Oswego State Lakers men’s basketball pulled off a huge win over the SUNY Cortland Red Dragons in a tight defensive battle, edging them out 61-57. This snaps a four-game losing streak against Cortland for the Lakers, which includes last season’s SUNYAC Championship.

Brian Sortino led the way for the Lakers scoring 20 points with four 3-pointers. Keith Tyson tallied 16 points along with nine rebounds and two blocks.

“SUNYAC is hard, it’s one of the best conferences in the country, so every win is big,” Sortino said. “Cortland is a good team and all, I think us seniors wanted revenge on them.”

The Lakers defense held the hot Red Dragons offense in check, forcing them to their lowest point total of the season. Mykelle Krecko was the leader behind the defense, swatting away six Cortland shot attempts.

They  out-rebounded Cortland 49-34, grabbing 15 of them on offense. Krecko led all rebounders with 13.

“The kids really did well in terms of limiting their second shots, they’re not an easy team to finish out possessions against,” Coach Leone said. “Real energetic performance by our players, I was real happy for them, they deserve to win.”

The game started out fast with emotion for the Lakers in the opening minutes, two blocks from Krecko and an athletic block from Tyson had the defense clicking. The feeling was they were going to go on a big run, but turnovers plagued the Lakers early on in the game.

“They have a good game plan when they play against us, they really get in the gaps when Brian in particular drives the ball, they commit two guys to the ball,” Leone said. “Part of it was decision-making, the other part of it was they made some good plays.”

Jamir Ferebee was big off the bench for the Lakers, especially in the first half. He had eight points in the first half and finished the game with 10. He’ll be expected to be big off the bench all season for the Lakers, and did an exceptional job getting to the foul line today.

“Jamir has started to settle really nice into that role, he can really score in a lot of ways, and he’s a good foul shooter,” Leone said.  “He’s an experienced player and he’s really important part of our team.”

Lakers led for the entire game, leading by eight at half, and then stretched their lead up to 37-23 in the first two minutes of the second half. Cortland eventually settled in, and slowly itched their way back into the game down the stretch. With the Lakers leading 50-45 with 5:45 remaining in the game, Sortino nails a deep three out of a Cortland timeout to go back up by eight. The Red Dragons responded with five points of their own after a layup by Justin Cooper, and three-pointer from Nicky Bonura.

Both teams traded points down the stretch, then with 31 seconds remaining Cooper drained two free throws to get within 59-55. The Cortland full-court pressure would then force the Lakers to commit a 10-second violation, turning the ball back over to the Red Dragons.

15 seconds left Cooper came through again for Cortland with a layup to cut the lead to two, Ian Schupp went to the line the next possession for Oswego State and went one for two, pushing the lead up to 60-57.

James Morales, who was hot from three-point land going into the game, missed an opportunity to tie the game and force overtime. A free throw by Sortino sealed the deal for the Lakers, winning it 61-57.

Oswego State men’s basketball improved to 5-2 on the season and start off SUNYAC play with a 1-0 record. A huge victory for a team still finding out more about each other in the early part of the season.

“It’s very uplifting, it gives the whole team life,” Tyson said. “It’s just the beginning though, got a lot more games to go so this is a great way to start off.”

SUNY Cortland dropped to 3-2 on the season. Cooper finished the game with 15 points, but was held in check as he struggled shooting from the field. Tyson was given the assignment to guard Cooper at times, and excelled at doing so.

“It’s just attitude and effort, be there and you can’t be afraid of big moments,” Tyson said. “He’s a great player so we just had to play tough on him.”

Free throws played a big factor in this game, the refs were whistle friendly most of the second half, and both teams found themselves in the bonus early. Oswego State shot less of a percentage than Cortland at the line, but got there more often, and made the big ones down the stretch.

These two SUNYAC rivals will meet again on January 21^st in SUNY Cortland, which should be a very anticipating game as the Red Dragons will seek to even the season series. It wouldn’t be a surprise either if these teams met a third time down the road.

The Oswego State Lakers are back at it Tuesday night as they travel to Oneonta to take on the other Red Dragons in SUNYAC. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m.