a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds (six offensively). Paul Krecko grabbed 11 boards and swatted away three blocks.

Overall it was a struggle from the field for the Lakers offense, shooting 18 for 56 (32%), including 3-19 from the arc.

“We had a tough night shooting the ball, I’m not really concerned about that we’re a good shooting team,” Coach Leone said. “There’s a lot of emotions and things that go with the first game of the year, and our guys competed.”

The first 14 minutes displayed a lot of back forward action, Sortino and Stenglein were putting on an offensive clinic. With Oswego State leading 18-16, Nazareth then closed out the half on a 16-5 run, leading at half 32-23.

The Lakers couldn’t get much going for most of the second half, every time they found some momentum Nazareth found a way to answer and maintain their lead.

With 2:15 remaining in the game, Lakers cut a 10-point lead to five after a Sortino three-pointer, and a Tyson layup.

58 seconds remaining Sortino draws a foul on a three-point attempt, he then proceeded to make all three free throws and cut the Nazareth lead to 59-55.

Both teams traded free throws in the final minute, and Oswego State found themselves down 61-57 with 23 seconds left, but a missed three point attempt by Tyson ended the Lakers rally.

Nazareth for the game shot 42% from the field, and 35% from three point range. Lakers won the battle on the boards 43-35, but couldn’t capitalize on second chance opportunities.

“Nazareth deserves a lot of credit, they came in, they were very focused,” Leone said. “They executed their game plan better than we executed ours.”

The good news for Oswego State is that it was only game one of a very long season, and there’s still a lot to learn as a team and their many new players.

“We just got to stay focused, it’s one out of 25 games, we can’t really hang out heads,” Tyson said. “The big thing is just to get better everyday, it’s the main thing.”

Oswego State will be looking for those next options outside of Sortino and Tyson to contribute consistently to the offense. With 10 new players on this years roster, it will take some games to figure out who those role players will be.

“These guys are gonna have to learn by making some mistakes, and I don’t want them out there playing afraid to make some mistakes because those are good learning opportunities,” Leone said. “They’ll settle into their roles when they are ready.”

Some questions may have been answered about the newcomers on the Lakers roster, sophomore Tyler Pierre made the most of his Laker debut, scoring eight points and grabbing four boards in 20 minutes. He looked confident in the low post on both ends, and could be a critical asset all season.

“He plays with a great energy about him, I’m really excited about his prospects,” Leone said. “He’s got a lot of really good tools that I think will be able to help our team progress this year, awesome kid, and a team player.”

We’ll begin to learn more about this years Oswego State Lakers men’s basketball team this weekend in the Max Ziel Men’s Basketball Tournament, Lakers will open up the tournament taking on SUNY Maritime Friday night 7:30 tip-off.