SUNYAC men’s basketball top two teams in the standings the College of Brockport Golden Eagles and the Oswego State Lakers square off today in a highly contested matchup. Brockport improved to 10-1 in conference play after their win over Fredonia this week, Oswego State at 9-1 will look to take sole possession of first place. Tiebreakers and playoff seeding’s will be on the line, as these teams strive to host this year’s SUNYAC playoffs.
The Lakers are coming in hot at 13-4 overall, they’ve won eight straight SUNYAC games, and offensively have been averaging 89.8 points per game in their last six conference matchups.
Lakers picked up one their biggest of victories of the season last week on the road at Cortland, defeating the Red Dragons 104-94 for their second victory against SUNY Cortland this season.
Despite trailing by 19 at halftime, Cortland clawed their way back to make things interesting, but Oswego was impressive once again in crunch time, and fought off the comeback.
Jamir Ferebee finished the game with a season-high 21 points, his emergence as a scorer off the bench has ignited the Lakers offense, who relied more so on defense in the early part of the season.
Ferebee has scored in double figures his last six games, averaging 17.1 points per game in that stretch. His efficiency has been key all season, shooting 55% from the field, and 58% from three.
Quietly but effectively junior guard Ian Schupp has made his impact on the offense, he’s averaging 14.7 points the last six games, with his threat from outside spacing the floor and creating opportunities for others.
For Brockport it’s been a pretty impressive season overall for the Golden Eagles, they currently ride a six-game win streak to go towards their 15-3 overall record.
Their balanced attack on the offense is led by Clifton Lyerly, leading the team with 15.7 points per game, including a 37 point performance last Friday against SUNY Plattsburgh. Alongside him is Hamed Shamseldin, who in the last four games is averaging 21 points. Devonn Gavin and Marcus Bylthers among the other Golden Eagles expect to give their share.
Brian Sortino has already seen these big type of games throughout his career, and usually doesn’t shy away. He comes in averaging 19.7 points a game, and will most likely benefit from the offensive contributions from Ferebee and Schupp.
Keith Tyson and Mykelle Krecko may not always be scoring leaders offensively, but the senior’s consistent workload every game is what molds the team, especially on the defensive end.
This is the first regular season meeting between these two teams, winner of the game will certainly take the edge in the standings, but the loser will still have plenty of games left to catch up.
The biggest game in SUNYAC men’s basketball so far this season is pretty evenly matched, both defenses average similar opponent scoring around 70 points a game. Although the Lakers have flipped the switch on offense lately, it’s the Golden Eagles offense that has displayed more consistency.
The home-crowd as it always should benefit the Lakers, a victory today would be no surprise, especially with the senior’s display of leadership all season.
Catch these team’s battle for first place today in SUNYAC, as the Lakers host tip-off at 5:30pm at Max Ziel Gymnasium here in Oswego, New York.
