Champions! The Oswego State men’s basketball team comes out on top 83-75 against SUNY Canton to secure their Max Ziel tournament championship. The Lakers won in comfortable fashion putting up 83 points while never losing the lead. The Lakers now are 2-1 with some silverware under their belts as they strive into their young season.
Coach Leone commented, “It’s good anytime you win a championship, having the kids put in positions of win or go home is good experience for the team.”
Happy with the win but not satisfied with the performance. Leone stressed the importance of avoiding predictable turnovers, something the Lakers continued to do throughout. The team never stressed, they kept their trust and put the ball in the hands of Brian Sortino.
“It’s how we coach the team, when the game is on the line we put the ball in his hands and let him make plays and make decisions. He’s very good at putting us in good positions” stated Leone.
Sortino has been a top scorer on this Lakers team dating back to his freshman year in which he averaged 15 points per game. Now being a senior he has taken on a leadership role on and off the court. The guard put up an impressive 21 points (half of his points coming in the final 5 minutes), while dishing out six assists as well. His teammate, Mykelle Krecko played his best game of the season making his presence known in the paint. The near seven-footer put up 13 points, grabbed 14 rebounds and also recorded an eye opening seven blocks.
“Mykelle had a great game almost having a triple-double, he really made his presence known in the middle” stated Leone.
Krecko and his teammates ran Leone’s half-court offense very well with great off ball movement to help create the easiest basket. Good team basketball is the motto for these Lakers as they have looked pretty sharp through their first three games.
“It feels good to be back on the court, we took a bad loss on Tuesday but we have some new guys and we’re getting ready for these upcoming conference games” stated Sortino.
Coming off a 57-63 loss to Nazareth College on Tuesday, there was no holding back offensively for this Oswego State Lakers basketball team. In the past two games they have combined outscored their opponents 187-144, putting up 104 against SUNY Maritime.
Sortino commented, “Yesterday we shot lights out, Canton played well today and slowed us down a bit but we’re a good shooting team so hopefully we can do it again.”
The Lakers look to thrive off the three as they have taken up on as many opportunities they get from behind the arc. They have totaled 71 three point attempts on the season with 37 of them coming in their blowout win over SUNY Maritime.
The Lakers look to continue their string of strong performances as they play again at home against the (2-1) Clarkson Golden Knights in the Max Ziel Gymnasium.
